Land of Changing Views

Travelling through Barbados leaves me constantly confused. One moment, I feel that I am clearly in the Caribbean, the next moment I feel that I could be in the Highlands of Scotland. That is part of the intrigue of the island. There are not the dramatic high mountains of Jamaica, or the volcanic peaks of St. Lucia or Dominica. But the palm and banana trees that hug the rolling hills of Barbados, especially its eastern coastline, in St. Andrew parish, give the island a distinct charm.

Visitors get to see a lot of differences in a short time, thanks to a good network of local roads. It's not too intimidating to take a car drive around what are really lots of winding lanes. However, the signposting is not the best, and without a map, getting lost is very easy.

Another aspect of Barbados that is charming is the range of Anglican parish churches that are all over the island. This is not so strange in the Caribbean, but Barbados has a selection of some really beautiful churches. A historian, whether or not Christian, will find so many places that date back several hundred years, and often in very good condition. Some of the tombs and mausoleums are wonderful works of art. Casual or intense interest will be easily satisfied during a tour of the beautiful old churches.The churchyards alone are worth a day trip each, just to see the phyical record of history that is still evident. We're lucky in the sense that tourism development has not yet made too much head way in pushing some of these sites and they are still quiet and unspoilt, with very few visitors. The fact that these sites are relatively far from the tourist concentrations on the south and west coast could be their saving. There is enough tranquility in just driving around the interior and the east coast, and it was really surprising to find that the roads have very little traffic.