I love swimming but the sea has always terrified me. I like to be able to see what’s beneath me and touch the bottom with my toes. After reading this, I’ll definitely never be venturing very far from shore again. Grant has brilliantly and terrifyingly transformed the pretty little mermaids of fairy tales and Disney films into nightmarish, slimy, slithering monsters that will pursue you with unnatural speed and tear you apart with horrible mouths crammed full of pointed, razor-sharp teeth. The book is well-written and easy to read, although the frequent use of clichés at the end of paragraphs to create added drama is a little irritating. “They didn’t. But then they never did.” “The screaming takes longer to end, but in time, it does. Everything ends.” etc. The plot is gripping and compelling. It moves quickly and held my interest throughout. The dialogue is authentic and witty. There were moments of humour that made me smile, if not actually laugh out loud, but I’m very difficult to please where comedy is concerned. Although it was technically science fiction, the premise felt frighteningly believable. There were some scenes that felt a little contrived and threatened the overall authenticity, such as when the protagonist falls into a sea boiling with hundreds of murderous sea creatures that have been killing everyone on sight but, for reasons that are not well-explained, choose to leave her unharmed. Really? I liked the main characters and cared about what happened to them. I enjoyed the little romance between Tori and Olivia. However, it was impossible not to notice that people from every possible diversity group were represented in the cast; age, race, culture, nationality, physical and mental ability, sexual preference etc. etc. Very correct and appropriate of course, but maybe a little bit over the top for authenticity? Almost every character exhibited at least one of the UK 2010 Equal Opportunities Act “protected characteristics”. For me, it all came to a rather rushed and unsatisfying conclusion. All of a sudden, the boat shutters come down, the mermaids are dying, the rescue boat arrives and all the survivors live happily ever after.
The lockdown, or “National Pause”, in Barbados has been extended until midnight on the 28th of February.
The lockdown, or “National Pause”, in Barbados has been extended until midnight on the 28th of February. In addition, the curfew has been extended from the hours of darkness (7pm until 6am), to include weekends. This weekend, for the first time, we are not allowed to leave our homes, for any reason, from 7pm on Friday until 6am on Monday. They are also planning to tighten up their monitoring of compliance with the restrictions, and will be dishing out severe penalties including large fines and even prison sentences, to people who breach the conditions of the directive.
It is all because the numbers are not going down, and it seems that not everyone is adhering to the protocols. Several people have been arrested, and taken into custody, for running illegal parties (limes), or opening their business when they are not permitted to do so. To be honest, on the rare occasions when we have been out, on our way to and from the beach or supermarket, we have been surprised by the large number of cars on the road and people that are about. But, you could argue that we were contributing to these large volumes ourselves!
Sadly, deaths continue to rise. A couple of days ago the country lost their first healthcare provider, when a nurse succumbed to the virus. Tragically, on Monday a 9-year-old girl died from Covid-19 related MIS-C (multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children). This has shaken the island community to it’s core. Especially as it was also revealed that around 40 other children are seriously ill with similar symptoms.
On a more positive note, the island has started it’s vaccination programme after it was gifted a batch of the AZ/Oxford vaccine from India. M has registered for his, as a citizen with a serious underlying health condition, and we are waiting to hear when he will be offered an appointment.
As expected, the past couple of weeks have been very different to our lockdown experience in the UK. We get up at 5am every day, and leave the house at 6am to head to the beach to make the most of our 3 hour permitted exercise slot. We walk, jog or swim, and are usually back home just after 9am for coffee and breakfast. When we need to, we pick up some groceries on the way home.
Sunrise on Bottom Bay
I use the term “picking up some groceries” very loosely. Shopping has been the most challenging aspect of lockdown in Barbados. We tried to stock up as best as we could before the Pause but, by the second weekend, we were running out of a few things and fresh vegetables in particular. With all shops being closed on Saturday and Sunday, we thought we’d do a little shop on Friday. Well, it’s fair to say that we were well and truly shocked by the length of the queues, or lines, as they are referred to here. Every shop we tried, had long lines of people outside, winding around the block and down the street. Rather than stand in the blazing mid-morning sun for an hour or so, we decided to make do with what we had in the house and try again the following week.
