Anyway...here we go...
Monday we got up at the crack of dawn and headed for the airport. Our flight left at 7:50 AM and after layovers in Dallas and Miami, we arrived in Barbados at 11:35 PM. We caught the shuttle and it took about 45 minutes to get to the west coast of the island where we were staying at the Almond Beach Club & Spa. It was a great resort. They don't allow anyone under 16 so it was really peaceful. On our last vacation to Disneyworld there were so many kids we decided to go a different direction this time.
By the time we got checked in and up to our room it was nearly 1 am. They had left us a lovely tray of cucumber sandwiches and fruit, so we had a couple since we were starving. The concierge had told us the piano bar was open until 2 am, since it was such a long day we decided to go sample some of the rum Barbados is famous for.
When we got to the bar we met two guys, one was from the US and the other from the UK. Tim was the one from the UK, he was really funny. He was quite a ways ahead of us on sampling the rum and he kept saying welcome to Barbados, CHEERS!
Most of the people we met were from the UK, I was surprised there were so few Americans there.
We heard this loud chirping noise at night that turned out to be these tiny little tree frogs.
After a drink we went back to the room and collapsed into bed until about 10:45 AM.
Tuesday we got up and opened the doors to the ocean to our amazing suite. Almost immediately a little bird flew into our room and started trying to get the sugar packets from the covered dish next to the coffee maker. For the rest of the week I brought him bread and crackers from the meals and fed him on the balcony. He was persistent but just so cute!
We decided not to do too much, but we took a walk down Sandy Lane which is the most amazing strip of beach. The third pic shows R strolling ahead of me. I didn't see a single seashell, but I found some really pretty white coral that washed up practically on top of my feet.
Our air conditioning in the room wasn't working and it was crazy hot from all the humidity. Colorado is such a dry climate we aren't used to that. They came to fix it but couldn't get it to work.
That evening we ran into Tim again and we all decided to sample some more of the rum...too much in fact. Tim told us some pretty tall tales, but he was funny.
Wednesday I woke up with a splitting headache. Curse that demon rum! *giggles* Hey we were on vacation!
We caught the shuttle to take us to the Atlantis Submarine Tour. I was a little nervous that I might not like going underwater so far, but I wasn't at all. It was really amazing. First we got on a boat that took us to the sub, then we boarded and they took us down to see a shipwreck and over a coral reef. At our deepest we were at 145 feet below the surface. It was truly fascinating.
When we were done we got to watch the sub submerge with the next batch of people.
Later that afternoon we walked down to Holetown and did a little shopping. Not much though because there weren't many places to shop.
They tried two more times to fix our air conditioning with no luck.
We had dinner that night, and Tim joined us. He was leaving the next day and had been traveling alone. He reminded me so much of my friend Mark. We toasted with some wine to our 20th anniversary but we pretty much avoided the rum.
Thursday was spa day! I treated myself to a body scrub, facial and massage. It was heavenly. On the way to dinner we saw some monkeys that were living in the trees in our resort. The mother walked right in front of me with the babies and then dad hammed it up in the tree while I took his pic.
They finally got our air conditioning fixed by replacing the roof unit. At this point I was almost getting used to the heat. Despite the room mishaps, the staff was very friendly and helpful and all the people in Barbados are just lovely and welcoming.
That evening we ate at Enid's and had the most incredible indian food.
Friday we decided to go on the Sea Safari. We got on a HUGE catamaran and went out to a site where they feed the sea turtles. There are tons of them around Barbados and I really wanted to see one. The only way to see them was to snorkel however. R had never been snorkeling either but he just jumped on in with his usual fearless abandon.
I have never been terribly fond of water and the deep ocean just scares me to pieces so I wasn't real sure I wanted to do it. But I decided a while back to embrace things outside my comfort zone and so I decided to give it a try. (R even took a pic of me to prove it!)
After a few seconds of initial panic at being in 30 feet of water I calmed down and really enjoyed it. I got to see the turtles and lots of fish and even a sting ray way down on the ocean floor.
We got back in the boat and then they took us to another site where we got to snorkel again and see two ship wrecks. A little tropical fish came right up and looked me in the face mask as if to say what kind of fish are you? It was so cute! An awful lot of fish seemed attracted to me and I think it may have been because my braids look like giant worms to them. I don't know...I am just guessing.
I am so happy I decided to do it, I really love snorkeling and can't wait to do it again...who knows maybe next time I will try scuba diving! When we got back in the boat I managed to get the snorkel hose tangled in one of my braids and I thought I would never get it loose! Finally a nice guy helped me.
We had lunch on the boat and then headed back to shore. R and I were sitting in the back right in the sun and we both go SO sunburned despite using an entire can of SPF 65 sun screen. I am peeling from it now. Sigh~
When we got back to our room our door wouldn't unlock, something was wrong with it and they had to replace the whole mechanism. It's like our room was cursed.
We had a lovely dinner on our last evening and then went to pack.
Traveling on Saturday turned out to be such a nightmare that I don't even want to go into it. Suffice to say I will NEVER fly on American Airlines again.
We finally made it home Sunday afternoon where we were greeted by happy critters and the lovely dinner Carol made us. We appreciated it so much because we were exhausted.
All in all, it was an incredible trip...so...where shall we go next...
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2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your wonderful vacation pics with us. Simply lovely ! Hugs from Vicki
I love the pics and the stories of your vacation, all in all it sounds like you had a good time! There must have been lots of artistic inspiration in such a lovely place, too!
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