cj'sdad

We had been to Sint Maarten/St. Martin on our previous cruise. We had done an island tour by taxi right from the cruise terminal that time. It was a great experience at a reasonable price (@$35 per person for the day if I remember correctly). This time we just walked into Phillipsburg for the day. It takes about 15 minutes. We could have taken the water taxi for about $7 per person, which includes use back and forth all day, but we decided to save the money. After some shopping, we got beach chairs and umbrellas on the boardwalk beach. They were about $15-$20 per person which included a few drinks and wi-fi. Sint Maarten was hot that day, but nice with a breeze and some shade.

We wanted to go to the George Washington House, but we arrived on a Saturday and discovered at the tourist information desk at the cruise terminal that the house is not open on the weekends. It was our first time to Barbados, so we decided to just do an island tour. You can never go wrong with an island tour if you are new to an island. We have typically had great success just grabbing a taxi tour off the ship on previous cruises. Outside the cruise terminal is the official taxi stand like at every port. The usual fare for a 2 ½ -3 hour island tour we learned from previous reports about Barbados on Cruise Critic is about $25 per person. This is what we were quoted by the taxi master. However, we also knew from Cruise Critic reviews that outside the port an island tour could be hired for $15-$20. We ran the gauntlet at the taxi stand. As we neared the exit to the terminal area, a taxi driver named Negus Boyce stopped us. We negotiated a $20 per person price for an island tour, and left in his van.

Our first stop was the Barbados Museum, which was open on a Saturday. If you enjoy historical things like we do, it is worth the visit. The museum employees said that the self-guided tour would take about an hour. However, we spent nearly 1 ½ hours and could have stayed another half to full hour longer. If you don’t want to read everything, then an hour is enough.

Our driver took us to the white lion statue on Gun Hill. We saw the lion, but didn’t learn until later that there is actually an old fortress above the statue. This is because our driver was a good driver, but not a very good tour guide. Until this tour we had always had good experiences with taxi drivers as tour guides, but this driver was young and not as knowledgeable. When we asked about historical things, sometimes he knew and other times didn’t. I think, too, that because we were at the museum longer than he expected, he was trying to make up time so he could perhaps get another fare at the end of the day. Until this tour we had always had good experiences with taxi drivers as tour guides, but this driver was young and not as knowledgeable.

After winding through many country roads we arrived at the Highland Adventure Centre, the highest point on Barbados. It featured a nice view of the Atlantic east coast of the island, though the ocean was several miles away. There was a small gift shop, snack bar, and a green monkey tied to a short rope for a picture. It was not particularly impressive, and perhaps a bit pitiful for such an otherwise well developed and prosperous island.

We made a stop in St. James Parish at the old parish church established in 1628, if memory serves. The church was being prepared for Palm Sunday, which was the next day, so inside and out the church looked beautiful. It was a nice stop. A little further south in St. Thomas Parish we stopped for a few minutes at the beach at the south part of Sandy Lane Bay. It was a spectacular beach. Now we know why the rich and famous have houses on that bay.

Our driver then returned us to the ship. Our day could have been much better with a knowledgeable guide. At least, though, we know a few good places we saw to go to next time, a few more places we didn’t see that we didn’t get to see, and a few places we don’t need to see again. We also discovered we need to have a better way of screening a taxi driver to see if he or she is a good guide. Sometimes you get what you pay for.