The Walk from River Bay to Animal Flower Cave

For the past three years now, we have taken the bus to River Bay and then walked along the plateau to the Animal Flower Cave and caught the bus back again.

The big drawback of this itinerary is that the inbound bus from the Animal Flower Cave is an unreliable creature. I see in my notebook a note that reads "Inbound bus from Animal Flower Cave is at 44 mins past the hour. Or 12 mins. Who knows?"

Last year, we stood in the hot sun for about an hour and a half waiting for it. I began to lose hope. I was about to bail and call for a taxi, but the walk back to the Animal Flower Cave concession stand to find a phone book would have been about ten minutes long—and what if a bus came during that time?

The GH counselled patience (a situation rich in irony). But sure enough, about ten minutes later, the welcome sight of a blue bus!

So, the strategy nowadays is to ask the driver to let us off at the Animal Flower Cave, have our picnic there, and then walk back to River Bay. Either way, it takes about an hour over rocky ground. I recommend sturdy shoes (at least Crocs) and good sun protection (about which, more to come!)

River Bay

Along the north coast of Barbados, the sea behaves like a wild thing, heaving in several different directions at once and crashing on the coral cliffs with great thunderous booms.

But where the river of River Bay runs out to sea, there is a shallow, calm spot where you can take a dip while the Atlantic rages a few yards away.

It's a popular picnic spot. There is a public facility with washrooms and changing rooms, and the Connelltown bus arrives here at about 20 minutes past the hour, every hour.

St Lucy's Parish by the Connelltown Bus

Back in 2010, we had planned to explore the north coast of Barbados, as we had heard it was spectacular. Then the GH's face met with a rock on Gibbs Beach and our plans were derailed. In 2011, we finally got to visit St Lucy—and were blown away. It is now a staple excursion for us, just as Bathsheba is.

The Connelltown bus leaves Bridgetown on the hour every hour and travels up the West Coast road. I figured it would pass by Gibbs Beach at a little past the half-hour, and I was right. The bus came by at about 11.35. The ride took us north along the coast (calling in at the Speightstown bus terminal briefly on the way) and through an interesting-looking settlement called Six Men's Bay. There's a good-looking restaurant there called the Fish Pot which I would like to try some day when I win the lottery (Fodor's guide lists it as $$$$).

If you are going to the Animal Flower Cave (which an old gentleman at the Speightstown bus terminal once told us, sotto voce, was not worth visiting), the Connelltown bus will take you there, but you have to tell the driver that's where you want to get off, because there are no clues from the road that the Cave is even there. You get off at a bend in the road where the bus swings right, and walk down a dusty street past a couple of stalls selling postcards and seashells.

Alternatively, you can do like we do and walk to the Animal Flower Cave from the River Bay picnic ground, which looks like this ...

Rise in Bus Fare!

Oops, I have been rather lazy about keeping up this blog in the last year or so (despite having had two wonderful vacations in Barbados since my last post—I guess they were too relaxing), but I feel I must report that bus fares are now BBD2.00 per ride.

That's a 25 percent increase over the old fare, but compared to transit fares here at home in Toronto, that still seems like a pretty good deal, especially when you consider the spectacular places you can go in Barbados by bus!

Grantley Adams International Airport

The Sam Lord's Castle bus stops at the Grantley Adams International Airport on its way east from Oistins. So if we were purists about taking the bus (which I must confess we're not), this would be our route to and from the airport.

There are other buses that stop here (including the Speightstown-Kirtons, St Philip bus and the Fairchild Street-Yorkshire, Christ Church bus) but the Fairchild Street-Sam Lord's bus seems to be the only one with a regular schedule seven days of the week.

We usually take a cab to and from the airport. The fares don't seem to be fixed and our host P.H. said she had sometimes been charged exorbitantly, but in general we have found that a cab from the airport to St Peter's Parish costs about USD40.00 or so.

At some other point I will discuss the food options at Grantley Adams, but for now I should concentrate on our excursion to Bottom Bay, which was part of an attempt at Oistins Fish Fry Traffic Jam Avoidance.

Fairchild Street Bus Terminal, Bridgetown

Bridgetown has two bus terminals, the main one on Fairchild Street and a secondary, open-air one on Alice Street. The Fairchild Street terminal lies just across the O'Neal Bridge, which is what Bridge Street is called where it spans the Careenage.

