Beautiful Barbados

It had only been 6 months since we had been travelling, but when Mac’s parents asked us if we wanted to join them in beautiful Barbados for a week, we couldn’t say no! The 4 of us stayed in a house near Enterprise Beach (aka Miami Beach) just outside the town of Oistins (on the southern west coast of the island). We spent our days in the sun – the weather was GORGEOUS the whole week! – and driving around the island exploring its nooks and crannies.

Barbados is a small island, only 166 square miles. But the excessively pot-hole-filled and winding roads turned relatively short-distance trips into lengthy adventures!

North Point

The most northern part of Barbados is quite a trek to get out to, but totally worth it! Here, stunning cliffs line the coast causing spray from the waves, making for an incredible & dramatic view!

Gun Hill Signal Station

In the middle of the island is a lookout called Gun Hill Signal Station. It was used during the slave rebellion in 1816. British and Barbadian military units used this location to relay information.

Though we had missed the official opening hours by just a few minutes, the staff there allowed us to take a quick peek over the cliff that gives way to some impressive views of the island all the way out to the coast!

Heywood’s Beach

Up on the north west coast of the island is Heywood’s Beach. This is a popular place for large boats to moor because of its proximity to nearby resorts and condo communities. We actually saw a ‘super yacht’ called Cloudbreak. After Googling, we learned that you can rent the yacht out for a week if you desire! It’s equipped to handle 22 staff members, it has its own helipad, AND it’ll only set you back €750,000!!! For ONE week!! (plus expenses!).

Harrison’s Caves

There’s more to Barbados that just beaches, however. Just a 20 minute drive from Gun Hill Signal Point are Harrison’s Caves. These caves were first discovered in the 1700’s, but not fully explored until 1974 when Ole Sorensen (from Denmark) and Tony Mason (from Barbados) decided to map out the cave. It was later excavated with shafts large enough for trams to fit through.

Mac & I went on a walking tour of the cave. We were shown many different collections of stalactites and stalagmites, many of which have been named. Take ‘The Village’ for instance:

Another cool feature was ‘The Great Hall’. Here, the cavern measures over 50 feet high! At one point on the tour we were almost 52m (170 ft) below ground level, but still almost 213m (700ft) above sea level!

Though we seemingly covered quite a bit of ground on beautiful Barbados, there was still so much else to see! Fortunately, Mac & I were also able to get in a good hike along the east coast. More to come on that later!