The city of Bridgetown is the capital and largest city of Barbados located on the island’s southernmost coast. A long call at the port (8am to 9pm) via Seabourn Quest allowed plenty of time to explore a favorite island we had not visited in years.
Our first two visits to Barbados came via Carnival Cruise Line and their Carnival Legend that was doing 8-night sailings from Fort Lauderdale at the time. It took an 8-night sailing to make an itinerary that included Barbados and Martinique happen and that longer than normal sailing for the line quickly became a favorite.
On our visit today we did just what we had done years ago, found a local driver for a private tour of the island and headed towards the Atlantic side where some world-class surfing happens year-round.
Having mastered surfing a few weeks ago (lie) in Mazatlan, Mexico (truth), I wanted to see how the waves here stacked up (truth) and thought I would give the Barbados surf scene a try (total lie, never want to see the business end of surfing again in this lifetime).
On the way over to the Atlantic side and on the way back we ran through an extensive tour of the island as seen in our Facebook Gallery. Our driver, Blackie (his real name I swear), did a running commentary on landmarks we passed, adding richness to the experience only a lifelong resident could provide. Or a good liar. He could have been making up all the stuff he said for all I know but I doubt it. Too much was familiar.
Still, I have to say, I was a bit uncomfortable with a black guy that asked us to call him “Blackie”. Real name or not, it was an awkward moment. My comment at the time we hired him for the day:
“Where I come from people get in trouble for calling people they hire ‘Blackie’. I think I’ll go with ‘Driver’ if that’s OK with you”It was. Ever in Barbados? Ask for “Blackie” though to get the right guy.
See our Barbados via Seabourn Quest Facebook Gallery for more
Related articles
- Rhianna becomes tourism ambassador for Barbados (travelnews.britishairways.com)
- Caviar in the surf: Not your typical day at the beach (chriscruises.net)
- The Soup Bowl Barbados, Home to the Pro Surfing Championship (prweb.com)
- Barbados Monolith (throughtheramblerseyes.wordpress.com)
