welchman hall gully

[DanielBu]

Hello,

 

has anybody visited this site?

Is it worth visiting?

 

Thx.

 

Daniel

[TravelToLive]

I've been there twice, but only as apart of an island tour. We used Glory Tours for a whole day tour which was great by the way. As for the gulley it's a nice little walk thru the jungle, but that's about it. I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you go as part of a tour it's cool, but I don't think I would just go to the Gulley all by its self. You walk down a path and then when you get to the end you turn around and walk back to the entrence. It's not very far. I'm going from memory, but I'd say it's around a mile give or take round trip. If you only want to spend a little time on the island and want to take a walk you would be better off going to the Nature Park. It's a nice walk, but you get to walk among the animals, like deer and monkeys.

[KroozFoolz]

I found this on Welchman Hall Gully in a cruise review. It will take me several posts since there are so many pictures.

Tuesday, May 13th- Barbados, The Quest for the Green Monkeys

 

 

 

We’re up at 6:45am and I feel the pressure today because I’m the tour guide, I’ve got my mom and her scooter and a pregnant DW to take care of all while driving on the left and trying to navigate the notoriously poorly marked Bajan roads. We get room service breakfast at 7:00am and are ready to roll by 7:45am. We are in port from 8:00am-5:00pm and I have an ambitious plan that will take up every single minute. First up is rent a car at the pier, then off to Welchman Gully, then over to Bathsheba on the East coast, then down to Crane Beach Resort on the southern coast for lunch and a few hours on the beach and pool, then back for shopping in Bridgetown.

First, I’d like to thank all those on the Barbados board, including a number of Bajans who constantly recommend great places and activities and are so helpful. The last time we were in Barbados it was just my mom and I and we went to Harrison’s Cave and we wanted to go back this time since it is the perfect activity for my mom, (no walking, all tram), and DW hasn’t been there. Unfortunately the cave is closed because there is a law in Barbados that employees have to have 2 days in a row off and since the cave is open on the weekends, it’s closed Mondays and Tuesdays. So Welchman Gully was the closest thing, it’s actually part of the same cave system that collapsed thousands of years ago and so formed a gully rather than a cave. The hike in the gully takes you right to Harrison’s Cave and there is an entrance from the gully into the cave. So that is why we ended up going to Welchman Gully, that and DW loves to hike more than anything and this sounded perfect. Mom is always content to wait especially in such a scenic site as this.

We head down the elevators to deck 1 and the gangways aren’t ready yet, they are sending everyone back up to the upper floors to wait, but since mom is on her scooter they tell her to get off and wait right there. Mom does it again! We are among the first people off the ship.

We head towards the terminal and see a bunch of people who missed the ship in San Juan heading onboard with all their luggage- bummer! We are the first at Stoutes Car Rental, where I didn’t have a reservation since it is low season and reservations don’t speed things up any with this type of local company. It takes all of about 5 minutes and we’re on our way to the car. It’s smaller than I thought and we decide to leave mom’s scooter right near where it was parked since we didn’t plan to use it much if at all anyway. We head up the West coast to Holetown and then over to Welchman Gully from there. I had forgotten just how bumpy and poorly marked the roads are. I stop at a gas station to double-check we are on the right road and get directions and also put all the gas we anticipated using in the car so we didn’t have to stop and bother later. A few turns later and I stop and double-check that I’m on the right track with a local lady waiting for a bus. Her answer is typical, she tells us we’re on the right road and to go up and turn right and then ask someone from there. The roads are that poorly marked that no one can give directions all the way to a given location since there are no signs most of the time. We continue on and by this time the terrain is wreaking havoc with DW’s bladder and it’s time to hit the little girl’s room with abandon! We are almost to the gully but find an automotive repair place and they let us use their bathroom. While DW gets a tour of Bajan auto repair bathrooms, I make sure I know the rest of the turns with the local mechanics. We’re off and we pass the entrance to Harrison’s Cave and then see signs for the gully, but even locals right by the gully aren’t sure of where the entrance is since there are 2 ends of the gully. The local consult among each other and their consensus was right and we’re there in a few minutes.

The lady at the booth was really nice and we back the car up right to the entrance and get mom situated on a park bench where she has a lovely view and some hens are cavorting about.

 

 

We pay $8 dollars each and head off down into the gully. DW is instantly transformed into explorer mode, she is like a kid in a candy shop! The smells of flowers and humidity mix into a wonderful aromatic tranquilizer that immediately soothes the soul. Are goal is to find the troupe of Green monkeys that inhabit the gully and who get fed every morning right at the entrance, but then disappear into the forest as the day heat up. We come across these amazing millipedes, they are everywhere. At one point I turn over a coconut and the hollowed out shell is chock full of them! They describe the gully on the web page as seeing Barbados as the original discovers did 300 hundred years ago, and they are correct.

 

DW is dwarfed by the trunk of this tree:

 

You soon forget that there is civilization out there and that just over an hour ago we were on a cruise ship. We hike past all kinds of palm trees, bamboo, Mohogany trees, ferns the size of trees, Baobaob trees, Bearded Fig trees, it is just gorgeous! DW is in heaven now! We look off to our right and at first I thought we found a monkey, but it’s a small dog hiding in a crevice about 10 feet up the hillside from the path. We can see it looks scared and it is surrounded by flies. We don’t want to scare him and make him run away or get bit, so we take a picture of him to show the lady at the booth.

 

Poor little guy was scared and lonely:

 

We continue on in search of the Green Monkeys. Just as we see the sign that we have reached the end of the trail, DW says, “look up there.” In the trees just above the edge of the cave system, is a Green Monkey, we head slowly off the trail and towards him. Them we see a few more up in the small nooks and crannies that line the edge of the cave. We didn’t get close enough so that we could get a good picture of them, I need a longer zoom lens! We were able to see them clearly in person though. We head back with the satisfaction that we found them.