The Fairchild Street terminal is a slightly claustrophobic building, but like the Speighstown bus terminal it is efficient and well signposted. The Sam Lord's Castle bus leaves every half hour from Gate 12.

This is the bus that goes along the southern coast where most of the tourist resorts are located, so it was packed with a fair number of tourists. At the end of the stretch, as the bus turned away from the coast just past Oistins, we were the only conspicuous non-locals left on board.

The driver was so concerned that we had missed our stop that he shouted back to make sure we knew where we were going! Just one of many instances of kindness we've met in Barbados, and a major reason we keep going back there.

Bridgetown

The yellow bus we took into Bridgetown let us off on a narrow shopping street near the centre of the city. I'm not sure which street it was, but it may have been Milk Market or a street parallel to it. In any case, we walked down to the corner with Broad Street and turned left to head towards Trafalgar Square and Bridge Street, which crosses over the Careenage to where the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal is located.

We've only been in Bridgetown twice. It's a busy, dusty city, and not really what we like best about Barbados (after all, there's lots of city grime where we come from). We tried once to have supper there at the end of a long day and found to our surprise that everything, even the restaurants, shuts up at about five-thirty.

I'd like, however, to stop here for a Chefette roti lunch the next time we are here changing buses for Sam Lord's Castle. There is a Chefette around the corner from the Fairchild Street Terminal, which is what I'll write about next.

Oistins Traffic Jam Avoidance

So our cunning plan to get to the fish fry without meeting the Oistins traffic jam was this: We would spend the day visiting the famous Bottom Bay on the southeast coast of Barbados. Then, at about five, we'd catch a bus to Oistins, travelling in the opposite direction to everyone else!

It was an excellent plan. We just executed it in a less-than-perfect way, so if you're going to try this, please learn from our mistakes.

At about 10.30 in the morning, we left our digs in St Peter's Parish and caught a yellow bus down to the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal. From there, we caught the noon bus to Sam Lord's Castle. There, we had lunch at the Tropical Winds Apartment Hotel, then walked the rest of the way to Cave Bay and Bottom Bay.

The walk took about an hour, which wasn't great in the 30-degree heat. The GH got a big blister on his heel, though by the next evening he had rather more to worry about in the wounds and swellings department! If I did it again, I would stop for a Chefette roti lunch in Bridgetown, then head out on the bus. The bus goes beyond Sam Lord's Castle to Shrewsbury, which is where we should have got off.

Instead, we ended up making something of an epic journey, which I'll chronicle in the next few posts.

The Oistins Fish Fry Traffic Jam

A definite downside to the Oistins Fish Fry is the traffic jam you have to endure in getting there. There are direct buses (yellow and blue) to Oistins from Speightstown along the West Coast road, but when we casually strolled out at 6 pm to the bus stop at Fitts Village (where we were staying the first time we went to the fish fry) , we had to let several buses go by as they were so packed with people there was no room for us to get on.

When we did finally get on a bus, it got bogged down in rush-hour traffic around Bridgetown, and from there it was stop-and-go all the way to Oistins! It was well past 8 pm before we arrived.

The bus goes along the South Coast, which is where most of the tourist resorts are. I can't say that the strip is much to our taste, but maybe it's best for Bajans if the rowdiest tourists are all concentrated in one small part of the island.

The second time we went to the fish fry, we left from Bathsheba. This time we thought we would dodge the traffic by going early, and presented ourselves at the bus stop outside the Sea-U Guest House at 3 pm (buses go to Bridgetown every hour from Bathsheba). Strangely, the bus never arrived, and one of our fellow would-be passengers said it might have something to do with school being let out.

So we took the 4 pm to Bridgetown and changed at the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal to the Sam Lord's Castle bus, which leaves at the top and bottom of every hour (i.e., every 30 minutes). But by then the rush hour was in full force, so we still got to the fish fry rather later than we had planned. In fact, the one-way trip took three hours!

So this year, we had a cunning plan ... stay tuned to find out what it was.

By the way, buses from Bridgetown back to Bathsheba leave every half hour between 5 and 8 pm; thereafter they leave every hour on the hour.

