It’s a lituation every time we link up. A good friend of mine, Kayla Thompson, put this baby together. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Beautiful Barbados. The trip was planned as a 6 day/5 night Crop Over celebration, my first carnival experience. I have to say that planning a trip during festive celebrations such as the cultural celebration of Carnival is for Caribbean’s is a sure fire way to have a great time. We had something to do whenever we were ready. I touched down on a Saturday afternoon, once I got settled in we took off to Bridgetown Market in search of food and goodies. A few of my friends had gotten there a day earlier and participated in a crop over Carnival party that lasted until about 5/6am the next morning called Foreday Morning Jam. Came in guns a blazing. Big tip here when you go to a country for a celebration like this look up events like parties at night to purchase presale tickets if need be. After the festival we decided to go to the beach before the party later that night. We went to a different party every night, each one had a different presentation of the soca culture. Three out of four parties were outside. One was on the beach with an open bar hosted by Elevate. This is one of the best parties I’ve ever experienced. They gave us a glass of champagne upon entry in flukes and souvenir cups. There were several tents surrounding the border of the party space with different brands of liquor and beer. The brews were cold and the different brands presented options of original craft cock tails. All this with a few food trucks and a few hundred people on the sandy dance floor in front of a stage with soca music being blasted. A party if I’ve ever been to one. The other parties we went to were outside with similar setups, except in fields. You will learn that is a big part of the nightlife celebrating carnival. We did go to one night club in the GAP on our last night when things started to calm down.
The Gap was a cool neighborhood that our taxi driver recommended to us to get food and try the club. We tried Gap Burger that was a local street cart and we ate at Gap Pond one night. The food was great and the Rum punch was better! Definitely spend some time in the gap. For day time events the main event was the Crop Over parade. For that you wake up based upon your level of participation. If you jump which means you’re in the parade with a band to dance the route you get up early to get in costume. Others who are spectators along the side jumping in and out can wake up when the mood strikes go time. The main festivities begin at a stadium at about 8am. I was in between the two, some of my friends dressed in some costume they personally designed and I just threw on a tank to be a spectator. We lined up on the side of the street and when the parade reached us BOOM, were at another amazing party. It was a sight to see families, friends, and strangers line and march the streets playing Soca music and dancing. I felt the spirit of pride in tradition and saw genuine joy.
We also visited Harrison Caves one day, which we took a tour and learned about some of the history of the cave and the island. It always interesting to learn the history of different places. I highly recommend finding a historical tour to learn about the place you’re visiting. It could help you understand the why of the way things are and how they’re done in the place you’re visit. Another place we visited was a historical plantation St. Abbeys for a tour of an estate that included a tasting of rum being distilled on the property. What better way to learn about an island than learning while enjoying the local spirits. We also booked a sea turtle and shipwreck snorkel experience that was amazing. We swam in the Caribbean Sea where we saw artifacts and some wildlife. And we jammed on the boat while enjoying rum punch and sailing into a beautiful sunset with our great captains who were gracious host. We ended up linking up with them later that day to show us some more of the night life. All in all I got a great taste of Beautiful Barbados and I’d do it again anytime. I didn’t leave as planned, I got stuck on the island for 3 more days ended up in an all inclusive extended my vacay and had a great self retreat. That’s a story for another time. Go to Barbados and have a beautiful time. Oh yeah, be sure to hang out at Oistins on Friday night to enjoy a good ol “Fish Fry”.
If you’ve been to Barbados and you have more suggestions for places to go or if you’re planning a trip there beside to connect with us @worldcitizenstravel! And if you decide to go and want to stay at an all inclusive resort, I would suggest staying at Sugar Bay Resort. I had the time of my life being stuck there for 3 days!!
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