 

 

On the way back, we explore off the trail some and when we get back to where the little dog was, I decide to take a picture of the trail marker that he was near as well so we could tell the lady right where he was. This turned out to be a great idea because when we got back she said a few people had taken pictures, but no one thought to identify exactly where he was. She called her boss and then told us they would go and try to rescue him. Now we feel like we’ve already had a full day, we made our way to the gully over bumpy roads, we found the monkeys, helped rescue a puppy and have had a breathtaking hike and all before 11:00am! When we get back to the entrance we find some more monkeys that were making their way back to the feeding station at the entrance. I think they were more active since it wasn’t so hot out. The entire hike was maybe a mile out and a mile back.

 

Bathsheba:

 

We then make our way down the scenic hillside to the East coast and Bathsheba where the main attraction is picture taking and exploring the beach and shore among the huge rock formations. Just as we are leaving a guy comes along with a tame Green Monkey and we decide to tip him since our gully pics were so distant. Maybe we can Photoshop him in! Drats, I think the necklace would be a dead giveaway!

 

Green Monkey (Tamed version):

 

We make our way over towards Crane Beach, but we run into road detours and construction, by this time it is almost 1:00pm and we wouldn’t have that much time at the resort, plus my mom is the biggest spaz in the world about missing the ship so we decide just to head back to the ship early and have lunch in the Windjammer. Believe me, cutting it short would be a lot more relaxing than being on the best beach in the world and listening to my mom worry about missing the ship, you would think if we did, we’d be forever marooned and shortly killed by cannibals! So we return the car, pick up mom’s scooter and do some shopping in the shops at the terminal and then head back on the ship for lunch around 2:30pm. I’m usually the last person back on board, so it feels weird to be early!

After lunch, DW and I change and go swimming and then get some ice cream by the main pool. I watch the first part of sailaway from the peek-a-boo bridge and then head back to our cabin to watch Barbados fade off into the distance from our balcony. We get ready for the 6:45pm ice show and get there early and enjoy some Pina Coladas pre-show. The show was again excellent with the featured female skater being the best ever. She did incredible acrobatic twirling and was also by far the best skater. The other skaters weren’t as good as other years and there were loads of falls, but it’s amazing they cant do anything on that small rink in the middle of the ocean with the rocking of the ship and all. We take a much deserved nap and then get ready for dinner. I have the lamb, which was very good. After dinner we head to the casino to use our Platinum coupons for the chance at $5000 spin. No luck! We get some cash out for our tour guide Herod in St. Lucia and then head back to the cabin and sit on the balcony a while before calling it a night. Tomorrow is our big day in St. Lucia and we wanted to get to bed early so no exploring around the ship.

[KroozFoolz]

more pictures:

 

 

Here's some close-ups of the flowers:

 

 

 

 

Vines grew everywhere in incredible patterns:

[KroozFoolz]

and more:

Without taking the time to write a novel, it would be hard to describe the beauty of this place. You are transferred back to the time when Barbados was first discovered and the whole island looked like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KroozFoolz]

the last set:

 

 

 

 

Coconut full of millipedes:

 

They are everywhere:

Hope that helps!

[rjscott]

We visited Welchman Hall Gully last Feb and enjoyed it very much. It was one of our stops on our itinerary with our private driver we had hired for a tour. From the above photos, think Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs. The trees and plants are enormous! This was not our first time to Barbados and we do enjoy seeing the many natural wonders that Barbados has to offer.

[KroozFoolz]

We visited Welchman Hall Gully last Feb and enjoyed it very much. It was one of our stops on our itinerary with our private driver we had hired for a tour. From the above photos, think Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs. The trees and plants are enormous! This was not our first time to Barbados and we do enjoy seeing the many natural wonders that Barbados has to offer.

 

The pictures I posted convinced me we have to go there! We have arranged a private tour with a driver for our visit to Barbados in April. I want to go to Welchman Hall Gulley, Flower Forest, brief stop at Bathsheba for view and photos, and if time allows, Andromeda Gardens. I expect that sights we pass on our way to these stops will be pointed out as well. Our arrangement is for four hours. Is this doable or are we trying to do too much? Any comments or suggestions? We have been to Barbados once before and visited Harrison's Cave and Flower Forest on a ship excursion of the island, but we didn't have near enough time at the Flower Forest so I have to go back there.

[rjscott]

KroozFoolz, since those attractions are very near each other, you should be ok. We spent longer at Welchman Hall Gully than we thought we would, so we didn't have time for the Flower Forest, and had to drop that off our itinerary. But, our driver, Cameron Reid, knowing we'd been to Barbados a few times before, had asked us if we'd seen The Highlands, and we had not, so he had taken us there first. It is a really beautiful photo spot, which I would recommend if you have time. But, I sure wouldn't miss Bathsheba. Now, that is spectacular!

Have a great time!

[Aplmac]

It is a really beautiful photo spot, which I would recommend if you have time.

But, I sure wouldn't miss Bathsheba. Now, that is spectacular!

Welchman Hall Gully (and the highlands part of the island)

isn't that far away from Bathsheba on the Eastern slope of the island going towards the rough Atlantic coast

-and the big coastal boulders here and there.

 

 

 

You might also think Lunch somewhere in Bathsheba, and kill several birds with one stone.

 

Taking a dip in a low-tide-pool at Bathsheba

.

[KroozFoolz]

Thanks, rjscott and aplmac - we are really looking forward to it!