From the Caribbean to the Amazon

December 21 - Bridgetown, Barbados

Ann at the Highland Adventure Center

Weather high 84, low 75 with no precipitation. Map of Barbados.

We arrived at Bridgetown at 8:00 AM under clear blue skies. Our ship docked at the far end of the pier. This meant that we were about 1/2 mile from the terminal. A couple of other cruise ships were closer. Our morning was spent earring breakfast and lunch as well as idling on board our ship. At noon we left for our Panoramic Barbados included excursion. Along with the Matutes, we took a shuttle bus to the terminal where we met our guide for the afternoon. The objective of the tour was to get an overview of the island with its sugar cane fields, villages and plantation along with visits to historical sites and viewpoints.

We were loaded into an air condition bus and began our journey Leaving town, we drove along Barbados' Gold Coast past nice hotels, large houses and beautiful beaches. Of course we also saw not-so-nice areas. Our first stop was at the 17th century St. James Parish Church in Holetown. With several other busloads of tourists, we went into the church and were given a brief lecture about its history. The church contains many historic artifacts including the baptismal font from 1684 and the original church bell. To stretch our legs, we toured the peaceful wooded grounds.

Back on the bus, our guide pointed out more fancy hotels and houses of celebrities as we ascended to the Highland Adventure Center. This is where we had a spectacular view of the east coast from 1,000 feet above sea level and views of Mt. Hillaby, the island's tallest summit. We enjoyed Barbados hospitality where we were given refreshments (rum drinks, beer or juice) to sip while enjoying the view and taking lots of photos.

Our drive back to Bridgetown was on an inland route. We passed many houses that were home to ordinary people. Some were run down but most were well maintained. All of them were colorful. At the end of our ride we had a brief tour of Broad Street and Heroes Square.

Once we walked through the terminal, Ann and I decided to walk the 1/2 mile back to our ship. Part of the route was along the breakwater where we could see and feel the ocean next to us.

After cleaning up and relaxing, we met the Bensons and Matutes for dinner at The Restaurant. As we experienced at breakfast, service was extremely slow, but the food was very good.

Entertainment at the Star Theater was Noodles, a comedian. His act was well done.