Barbados

Barbados, the easternmost island in the Caribbean, is unique in that it was created by the pushing up of tectonic plates (containing mostly limestone and coral) as opposed to volcanic activity like its other island neighbors. One result from this was Harrison’s Cave, my first stop this morning. Nearly 350 years of unbroken British rule (ended back in the 1960s) manifested itself through the guide’s accent, which had a tinge of cockney. The tour itself was kind of a yawner. I rode in a tram down manufactured tunnels and was only allowed to disembark twice. Not that I wanted to spelunk through tiny tunnels on my belly and crawl around with a head lantern, but come on. There were even sensor-timed lights that turn on when we entered a cavern and turn off when we left. At one point, the guide turned off all the lights and said, “This is what a cave looks like without any lights. It’s very dark.” Oh, really? Really, cave guide? That’s so weird, because in my mind, caves always have an ambient glow from all the lava lamps that grow up from the ground. Those things down there are lava lamps, right? And I always thought that caves had windows, just like my house. Thanks for helping me understand that caves are underground structures that are generally filled with stifling darkness.

My camera gave me some serious grief, too. Here’s a handful of pictures that didn’t turn out blurry. Please note the ambient glow provided by the beautiful lava lamps.

Next, I boarded a 4x4 with some folks from the ship, including Skip and Sue, the two Americans who sit at dinner with me. We’ve gotten to know each other over the past several days and they’re great. Sue is a counselor at a local high school, and Skip is a retired businessman who introduced me to chilled soups. They do a ton of service in their local community and worldwide.

“Call 4BY-FOUR Today!”

Once the vehicles arrived at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, we disembarked and traversed brick paths constructed from bricks brought over by the British, who would leave them in Barbados and bring back sugar to the U.K. The reserve houses a variety of animals, including tortoises, deer, iguanas, mara, rabbits, peacocks, parrots, and a variety of other birds. In fact, a mara was born earlier today and I happened upon it sneaking away from its parents. Super cute.

The Baby Mara Says, “Hello World!”

Unfortunately, the planned highlight of our trip, the green monkeys, which are responsible for 70% of the world’s polio vaccine, didn’t show up to feed. The reserve had a lone monkey sitting in a pen, and he came down to watch us as we walked past. When I spoke to him in the voice I use when I speak to Matou, my cat, he hopped on over to make some clicking sounds and inspect his left foot. We had an excellent conversation.

On the way back to the ship, we drove along the eastern coast of the island and stopped momentarily at Martin’s Bay. We also used our 4x4s to do some genuine off-roading (finally!) through a series of sugar cane fields. All-in-all, a pretty okay day.

Sea Grapes

Martin’s Bay

Food of the Day: Bananas Foster