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!"