"To confess truly, of all the islands I have seen unto this day, not any pleased me so well!!!"

 

Said one of the first visitors to Barbados, the English man Sir Henry Colt, who arrived in 1631.
For well over three centuries, visitors to its glittering shores have been impressed by this "gem of the Caribbean".

Barbados is located 160 km to the east of the Caribbean chain. Of all the islands, Barbados is the most eastern one, 130 km far from Saint Lucia and 160 Km from Martinique and Grenada.
The island is coral rather than volcanic and relatively flat, though this doesn't seem so when you're trying to drive your car up a steep road in the hilly  "Scotland District". The highest point on the island, Mount Hillaby, is only 400 meters above sea level. The island is 23 km wide and 34 km long and has 260.000 inhabitants; most of them (about 90%) are black or mulattos.
Typical of Barbados fauna are the green monkey and the mangoose, that caused the disappearance of the snakes. There are many sea birds, especially migrant and wader ones; more than 180 species have been sighted on the island,  of which about thirty nest in Barbados.

Named the "Queen of the Caribbean", Barbados has one of the best climates in the world: 27°C of average temperature and more than 3.000 hours of sunshine in a year with the cool breeze coming from the north-east.
The most rainy months are September, October and November, but the rain showers are usually short. Barbados is also blessed because most of the hurricanes pass north of the island; the hurricane Janet, in 1956, was the last one to hit Barbados.
Today's Weather

Government: Independent country since 1966, member of the Commonwealth; the capital is Bridgetown.

Language: English and a local dialect called "bajan".

Currency: the Barbados dollar (BDS) or the American dollar (USD). The BDS is half of the value of an USD (1 USD = 1,98 BDS) . Credit cards are accepted by most of the shops, hotels and restaurants. The most common ones are: American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Euro card. There is no limit to the quantity of money that you can bring into the country. Banks are open from Monday to Thursday from 8:00 am to 15:00 pm, Fridays to 17:00 pm. Eurocheques are not accepted; it's necessary to have traveller's cheques in american dollars, euro, or english sterling.

Documents: valid passport.

Health: no vaccination are required; water is drinkable everywhere on the island.

Transportation: renting a car is one of the best ways to visit beautiful Barbados; there are many rental companies where it's possible to rent cars, scooters and mini-mokes (small jeeps). The average prices are: USD 60 per day; USD 250 per week. People drive on the left side of the road, like in England, and the speed limit is usually 60 km/h. International driving licences are not accepted: there is a local driving permit (obligatory) that costs USD 5 and lasts for a whole year (you will need your personal driving licence).It's also possible to visit the island with public transportation, that serve most of the territory from 6:00 am to 24:00 pm.

Boarding tax: BDS 25 per person to pay when leaving Barbados directly at the check-in desk at the airport.

Voltage: 110 volt with American plug.

Local time: The time difference with Europe is -5 hours in winter and -6 hours in summer (England is -4 in winter and -5 in summer). In Barbados there is not day light saving time. 

 

Gastronomy: in Barbados you will find any kind of restaurants, from the Chinese to the Italian to the local food. A typical island dish is Flying Fish, fried, grilled or stewed. Other specialties are: pickled bread fruit, conkies (made of cornmeal, coconut, pumpkin and spices, placed on steamed young banana leaf) and pepper pot (meat stew with manioc).

Rum: it's the most popular liquor in Barbados, white or dark, distilled from the sugar cane, the second major income of local people (the first is tourism). It's possible to visit the Mount Gay or the Malibu factories to understand the process to get the final product, rum, from sugar cane.

Shopping: in the duty-free shops you will find crystals, perfumes, watches... The local art craft offers hats, batiks, corals and shells articles, potteries...

Opening hours: from 8:00 am to 16:00 pm from Monday to Friday; from 8:00am to 13:00 pm on Saturdays; on Sundays they are usually closed.

Telephone: local calls are free when using a private telephone; from telephone boots there is a charge of BDS 0,25. Barbados international area code is 246.

Mail service: in every parish of the island there is a post-office; the General Post Office in Cheapside (Bridgetown) is very modern and it offers the most important mail services. The cost of a stamp to Europe is: BDS 0,70 for a postcard and BDS 1,40 for a letter.

Religion: mostly anglican. The history of Barbados' Anglican Church goes back to the 17th century when the first British settlers claimed Barbados for their religion, Anglican. Barbados' first church, St. James Parish Church, was named for Britain's ruling monarch, King James I. Today there are 60 Anglican churches throughout the island ministering to over 100.000 members. Over the decades many other denominations have joined Barbados' religious mosaic: Methodist, Moravian, orthodox, Baptist, Jehovah, Jewish, Pentecostal, Adventist, catholic, Buddhist and Hinduism. For catholic worship: St Dominic's (Maxwell Main Road, Christ Church) is the closest to Mark & Milena's guesthouse. Sunday Mass 7:30 and 10:00 am; Saturday 6:30 pm.