We tried again on the Tuesday. We still had to queue but it wasn’t as bad as it appeared and, when we made it inside, the shop was uncrowded and well-stocked. Once we got ourselves into the right mindset, the soothing background tunes and the air conditioning helped to make it a relatively stress free experience. Nevertheless, we did a fairly big shop to avoid having to repeat the experience too often!
Other than going to the beach and the supermarket, our days have been spent sitting on the balcony, writing, reading, sewing, and listening to audiobooks and podcasts. In the second week, we were entertained by Mia’s (the Prime Minister) dulcet tones being broadcast from vehicles touring the island, reminding everyone of the need to stay at home, wear a mask and wash their hands, and motivating them to “beat Covid” together. It was quite strange and all felt a bit Orwellian, but doesn’t everything these days?
The upside of it all is that I have got lots of writing done. I have been so encouraged by the feedback on Wait for Me, that I have decided to write a sequel rather than re-visit The Ice Factory or start something new. It’s great fun writing about life in a Zombie Apocalypse and people seem to want more so why not? I have already written 6347 words! At this rate, I’ll have finished in a year or so! Well, we’ll see …
So, in the final month, of the first year of our Covid-19 experience, we have entered lockdown for the second time! This time in Barbados! I somehow think that this one will be a very different experience to the dark days of March and April in 2020.
Who would have thought that the past year would have been such a strange roller coaster of new and frightening experiences, scary and exhilarating choices and decisions, and the adventure of a lifetime!
Last year, on Monday the 3rd of February, we had just returned from a 3 week holiday in Barbados, and were looking forward to going to the pantomime in Birmingham with our grandson, the following afternoon. Little did we know that the next month the whole world would be in the grip of the pandemic, and that we were about to begin the strangest year of our lives. Nor had we any idea that we would be back in Barbados by the autumn, this time for an extended stay.
On the 12th of January I wrote about the second wave that Barbados had been experiencing since Christmas. In many ways they appear to have regained some control over the surge of infections, but the situation remains worse than it was back at the start of the pandemic for them. They have now had a total of 1585 cases and, sadly, 14 deaths. They have admitted that the virus is now spreading in the community and that some cases of the highly infectious UK variant have been detected.
For this reason, a week or so ago, the Prime Minister announced that there will be a “National Pause” (aka lockdown) from the 3rd to the 17th of February. The hope is that this will serve to eradicate the last traces of the virus on the island.
The basic message is “Stay at Home”, unless you have to go out for medical reasons, to buy food or to exercise between 6am and 9am.
The existing curfew has been extended to 7pm to 6am, during which time it is forbidden to leave your home for any reason except a medical emergency.
Masks are mandatory in all public places.
Parks and beaches are open between 6am and 9am only.
All shops, bars, restaurants and street vendors, except for a few large supermarkets and bakeries, are closed. Supermarkets are open for restricted hours only from Monday to Friday, and are closed at weekends.
It’s not going to be so bad though. It’s warm and we can sit outdoors. We have a pool. We can still do our exercise in the early mornings. The freezer is stocked up. Mia (the PM) has suggested we all use it as time to Rest, Reflect and Renew and that is exactly what we plan to do. I’ve been taking a break from writing since I published Wait for Me, so it seems like a good time to get going again!
On a lighter note – 2021 cozzies come with matching masks!
Testing here remains an issue, particularly in relation to travel. Many countries, including the UK, Canada and the US, now require negative tests before people are allowed to enter the country. In addition, many people are rushing home before prolonged and costly “hotel quarantines” are introduced. This has placed an excessive demand on the testing services, and obtaining results before travel has become an unpredictable and stressful experience. There are many stories of people who have not received their results in time and have not been able to board their flights.
