The scenery was lovely, very much like Hawaii, and Louis was great at explaining all the local sights. First stop was the Titou Gorge ( www.kenshinterlandtours.com/titougortraf.html ), where the last 50 yards of the road were under a few inches of water, a river flowing down a gravel road, where we had to park the van with a couple other cars on a high spot and start walking up the flooded road. To walk to these sights you need footwear that can get soaked and muddy, like old gym shoes. Wendy had her rubberized slip-on beach shoes (Walmart and Sears, $8), and I had my old but sturdy sandals. When they get muddy there’s always some clear water nearby to swoosh off the mud. The Gorge was too fast and dangerous from the rain to do the swim-up between the rocks, as we’d been told, but it was fun poking around, getting some jungle/trail/water shots, there might have been 10 people there, and then back to the van for Trafalgar Falls.
Trafalgar Falls ( http://ruthtanner.tripod.com/wf/trafalgar.html )has a $2 entry fee, from which you walk about 10 minutes to a viewing platform. This walk is over slippery roots and rocks, and you have to be careful picking your way along, it’s not a stroll. You can also walk further past the platform to the base of the falls, perhaps a 5 minute walk that’s even trickier, steeper, wetter. Near the base of the falls there is a “jungle hot pool” which you can climb down to and sit in like a hot tub, but again it’s over slippery rocks and we did it but not many others tried to get down. Louis said it’s much easier when the water isn’t so high, the water was covering up the rock “steps.” Louis often took our picture with our camera, or we traded cameras with other tourists and took each others pics. I bought beers for us and Louis back at the ticket place, $2 for the small bottles, local brand, and we headed back to town, got there about 3:30 I think, tipped Louis an extra $10, which he really appreciated, he was great, did a bit more shopping, and then back on board. People who went to the Emerald Pool said they could get into the pool even with the high water. We didn’t talk to anyone who went to the Sulphur Springs. If you like intense hiking, Ken’s Hinterland Tours offers a river hiking tour, crossing some rivers and really seeing the rain forest. Forget doing a beach, they aren’t good on this island, but the rain forest and mountains are wonderful.
Although Wacky Rollers Tours if very professional and reliable, you might prefer not to use them if it’s raining, because they use the open army vehicles like on their web site (www.wackyrollers.com ). We passed them on the road several times, and the people looked rather miserable wearing hooded ponchos in the rain, we were glad to be in a dry van.
BARBADOS
Port side cabins face the dock (industrial view), starboard ones face the bay. There are maybe 30 nice stores in the terminal building, and when you exit the terminal the tour “gates” are on the left, and the $1 van shuttles to Bridgetown are to the right. You might wait 5 minutes for the van to fill, or you can take a $3 p.p. cab to town and leave right away.
The shopping in Bridgetown is expensive and sporadic, even the Net in Little Switzerland was too much, but I found a cheaper one on another street. The nicest place to go is along the water causeway boardwalk that leads to the main bridge at the city center park area with the Big Ben clock. An art gallery in a small plaza wanted $300 for a foot square oil painting that we paid $18 for a similar one in Dominica. There are more vendors on the bridge. But the best shopping was in the Pelican Mall 2 blocks outside the main terminal gates. The shuttle driver will drop you off there, and it was an easy 10-15 minute stroll from there back to the ship, nice breeze off the bay. Perhaps 30-40 stores with a/c in a pretty park setting, colorful local dancers put on a pirate show about 10:30 or 11, lots of art, crafts, some clothing, etc.
Then after lunch we did the Snuba and Boatyard Beach tour through the ship ($99 incl admission for the day to the Boatyard and a free drink), they wouldn’t let us book it privately ($55) because of a deal with CCL. Snuba is diving to a 20 foot maximum while breathing through a regulator on an air hose connected to a floating “raft” that follows you (and 3 others). It was a fun experience, but takes some prep. Ocean Adventures runs the tour from the Boatyard complex which is near the ship.
The tour guys are all fun on the short boat ride to the site, but it’s all business when they prep you. You have to breath deep, not shallow breaths, and you have to blow your ears every 3 feet down to equalize pressure, and they show you how to clear water from you mask while under. The guides have scuba on, and show you signs to communicate while under.
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