Fisherman's Pub, Speightstown

That day, Alex and I wised up and brought clothes for the evening so we would not have to drive all the way back home before going out for dinner.  We cleaned up as best we could in the small bathrooms at Mullin's and headed up the coast to Speightstown to the Fisherman's Pub.
I had read it was an old rum shop that sold good local food and had some sort of entertainment on Wednesday nights.  This is where lonely planet lead us astray.

It wasn't that bad.  And the rum punch was good.  The food was not.  Also, the entertainment, which we never saw since it was over an hour late by the time we left, had attracted a large group of elderly tourists.  It was not quite the scene I had imagined.

We left, crossed the street, and found what was likely the band who was supposed to be playing at the FP.  I chatted with a gentleman on vacation from a neighboring island while we listened to the band play a steel pan rendition of Night Fever, I believe.  Not bad.  Ha!

West Cost: Mullin's Beach

The next day, we headed north up to the west coast.  Another opportunity to get lost, which we did, but much less so.

We ate at Indian Grill, a place I had read about before the trip.  Roti are very popular in Barbados and during our trying not to get lost, I noticed the sign and made Alex pull over.  It was really good.  Alex had the chickpea in roti, and I had the roasted lamb curry, bone and all, with rice and dhal.  We each had a Banks to prepare for what could be a trying drive.

We went to Mullin's Beach because it had an image of a camera next to it on our map (similarly helpful images were of texacos, KFCs, palm trees and the infamous roundabout, which was the bane of my existence).  Mostly we went there because it was Alex's turn to do something he wanted to do.  JETSKI!!!



All I'd heard about was how he was going to have the BTE jet skiing.  Just as an aside, I also love jet skiing and thought I had the potential to be a professional for one sweet day as a college freshman (is there such a thing?, I was hoping so) until my tragic accident (not tragic - just a big bruise) where I regained a reasonable amount of fear for an instrument that hurls you at high speeds through water.  Before that I had been going at top speed and turning as fast as I could so I would go flying off the jet ski.  Many many laughs, until crying.

Anyway, Mullin's Beach.  It was across from the something rather Royal Club.  Fancy.
Here the persistent vendors were really trying to take us.
My coconut at Accra had been $2 US, while here he was trying to get me to pay $10!   This was after he'd already cut it open and said money was not everything while swigging his rum and drooling all over Alex's towel.  Nice.  We got 2 for the $10, and I guess that was a deal.

Jet skiing was fun.  Alex went for a while first, then I joined him.  When we did this in Mexico it was practically the same scenario.  I drove while we were together and went as fast as possible while screaming woooooooooooo the whole time.  So fun.  So sore the next day.

Something funny that happened while jet skiing, apart from the non stop screaming and laughing, was when I noticed a strange conglomeration of 3 large floating items in the distance:  one was triangle shaped.  I asked Alex if it was a research station (my exact words), thinking it could be an area where they collect data about the current or maybe other statistics of importance.  He informed me that two of them were banana boats and the other a similar type of drag behind a boat floatation device.  Good times.

Since this blog is mostly so we can remember our fun trip, I don't want to dwell on any bad, but the jet skii dudes tried to rip us off too.  Oh well.  They didn't manage to, but they did ruin my relaxing snorkeling experience when Alex came to find me on the jet skii yelling "go back to our stuff, I think they might be trying to steal it!!!".  I am a fast swimmer with fins on.  Fast fast.

Mullins was pretty.  Yellow sand and calm waters.

Oistin's Fish Market for Dinner

After all that we still needed dinner.  We heard that Oistin's Fish Market was the place to go for local food, and was a real party on the weekends.  It was Tuesday, but there was still a crowd for the karaoke, of course, and the rum shops.  

We went to one of the first stalls we saw and I had the grilled fish (the recommendation of the cooks) and a nice salad.  They made a huge plate of food for Alex full of macaroni pie (a bajan favorite), salad and rice.  We topped it all with pepper sauce and burned our faces off.  

Alex walked over to the famous "Lexie's Rum Shop", a hole in the wall, and grabbed himself a Banks and me a rum punch.  It was so strong.  Wow.  A couple sips into my second one, I realized I might no be able to finish it.  Don't worry, I did.  

At this point we met our new friend Reds who educated us on Rastafarianism (in a completely non belligerent way).  He also shared a lot of about the political state of the island and the sad state of many of its residents (visible nearby asleep on benches) who could afford too much rum (it's really cheap) at the rum shops, many of which stay open 24 hours a day.  

Pepper Sauce!

The fish market is adjacent to the fishing pier and Reds wanted us to see the sea turtles that frequent the nearby waters if we could.  Remember how everyone in Barbados is nice?  He grabbed a small fish off the floor left over from the day's fishing and we set off down the pier ruminating about where turtles sleep, if they have claws, and the like.  Remember the rum punch....  So, turtles are not visible at night in pitch black waters.  But they would be visible next to my face later that week when I went back to the same spot for snorkeling per Reds recommendation.  

We decided it was time to go, but not before I met the conch shell vendor, i ponds - really, that's his name - maybe it has something to do with Rastafarianism???  He assured me I would be able to hear the sound of the ocean in any one of the shells and we bartered to a reasonable price for a touristy token I really wanted to take home.  It's lovely.  

