Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th October 2022

We woke up on our last full day to find torrential rain and the loudest thunderstorm you’ve ever heard. Any thoughts of a boat trip today went out the window – the sea was unbelievably choppy. We met a hotel guest returning from a fishing trip – soaked to the skin – he didn’t recommend it. By late morning the rain still hadn’t cleared so we were delighted when Mark and Karen messaged to say that they had hired a car – did we want to have a drive around the island with them? Yes please was the answer – beats mooching round a hotel room.

The hire car didn’t have a GPS so we did the best we could with the old fashioned method of ‘map.’ We thought we were heading to Bottom Bay on the East Coast but somehow found ourselves going round in circles inland. Great to see some local Bajun life – plenty of rum bars but not a coffee or snack bar in sight. Finally came across a Chefette and so settled for chicken roti and chicken wings. And then we found a route up to a place called Bathsheba, on the Atlantic coast. The weather was still wild but the views were stunning. We enjoyed watching the young surfers in the huge waves and also a pair of pelicans. (On a recent tour in Bridgetown, we were told that there were no more pelicans in Barbados, even though it’s their National Bird … happy to say we found some)!

Drove on up to a local bar with fabulous views over Bathsheba – would be a perfect spot for a holiday home.

The hours drifted by and so we found we just about had enough time to get back to the SOCO hotel as Ben Waters was going to play at 5.30pm. I had my last night outfit ironed and ready but ended up going straight there in my walking clothes! When we arrived the guys were on the beach watching the baby turtles making their way to the sea. A conservationist lady rescued some to take to the turtle sanctuary as there is such a low rate of survival.

Ben did a fabulous set followed by Mike D’Abo – there was lots of dancing, cocktails, beer and chats with the lovely Rock and Roll crowd. Then it was time for goodbyes (again) and Steve and I caught a ‘packed to the rafters’ reggae bus back to our hotel.

And before we knew it, after two months of being away it was time to fly home. So bye-bye beach, bye-bye Barbados, bye-bye Caribbean – we’ve had the most magical time. I have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll be back.