The big story that broke yesterday is that Captain Tom (now Sir Tom) the great British icon of positivity and stoicism in the face of the virus, has died from it! It is not just terribly ironic that the very thing that made him famous has killed him. It is also, for me, symbolic of how, at the moment, it very much appears that all around the world, the virus is winning the fight.
In 2011, I started writing my first novel, The Ice Factory. Inspired by a personal childhood trauma, it was a difficult story to tell, and I didn’t feel able to do it justice at the time. And so, on the advice of some fellow writers, I decided to hone my novice writing skills on something “lighter”.
Something lighter turned into Wait for Me, the story of one ordinary woman’s extraordinary journey to get home to her partner after a bioterrorism attack triggers a Zombie Apocalypse in the UK! I know, its certainly not a lighter subject matter, but it was a much lighter story to tell and I’ve had a lot of fun with it!
Anyway, I started it in 2015, finished it in 2017, decided it could be better and decided to re-write it in 2018. I’m delighted to announce that it is finally finished and available to purchase on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback versions.
Well, who would have thought so much could change in the space of a week or two! 2021 has brought with it a wave of infection across the world like nothing we have seen before!
Last time I wrote, just after Christmas, things were fine here. Now, Barbados is experiencing their own second wave! Cases have increased dramatically over the past week.
Up until Christmas they’d had a total of around 300 cases. Today they have 878.
Barbados Active Cases
No-one knows how the virus got into the community. It could have been due to one of the many breaches of visitor quarantine protocols that have occurred over the last few weeks. Some of them were very high profile involving a Love Island star, Zara Holland, and her boyfriend who tested positive and tried to flee the country, and a couple in quarantine who invited a prostitute to their hotel room for a “threesome”!
But, it could just as easily be due to a Bajan National visiting their family for Christmas. One circulating rumour involves a man collecting some Christmas stuffing from his brother who was still in quarantine!
Whoever was responsible for the initial infection, it was unleashed on the Bajan community through a “bus crawl”, that is now being described as a “super-spreader” event.
The Bus Crawl took place on Boxing Day and was attended by members of the prison staff and their families. It involved several buses “crawling” from bar to bar with much drinking and dancing involved. There remains no doubt that a very good time was had by all. However, the fallout is that almost everyone who attended has since tested positive and has passed the infection on to their families, friends and colleagues.
The prison has been badly hit, affecting both staff and prisoners and the Barbados Defence Force has been brought in to run the prison. Multiple shops, bars, restaurants and businesses have closed all over the island. A curfew has been imposed from 9pm until 5am and people from different households are not allowed to gather indoors or outdoors. These restrictions began on New Years Eve, and will remain in place until the 14th of January.
Quarantine protocols have been tightened up and visitors are confined to their rooms until they have a second negative test. Thousands of tests have been conducted over the past week and a huge backlog has been created. People in quarantine are waiting as long as 10 days for their results and incurring large hotel bills as they wait. People trying to get out of the country to destinations (like the UK and Canada) which require a negative test within 72 hours before departure are not getting their results in time and having to re-book their flights multiple times.
And in the UK, things are even worse as well. Numbers are now ridiculously high, deaths rates are soaring, the NHS is drowning and a second National Lockdown has been imposed.
Those of us who hoped that 2021 would bring better times have been sorely disappointed.
But, a glimmer of hope can be gleaned from the fact that the vaccination programme has begun, with 2 million people in the UK having received their first dose.
So Christmas is over and it seems like an appropriate time to write a Covid-19 update. We have been in Barbados now for exactly three months, and officially have another three to go. However, we are now considering extending our stay until June, as things at home seem to be getting worse, not better!
Since September, the numbers have continued to rise, more lockdowns have been imposed, and a new tiered system of restrictions has been developed, dependent on local infection levels.
Initially, the government was intending to allow the relaxing of restrictions for five days over Christmas, but this was revoked at short notice, after a new, more infectious, variant of the virus swept across the UK. Christmas mixing was cancelled in many areas, and everywhere else people were permitted to mix with just one household, for one day only, with overnight stays forbidden.