The Soup Bowl Cafe

The Soup Bowl Cafe functions as an informal bus terminus for Bathsheba. After arriving from Speightstown and Bridgetown, buses sit across from the Soup Bowl Cafe for about ten minutes before beginning their inbound journeys.

The cafe is so named for its proximity to a famous surfing cove known as the Soup Bowl. I knew this--nevertheless we headed in here one afternoon in hopes of having a nice chunky fish stew or something like it for lunch. You can't say the phrase "soup bowl cafe" to a food-minded person like me and expect me to think of gnarly waves.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem that there was any food to be had in the cafe at all. It is, however, a nice enough place to sit and sip a cold beer or a can of pop. Not that we're surfing types at all, but I believe you can rent a surfboard from here (or the place next door).

According to The New York Times, the Soup Bowl is set to become one of the world's great surfing destinations. I hope not. I like Bathsheba as it is--sleepy and somewhat underpopulated.

Getting To and From Bathsheba

As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a bus to Bathsheba that leaves the Speightstown Bus Terminal every two hours on the odd hours. The trip takes about 50 minutes.

There is also a bus from the Fairchild Street terminal in Bridgetown that leaves at the top of every hour (every half hour in the rush hours). The running time for this journey is 70 minutes.

The "terminus" in Bathsheba is the Soup Bowl Cafe (about which more elsewhere). The buses leave from here to go back to Bridgetown every hour and to Speightstown every two hours on the even hours.

Andromeda Botanical Gardens

Just before the bus from Speightstown descends into Bathsheba, it stops at the lovely Andromeda Botanical Gardens.

Like everything else in Barbados, the gardens are small but full of charming surprises. Here's a picture I took of a frangipani tree that happened to be in blossom--but out of leaf--at the time of my visit.

There are brochures that guide the visitor on walks through the gardens, and a cafe where you can stop for a light meal.

The bus back to Speightstown leaves Bathsheba on the even hours, so watch for it to pass by Andromeda Botanical Gardens at about five minutes past.

If you are a good walker, it's possible to make the rest of the journey to Bathsheba on foot. It's not a busy road and Bajan drivers are good at looking out for pedestrians, but remember to walk facing oncoming traffic.

Farley Hill

About twenty minutes out of Speightstown, the Bathsheba bus makes a stop at Farley Hill, a small public park set atop a 300-metre escarpment. This is also the stop for the Barbados Wildlife Reserve.

The view from Farley Hill is spectacular, taking in almost all of the Scotland District (the name given to the rugged northeast coast of Barbados).

The cordoned-off, charred ruins of a 19th-century sugar baron's mansion stand in the middle of Farley Hill park. I had always thought the house must have burned down in its heyday, in a time before electric lighting, but my guidebook informs me otherwise.

Apparently, the mansion had been restored in 1956 for a lavish Hollywood movie starring Harry Belafonte. Sadly, the various movie-set embellishments turned out to be fairly inflammable, so that a few years later the house was destroyed in a fire.

The bus back to Speightstown stops by at about 20-25 minutes before an odd hour. Or if you're going on to Bathsheba, cross the road again and catch the bus at 20 minutes past an odd hour.

From Bridgetown, the Indian Ground bus that leaves from the Princess Alice bus terminal makes a stop at Farley Hill. The best departure times for a day excursion are 11.45 am and 1.45 pm from Mon-Fri; 9.45 am and 12.45 pm on Saturdays; and 10.45 am and 1.30 pm on Sundays. You'll have to check with the driver for inbound times.

Speightstown to Bathsheba

Our favourite excursion from Speightstown is to Bathsheba, a small settlement on the East Coast.

Buses to Bathsheba leave from the Speightstown Bus Terminal every two hours on the odd hours. The journey takes about 50 minutes and there are great views to be had along the way.

This is also the bus to take to visit the Barbados Wildlife Reserve or Farley Hill. The two attractions share the same bus stop and are across the road from each other.

As the bus turns south and starts travelling along the rugged East Coast, it stops at Barclays Park, which is a great place to have a picnic.

Just before descending into Bathsheba, this bus also goes by the quite lovely Andromeda Botanic Gardens.

So there are at least four sightseeing excursions that can be made using this one bus route. It's a good bus to know about.