Bathsheba, or magic

On our second full day, we crossed the island to the Atlantic side.  It's well known for "breathtaking views" and surfing.
Because we rented a car, we took off thinking my quick look at google maps and writing down the major streets to take that we would have no problem getting there.
WRONG.  We found after stopping twice for directions (an hour later) that we had barely made it 5 minutes from the cottage.  It turns out that people rely less on street signs - there are few, even in the urban areas - than general "right at the shell", and when in the country, "left when you see the wall" directions.
We found ourselves at a side of the road makeshift fish shack where I got out to ask the lady cooking if she could tell us how to get to Bathsheba (this is after asking a police woman and a gas attendant).  The general response was "you are so far from there!!!"  Thanks.
But, truly, these people were incredibly nice.  Out of the ordinary nice.
Later on, at the fish shack, a couple of men from the television station across the road came to get their lunch.  By then we had at least 5 men all huddled around our map trying to decide how to get us to our destination.  Finally, the two business men decided they would lead the way.  I was amazed that they would actually do this for us, and offered to buy them lunch for their trouble.  They would not allow it even after much protesting.  These guys ended up going what probably totaled an hour out of their way, on their lunch break at that.  Thank you, James and Wayne!
I ended up with my first fried fish sandwich with pepper sauce from the stop as well.  Very good.
Upon arrival in beautiful Bathsheba, we were greeted by a group of green monkeys running across the road.  Hilariously, because I had only seen small animals with long tails out of the corner of my eye, I thought they were tiny kangaroos - I swear I didn't buy anything from they guys in the gap!!!!  We thought that was pretty funny.

We pulled up to one of the few lodging/food establishments on the beach - also known as "the soup bowl" by surfers - had a beer and I had one scoop of coconut and one scoop of rum raisin ice cream in a pink cone - YUM!
We then went down the steep steps to the water where although the ocean is too rough for swimming without a surfboard, there are many tidal pools which provide enough protection for swimming and wading.
Alex walked along the beach as I asked a woman with her child if I could join her in the tidal pool (they were quite small).  We hit it off immediately.  She is a criminal barrister (attorney) in London and also the sister of the late prime minister who had died late last year of pancreatic cancer.  The country was traumatized by his death.  I kept thinking how strange it was that we were meeting so many incredibly kind and "important" people in Barbados.
She left the beach for the day while I was off perusing the rest of the incredible beach (deeper tidal pools adjacent to roaring waves and giant mossy rocks).  I was too far off to say goodbye, but she told Alex she thought I was a really neat person, and I have a girl crush on her too!
I convinced Alex to let us stay a little longer despite our concerns about how to get home, especially if it became dark.  We left just in time for a gorgeous drive home south along the coast.  This time I took the if we hug the coast, we can't get lost approach, and it worked.

After Dinner: The Gap

Alex, feeling Irie

St. Lawrence Gap is a touristy drag along which there are many restaurants and bars within walking distance from the cottage.
It's not as bad as it sounds and is also right on the water, so very pretty.

One irritating aspect of the area is that there are TONS of people trying to get you to buy things from them, mostly drugs.  While these people were friendly, some of them were ridiculously persistent.

We made our way to a Reggae club.
They actually were playing good, danceable music and I eventually made it to the dance floor and made a new friend, another Steve, since Alex does not dance in public (ha!).

There were many excellent photo opportunities.

I forgot to mention that on our flight in to Barbados we sat next to Arturo Tappin, the sax player for Roberta Flack and a Bajan national treasure, as it turns out.  He recommended that we also visit Hal's for karaoke.  People in Barbados take it SERIOUSLY!

PS, all along, I drank rum punch, but never karaoke'd!

Like the pepper sauce, everyone has their own recipe for the punch, and it is poured straight from the pre mixed jug.

Alex kept to the local beer, Banks, which was pretty good too.

Apsara

After we had our fill of the beach, we made our way back home to clean up and go out for the evening.

We walked to a nearby Thai/Indian restaurant, Apsara.  It was incredibly beautiful, surrounded on all sides by limestone walls and covered from head to toe with fragrant, flowering plants.  

Even the floor was pretty.  

They also had delicious food.  

I had the tandoori fish and a fresh salad and Alex had a yellow curry.  

Our fruity drinks were especially good. 

Day 1: Accra Beach

The next morning, Steve took us to get driver's permits and we made our way over to the nearest beach, Accra...carefully (Left side of the road driving).

In all our excitement to get to the beach, we left the camera at home.  I have zero pictures from the daytime.  But, imagine a beautiful Caribbean beach... and that's what it looked like.

The gentleman who rented us chairs and an umbrella for the day noticed we were enjoying body surfing, and offered us a boogie board (there were many persuasive people trying to sell/rent us things).  Eventually he just gave it to us to use for the rest of the day.  

This was also our first encounter with pepper sauce on the island.  Alex's stepfather, Brian, makes his family's version, which we love.  His grandmother was Bajan and his father came from Trinidad.  We had it with french fries and a salad from a beach vendor shack.  They didn't have much in the way of veggie options for Alex.  But, it was GOOD!

While bodysurfing, we met a paramedic, Michael.  It was interesting to discuss our different experiences with emergency health care.  

I was also convinced to buy a coconut (not hard to do) which was macheted first for drinking the water and then sliced open for scraping out the young coconut.  It was delicious.