Cruise destinations from around the world: Barbados

Barbados, much further to the East from the other Caribbean islands, is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike its neighbors, which have a volcanic origin, Barbados is an island made of limestone, with beautiful beaches along its famous Platinum Coast and reefs with swarming marine wildlife around it.
Bridgetown, the energetic capitol of the island, is a significant business centre of the Caribbean. The heart of the city lies at the mouth of Constitution River, at the small inner harbor of Bridgetown, called Careenage. There are many pleasant cafés here by the water, ideal for a having a rest and a strong Caribbean coffee on a tiring afternoon and

watching the colorful life of the city.

Going west on St. Michael’s Row the cathedral of Bridgetown is only a few minutes walk. St. Michel’s Cathedral is known for the fact that George Washington himself visited it on his only journey outside the area of today’s United States, when Bridgetown was the largest city on the world outside Great Britain with English-speaking population.

Behind the cathedral lies Broad Street, the city’s main shopping and business district. Among the many office buildings and shopping centers there are several old colonial mansions left, decorated with wrought iron gates and balconies. This is the colonial heritage of Barbados: fantastic mansions and lush tropical gardens everywhere around the island. The owners of the plantations built mansions to express their high status in society, affording every luxury due to the rich incomes provided by sugar cane. The majority of these architectural treasures is private property and neither the locals nor the tourists can visit them. However each year (sometime between January and April) the Open House Program encourages the owners to let the public visit their property at least for a few hours. Lately those who were interested could even visit the residency of the president.This program involves not only the mansions from the colonial period; Barbados is famous for its modern architecture, too. During the Open House Program some of the astounding buildings of the illustrious Sandy Lane was opened as well.

Another yearly activity attracting many tourists is the famous summer carnival of Barbados, which continues for five weeks and has its peak on the first Monday of August, with the spectacular procession of Grand Kadooment. This summer festival commemorates the times when Barbados was the world’s largest sugar producing country, and the yearly harvest was celebrated with joyful festivities.
Besides the cultural activities and its rich heritage Barbados is also famous for its wildlife. The soil on the inside of the island proved to be too hard for establishing plantations, so this area remained practically intact through the centuries. One of the reserves here is Welchman Hall Gully Gardens, close to the west coast with fantastic rock formations, tropic plants and flowers and a towering bamboo forest. Just two miles northeast from Welchmann Hall lies Flower Forest on a vast area with steep paths meandering among thousands of flowering orchids. But the real home of orchids is Orchid World itself next to Gull Hill, on the eastern side of the island, with more than 20 thousand, astonishing, colorful and diverse species of orchids.