Barbados--Five months late

Note to readers, I just found this piece from when I was in Barbados over winter break, must have forgotten to post it so here it is along with some pictures.

Also, another new addition, old tradition that I'm bringing back, like I used to do I'm going to try to remember to put up whatever music I'm listening to while I write or see whatever it is that I'm writing about. Today-Stephen Kellogg

I had pickled bananas and salted fish dumplings for lunch. Welcome to Barbados. The farthest east of the West Indies is where I'm spending my winter break, and while at home everyone I know is enduring snow drifts, I'm enjoying waves and sun on palm lined beaches. I flew in on a Sunday and the airport experience was as easy as it gets, right through customs and on to pick up our bags which showed up about ten minutes after we landed. We found the bus, and then our guesthouse, in about half an hour and were settled in with time to spare for a beach trip before sunset. Our first night was a bit of a downer, though, I will admit. 

 We didn't pack much food and didn't know where to find any so we went to bed at nine to avoid our hunger. The next morning we woke up and had a small breakfast before hunting down Bottom Bay, one of the islands more secluded beaches. It was a bit hidden, as well as a mile or two past the last bus stop, but definitely worth the walk once we finally made it there. The beach is down several flights of stone steps and winds through some large boulders and cliffs before opening onto a crescent shaped bay surrounded by more cliffs and scattered with a few palm trees. As the pictures will attest, it is one of the prettiest views I've ever seen.

We spent the day there, swimming in the waves and reading in the shade, before heading home at about four in the afternoon. We finally found a bus (which takes awhile because the local schools had let out and the busses were busy dropping them off before continuing their normal routes) and made it home a little after dark. There's not much to talk about that night, we watched an episode of House and made some dinner before going to bed and waking up to do it all over. Except Tuesday, we went somewhere different.

Crane Beach is one of the island's most recommended (as well as one of the world's most recommended on some websites) and we found it to be well worth the effort of getting there. It was a 40 minute bus ride but easier to find than Bottom Bay, and was a thin strip of sand running along the coast beneath cliffs topped by The Crane hotel. It was much more crowded than Bottom Bay and had several different people there offering chairs and drinks to anyone who showed up. We declined (student travel budgets aren't that large) and spent the day relaxing on our custom built sand chairs. The swimming was calmer than the day before with waves only about three or four feet high and a large sand bar running along the beach making it safe for children.

We were really surprised by the number of families there with their children as well as elderly couples and even a few other college students. Great beach that you can all witness via my Facebook pictures and whatever I post on this site.