The "Barbados Hospitality" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just getting back from a fantastic day exploring the island of Barbados. Got up early this morning, our last day for our car rental, and checked with Jerry and Just Sue, our traveling companions, to see what time they wanted to leave for our trip around the island. Jerry's feet and ankles showed some signs of swelling the day before, and he is having some trouble with them again today, so they opt not to go with Carol and me. After breakfast, we pack the bathing suits and towels in the car and Carol and I head out the entrance from the Divi Resort. This is an English island, so the driving is on the left side of the road. Took an hour or so to get used to it when I first tried it in St. Croix a few years ago, but can now navigate the roads as a seasoned tourist. The only problem in Barbados is the lack of road signs. NONE! You try to get directions from someone and then use land marks to find your way to your destination. "Drive a mile to the blue house, head right until you reach the gas station, head left until you get to the big tree with a dead branch overhanging the road, and ask someone else." This is the way you reach your destination. We had a detailed island map and found our first destination on it, Bottom Bay Beach, and headed to the right when we pulled out of the Divi driveway. Bottom BayBeach was on my "Must-See" list, ever since I saw photos of it in Caribbean Travel and Life and thought it was so beautiful. Wasn't long before we stopped for directions. And then again. And again. We thought we may be close to the beach, but everything looked the same as everything else we had passed in the last half hour. I stopped at an intersection and just waited. Figured we would flag down the next person and try again to get directions. Well, here he comes towards us. I stuck my hand out the window and started waving. He was an older man who definitely was a Barbadian and pulled even with me and stopped. "Can you help us? We're lost!" I asked him. He asked, in an unusual English accent, where we were going and after telling him Bottom Bay Beach, he said we are headed in the wrong direction. Kinda figured that. He told us to turn around at the next house and follow him and he would lead us to Bottom Bay Beach. Wow! Had the car turned around in no time and started following him. He was on island time so it took another 15 minutes before he signaled us to pull along the side of his car. He pointed to a herd of goats that were about a block away and told us to try to get around them and then make the first left and travel to the end of the road. Park the car and follow the path to the edge of the cliff. The beach will be below the cliff. That's easy, I thought. I got out of the car and tried to give him something for his trouble, but he refused, telling me that he had nothing to do today and was glad for the chance to drive to Bottom Bay. Wasn't long before we chased the goats off the road and found ourselves looking down onto one of the most beautiful white sand beaches we had ever seen. Spend a few minutes taking photos which compared to the one in the magazine, then found a set of steep steps that we navigated to reach the beach below. Wasn't disappointed by the soft white sand and the beautiful blue water. Bottom Bay Beach is on the Eastern side of Barbados and on the Atlantic Ocean. The water was very rough and we didn't attempt to enter it. After spending time walking the beach and taking more photos, we relaxed for an hour on our towels before we headed back to the car and the next stop on our journey. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top are: goats blocking our way to the beach, palms above Bottom Bay Beach, photo as I remember it from the Caribbean Travel and Life Magazine, view of the beach from the top of the cliff, Carol heading down to the beach, beautiful white sands of Bottom Bay, LDub standing along the rough surf of the beach.