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.

St Peter's Parish Church in Speightstown

This is St Peter's Parish Church in Speightstown. When our friend The Curmudgeon was little, he served as an altar boy here.

St Peter's Parish Church is one of the oldest churches in Barbados, having been built in the 1630s. It was destroyed in a hurricane in the 1830s, then burned in a fire in 1980, but was lovingly rebuilt and restored after each of these events.

Our friend The Curmudgeon has yet to revisit this old haunt of his boyhood, but I always think of him when we are in Speightstown and hope we can visit together one day.

And while you're chomping down ...

This is the view from the dining area of the Fisherman's Pub in Speightstown.

The Fisherman's Pub, Speightstown

The Fisherman's Pub in Speightstown is a great place to have an affordable, authentically Bajan meal.

It's hard to miss if you head towards the beach from the bus terminal and then turn left to walk south along the shore.

Here's the drill: You join the line in the front of the restaurant. If it's a long line, you can while away the time by watching a cricket match on the wall-mounted TV.

When you get to the glass-covered counter, behind which are trays and trays of traditional Bajan dishes, you point to what you want and a server will dish it onto a plate.

It can be hard making yourself heard through the glass but in general the folks at Fisherman's Pub are more than happy to explain what each dish is.

Definitely point to the flying fish.

When your plate is ready, you bring it to the bar and someone will decide what you should pay for it.

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.

"My Island Is Smaller Than Yours"

The first time I ever met a Barbadian, I got very excited when I realized that here, finally, was someone from an even smaller island than the one I'm from (Singapore).

I crowed, I stamped, I clapped. But, far from being insulted, my friend (let's call him The Curmudgeon) seemed quietly pleased.

I've since realized that Bajans are quite proud of their island's smallness. It is all of 430 square kilometres (or 167 square miles). Compare Singapore, at a bloated 705 sq km (272 sq mi) and getting bigger all the time, thanks to land reclamation projects.

When entering the country one time, an immigration official looked at my passport and asked me, with a twinkle in his eye, "How large is Singapore?"

"About twice the size of Barbados," I answered, stoutly.

He chuckled and shook his head with smug satisfaction.

If I were actually as clever as I tend to imagine I am, I would have added, "But only half as a nice!"

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.

West Coast Barbados Beaches

Here I must pause to rhapsodize a little about the beaches in Barbados. The West Coast of the island faces the Caribbean Sea, which for the most part is as shown here. Calm and gentle, warm and clean.

The most amazing thing about Barbados beaches is not just how beautiful they are but how free of litter. Where I come from in Southeast Asia, people treat the sea like a rubbish dump. You can't go to a beach without tripping over discarded water bottles, plastic bags, styrofoam clamshells, and other things too gross to mention.

In Barbados, however, you can walk for miles on the beach without seeing so much as a candy wrapper. I think I once saw a page of newsprint floating in the sea off Fitts Village in Paynes Bay, but that was it.

I sort of imagine that the Barbadian government employs an army of trash collectors to comb the beaches every night when all the tourists are sleeping.

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!

Getting Around Barbados

We think the best way to get around in Barbados is by bus (surprise surprise). There is a flat fare of BBD 1.50, which is the equivalent of USD 0.75. That's about 46p, if you're from the UK.

You can take the government bus (pictured here) or a private yellow bus (about which, more later). Either way, the fare is the same.

If you take a government bus, you must pay the exact fare. You wait at designated bus stops and the ride is on the whole very peaceful and sedate.

A detailed timetable of the various routes may be had at the website of the Barbados Transport Board.

The Weather in Barbados in February

This is what the weather is like in February where we live.

So, my Good Hubby and I like to take holidays to Barbados every year to escape it. So far, we have gone three times. It's one of our favourite places in the world.

The weather in Barbados in February is delightful. Warm, dry, and breezy. It does rain, but in short spells. We have never had to stay in because of the rain.

Better a balmy 27 degrees above than a barmy 27 degrees below, is what we think.