A little cooler
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2009
1
3
12
Trip End
Aug 16, 2009
Rockley,
Barbados
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
It's funny, as you are walking down the street, all of the busses and taxis honk at you as they go by to see if you want on. Sometimes the drivers lean out as they go by, slowing down: "Hey, you need a ride? Pretty lady, where you goin'? Need a ride?" The horns play songs and little tunes too... it's awesome.
As we walked up to the Barbados Museum it started to rain. As we were so sweaty in the first place, a little rain doesn't actually make too much of a difference
Barbados Museum
. At the museum we learned about the natural and cultural history of the island. It's a pretty interesting story, but my burning question was not answered: how did Barbados gain independence from Britain in 1966?? As far as I can tell, GB sort of said, "You're on your own, mates." And the Bajans said, "All right, now, bro." And that was it! The museum had some recreated peroid "plantation house" rooms set up, and it's always crazy to me how the British insisted on living in their tropical colonies like they were still in Britain as opposed to, you know, *near the equator*. The museum also had a great childrens wing with dress up clothes and easier-to-digest displays than the grown up parts.After the museum, we wandered in the rain looking for Brown Sugar. Navigating here is crazy because there are not only no addresses, but also very few street names. And of the few named streets, there are even less street *signs.* But we asked some locals where to find the place and were sent off in the right direction with a hearty "Make sure you enjoy the food for me!"
The lunch buffet was a spread of Bajan food: fresh slaws, salads, and cold lentils, cou cou (corn mush kind of like polenta), potatoes with cinnamon and sugar, fried flying fish and steamed flying fish in a tomato sauce, pepperpot (a Bajan meat stew with more cloves and cinnamon than pepper, it seemed), and rice with yellow split peas
Lunch buffet at Brown Sugar
. Less enjoyable? A stewed okra mush. Just can't get over the gluey, milky texture... sorry. And for dessert, bread pudding with rum sauce and rum balls. Lots and lots of rum. Yummy on the first bite, and then by the third bit you're like "wow, that's a lot of rum!" They also had a mango mousse and a chocolate gateau (gateau or galette? I can never remember). And we topped off the feast with some fresh squeezed mango juice, which was really all the dessert you need.By the time we finished with lunch, the sun had popped out. The rain had stopped (yay) but it was hot again (boo). We ended up doing two loops of this block we were on, including a scenic tour of the back forty of the Barbados Light and Power plant: one trip to locate Carlisle Bay, one of the best snorkeling sites on the island (for future reference), and one trip in search of the lighthouse at Needham's Point, which disappointingly, now has a Hilton high rise towering over and around it.
We walked part way home along the beach, where we saw the most awesome little crab scuttling sideways in the surf. Then we walked the rest of the way up by the road, where we caught a glimpse of one of Barbados's green monkeys (we had learned about them at the museum) walking along a fence into someone's back yard
Brown Sugar
. Travis also stopped to inquire about surfing lessons (woo!).Hot from walking, we headed over to the beach for a sunset dip in the sea, which was quite enjoyable, then we headed home to make dinner. The idea was that since we'd had such a feast for lunch, we'd eat lighter by self-catering at home. Well, my light little meal of lamb chops and black eyed peas turned into something of a feast with boiled carrots, fresh cucumbers, cold sweet tomatoes, and cheese wedges alongside. Oops.
Tomorrow: dive day!!
