4-Feb-2007

Sunshinebob goes to Barbados… Part II

Touchdown…. Welcome to Barbados..

I looked out the window of the plane as the ground sped by and it looked hot.. Hot and wet.. We deplaned and joined a queue for immigration. I stretched back out of the air-conditioned concourse back onto the tarmac area. Apparently three planes had landed within minutes and the airport had gone into overload.. We inched forward like a sloth on mogadon for the best part of 40 minutes. Ken and Barbie, who had had their passports stamped before us stood and waited and the inspector examined our passports from cover to cover for what seem like an eternity. Ken remarked that as they were on a (2 hour) later flight home at the end of our trip and they had cleared immigration first that “ their holiday was to be substantially longer than ours”.. This was something we were to hear on a regular basis every day until the holiday was over..

The bags appeared again and we exited the airport to find our “meet and greet” driver supplied by the Hotel.. The man with the sign was Michael..He and his brother (Andrew) are the two tame taxi drivers who appear to look after most of the guests in the hotel. He and his trusty Lexus fetched and carried the four of us many times during our 11 nights in Barbados. He cannot be recommended highly enough. He was always happy to oblige no matter the time or situation. He has a wealth of local knowledge and contacts.. He somehow managed to fit the four of us and luggage into his car and delivered us promptly to our hotel Little Arches. Little Arches is a small family run 10 room hotel situated 15 mins for the Airport on the south coast of Barbados near Oistens. We checked in to room 10 with Ken & Barbie in room 8. Both rooms were situated at the rear of the property and had views over the garden areas. The rooms were large and well finished, comprising of a seating area , a big bathroom ( with no bath ), hall with plenty of storage and a rather comfortable four poster style bed. Both rooms were air-conditioned , had a TV, fridge ,safe and hairdryer for the ladies. Ours also had a small kitchen area. The rooms both shared a large raised wooden patio to the rear. It was here we sat to chill out from time to time and drink the odd beer of three during our stay.. I think these are the best two rooms the hotel has to offer..Sean ( reception ) then gave us a brief orientation tour and a bottle of rum and some rum cake as a welcome gift. I swapped the cake for the booze with ken and Barbie whose eyes popped out of the sockets with the thought of more cake.. We all unpacked and wandered over to the restaurant upstairs for a beer and bite to eatbefore bed.. We were on euro time and things were getting late. I don’t remember too much of the meal except I had pasta , it was tasty and we all retired to out respective rooms and well tucked in bed by 9.30 local time.

The next morning I awoke bright and early at about 6am and it was still dark. It was the first time in three days that my head was not pounding and my tongue did not taste like the floor of a taxi cab. I felt great.. Mrs SB and I took the opportunity to wander around and to get some local bearings. We exited the hotel and turned left.. The sun had risen and so had the temperature.. We walked for about forty minutes quietly taking in the sights and sounds around us. Every body we passed said good morning.. It was kind of surreal like a moment from “it’s a wonderful life”.. Everybody was so darn nice. We turned on our heels and started to walk back to the hotel. The sun on our backs felt nice and we strolled. We waked straight pass the hotel and carried on to see what we could see the other way. The hotel itself is not on the beach. Some posters on this forum have noted that.. Its near the beach of course.. In fact the road is about 4 meters wide , it’s a no though road and used very little. It’s not a problem I can assure you. The Beach is one minute away. Again some posters have said this is a problem, its not. Don’t forget if you stay in a bigger beach front resort on the west coast you will be further away from the beach purely because the resort is bigger. The beach itself is beautiful. Its on the south coast so don’t expect flat water , there are waves and at times the sea is not suitable for weak swimmers or kids. The beach is called Enterprise Beach although the locals know it as Miami Beach. Its 400 metres of sand with lots of shade from the many trees slightly set back from the sea. The sand by the way is not red hot like the beaches near me in Spain but soft , cool and white. Towards one end there is a little cove, a shower block and the “world famous” Mr Delicious restaurant. Well not a restaurant in the true nature of things more an old bus parked on the beach under the trees. I made a mental note to visit here a couple of times to try out the local cuisine purely for research purposes. As mrs SB and I looked into the water by the cove we could not help but notice the water. It was full of locals.. I glanced down at my watch and it was before eight.. But there they were.. The average age was in the upper sixties I guess and there must have been at least a hundred of them. They sang and chatted with each other and the laughter in air was infectious.. I defy anyone on this earth to go there and not have a great time.. People were milling about , getting in , getting out , showering , chatting , dancing. It was a fantastic way to begin to try to understand what make the Bajan people tick. They are simply the happiest bunch I have ever met.

It was almost 9 by the time we walked back into the hotel and the sun was already high in the sky and the mercury had risen to the late twenties.. We wandered up to Café Luna (the in-house restaurant) and found ourselves a seat for breakfast.. Café Luna is owned jointly by the Hotel and the resident Chef ( and part time surf dude ) Moo.. The staff there are undoubtedly the best bunch of lads and ladies I have ever met. They along with the other 10 members of Hotel staff made our holiday. More about that later. The restaurant is one of the best places to eat on the island.. We then met out waiter for the first time.. Gregory immediately reminded me of a cross between “bill and ted” and some stoned hippy from the sixties.. He was sooooo laid back he was almost laying down. We later found out the staff refer to him as Johnny Bravo and enjoyed some great tales about his short by immensely interesting life thus far. He is both forgetful and unforgettable. He might ask how you want your egg but it don’t matter as ninety percent of the time he gets it wrong…. He epitomises relaxed and casual and it like the old folks in the sea gets under your skin so quick you don’t care whether the eggs are scrambled or poached anyway.

Breakfast at the hotel was a bit disappointing if I am honest.. I have been lucky enough to have travelled very extensively in the last twenty years and I have had better.. Don’t get me wrong its not bad but a little indifferent and slightly odd.. The portion sizes differ greatly over the dozen or some offerings. The biggest (although not enough if you are a big eater) thing was the burrito and smallest was the (two bite) BLT. There was the traditional full English , a veggie option as well as French toast and pancakes for the ladies.. Also the fare differs day to day depending on who cooked it.. Breakfast came with coffee or tea and choice of fruit juice.. As we were all there for more than seven days the breakfasts were complementary.

More later folks , some of us have got work to do!!!!