The Speightstown Bus Terminal

The Speightstown Bus Terminal is one of three terminals operated by the Barbados Transport Board (the other two are in Bridgetown).

If you're anywhere north of Holetown on the West Coast, this will be your starting point for tours of the island.

Our favourite excursion from here is to Bathsheba, but the many tourist attractions of the northern parishes (the Animal Flower Cave, Farley Hill, and the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, to name a few) are accessible by bus from Speightstown.

Routes and schedules from Speightstown may be found at the Transport Board website.

Speightstown

Speightstown (pronounced "Spikestown") is a very charming town in St Peter's Parish, at the north end of the West Coast.

It is the "second city" of Barbados after Bridgetown. Named after its founder, William Speight, Speightstown was a thriving port until the 20th century.

Nowadays, however, Speightstown has a pleasantly sleepy air to it, and the words "roaring trade" do not exactly apply.

The former wealth of Speightstown is still apparent in some of the grand stone buildings that stand along Queen Street. One of these, Arlington House, has been turned into a museum that's well worth visiting for insights into Barbadian life, both past and present.

Virtually all buses running north along the main West Coast road will end up in Speightstown. From the Speightstown bus terminal (about which more elsewhere), you can also catch buses to other parts of the island, notably Bathsheba on the wild, Atlantic East Coast.

There are nice places to eat here (watch for a future post about the Fisherman's Pub), a well-stocked supermarket (Jordans), and several banks, including a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada.

The West Coast from Bridgetown to Speightstown

Many visitors to Barbados stay on the West Coast. It's not surprising, since most of it looks like this.

There are buses running up and down the stretch between Bridgetown and Speightstown all the time. It's rare to have to wait even five minutes for one.

Both Speightstown and Holetown are good for shopping and dining, as well as banking and communications.

If you're staying on the West Coast, getting around by bus is surely the easiest and cheapest option.

Barbados Bus Stop Appreciation Part II

Away from the more populated parts of Barbados, the bus stops look like this.

Those pointing towards Bridgetown say "To City", while those pointing away say "Out of City".

It couldn't be simpler or more reassuring.

These stops are obviously fairly spare, but Barbados is an unpretentious place and no one will bat an eyelid if you find a nice spot of shade nearby and squat in it.

At some of these stops, an unofficial seat has been fashioned from a log or a tree root.

We've had some of our most interesting conversations with Bajans at such stops. Last year we met a man who was a lifeguard on a public beach on the West Coast. He said he had pulled more tourists from the water than he could count. He was very polite about it, but we gathered that most of these people had been plastered when they threw themselves into the water.

It's sad when tourists are not as dignified as the country they're visiting.

Barbados Bus Stop Appreciation Part I

You can tell a lot about a country from its bus stops. After all, waiting at bus stops is a big part of travelling by bus. If the government of a country really cares about its people, this will be manifested in bus stop design and construction.

This bus stop (located in St Peter's Parish) quite warmed my heart when I first saw it. You know you're in a nice country when the bus stops look like this.

There's shelter from the elements, a place to sit down, even a receptacle for trash. And it's set back from the road so you're not too close to the traffic going by. The design and materials are simple, yet elegant.

It makes me want to hug whoever was responsible.

The Yellow Bus is Fun but a Tad Frenetic

These yellow buses are privately run and they buzz around the island in an exuberant, hair-raising manner.

Like the blue government buses, it costs only BBD 1.50 per ride. The advantage of taking a yellow bus is that you can get change when paying your fare. In fact, you can pay in US dollars, but you will get your change in Barbados currency.

It's a good way to get a lot of small change, fast.

Another advantage of taking the yellow bus is that you don't have to schlep yourself all the way to the nearest bus stop. Just flag 'em down from wherever you are standing; they will screech to a halt nearby.

You'll be sharing the bus with lots of people. There will also be loud music playing; sometimes the entire busload of passengers will sing along too. And when yellow bus drivers sound their horns, it's often the first bar of La Cucaracha that blares out as the bus skids around the corner.

So the yellow bus is fun but a tad frenetic. Definitely a great way to travel with the locals, but if you're feeling tired after a day of sightseeing, it may be worth waiting a few minutes at the bus stop for the blue bus. Calmness and efficiency are part of Bajan culture too!