Best of Barbados

We had a pint at the Sunset Bar on Deck 16 last night (no lifts though) to finish our holiday as we'd begun it. A container ship next to us began unloading and it was really fascinating to watch the port at work.

To make the most of our last day in Barbados, we booked an excursion. We don't meet for the flight until 4pm, but had to be out of the cabin by 8am and didn't want to just be "waiting" all day. After a final breakfast on the balcony, a bit of organised chaos ensued in the port as we found our excursion, but were soon wending our way through the streets of Bridgetown and off into three of the eleven parishes of Barbados.

Sunbury Plantation was the first call, a restored plantation house full of antiques and carriages. As ever, we were treated to a complementary rum punch, which was a bit of a surprise given that it was before 10am.

Further north on the island, we stopped at Tropical Gardens, one of six botanical gardens. The fabulous orchids here hang on the trees but can effectively grow on anything. A little hummingbird fluttered about as we were given another rum punch too.

Final stop was Gun Signal Hill, one of six signal stations on Barbados fully restored. Not only was this an interesting historic stop, it also gave fabulous views out over the flat southern part of the island all the way down to our ship.

Our guide (Italian, but living on Barbados for 29 years, so quite a strange accent!) took us back to the port, so we could grab lunch and a drink on the ship before getting ready for our 4pm meet.

Post-lunch, we had an unexpected entertainment as the cargo ship we'd watched last night departed, only to get a few metres from the dock to be pushed back in by a tug. We never quite got to find out why as we had to leave. So we endured the chaos of people being oblivious as we got a bus to the airport where we now sit awaiting a flight. The Caribbean was great, and we think we did it justice, but also for that reason don't think we need to come back again soon. (That's not to say we're ready to go back to work though!).もっと詳しく