A raft of countries reacted to the new variant by closing their borders to UK citizens, but it seems that it might be too little, too late, as the new variant has already been detected in many other countries in Europe, and around the world. Let’s hope it doesn’t reach us here!
The good news is that a vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, and others are following close behind. However, it is going to take a very long time to get everyone vaccinated, and a list of priority groups has been developed. The elderly, and health and social care workers, are first on the list, with estimates suggesting that young, healthy people may not receive theirs until 2022!
People have had enough. There have been tears and tantrums over cancelled Christmas plans and many people have been unable to travel home for the holidays. Hundreds of lorry drivers have been trapped in their vehicles for days, in huge queues near the ferry ports. There have been rumours of food shortages and other horrors, and the anti-maskers, anti-vaccers and conspiracy theorists are having field day! But, generally, people are resigned to their new ways of life in a depressed kind of way. All this, and Brexit is just around the corner! Estimates suggest that things are not going to begin to improve until the summer.
Christmas Eve
Here in Barbados, life ticks on in a relatively normal way. Their protocols seem to be highly effective at containing the virus. Things are slowly getting busier. People are still being careful. More and more flights are coming in each day, and more and more people are appearing on the beaches, and in bars and restaurants. Every week a handful of people test positive on their second test but, because they have been in quarantine pending their results, there has been no community spread. Fingers crossed it continues in this way!
We had a wonderful Christmas and did things we could never have done at home. Of course we missed our family and friends back home, but we couldn’t have been with them physically anyway. On Christmas Eve, we set the sun in a south coast restaurant called Naru. We had a champagne breakfast picnic on the beach on Christmas morning and then had our Christmas Dinner at the Atlantis Hotel in Bathsheba. On Boxing Day, we were invited to a beach party by some people we have met here, and spent the day, swimming, chatting, drinking rum punch and eating hot, buttery, roasted breadfruit.
Writing wise, since we have been here, I have completed the biography project I was working on with a friend. My Rachel, was published in December and, so far, is doing really well. I am very close to publishing my first novel, Wait for Me. The manuscript is currently with a friend who is formatting it for publication for me, then I need to do a final read through to double check for any typos or glaring errors. It’s very exciting!
How quickly life can change. This time last year, we had some blinds for our dining room delivered from China. The manufacturers enclosed a packet of Jelly Beans in the package. M refused to eat them in case they were contaminated with the new virus that was causing problems in China. I laughed at him and gobbled them up! Who’d have imagined that that very same virus would, 12 months later, have wreaked havoc and misery across the whole word, infecting over 80 million people, and killing almost 2 million.
The official death toll in the UK is now over 70,000. Excess deaths are higher, over 80,000. Just before Christmas, there were 39,000 new cases in 24 hours and 570 deaths. Rates of hospital admissions are as high as they were back in the peak of the first wave. The only positive in all of this is that deaths rates are lower, almost half of what they were back then. Perhaps they are learning how to manage the disease better?
This graphic representation from the Guardian captures the situation well. Because they were not testing in the community in the first wave, you can’t really compare daily cases, but hospital admissions are likely to be an accurate reflection.
Over the past year, I have been working on a biography project with a friend and fellow writer, S.J. Gibbs (Shelley). The project is essentially a personal memoir of Shelley’s life, and the life of her daughter, Rachel.
Rachel, who is now in her 30’s, was born with severe Cerebral Palsy and the book tells the story of their fight for life, truth and justice.
I am privileged that Shelley asked me to help her tell their story, and extremely proud to have been involved.
The book is now available on Amazon in both Kindle (£2.99) and Paperback (£9.99) formats. Click here to buy a copy.
Bajan food and entertainment with spectacular cliffside views.
Point of View is an open-air bar and restaurant on a grassy cliff-top on the most easterly point of Barbados. It serves traditional Bajan food and drink and provides evening entertainment in the form of karaoke on Saturdays and live music on Sundays.
After you have negotiated the bumps and twists of the journey up Highway 5, and taken a right at Marley Vale towards the lighthouse, Point of View is immediately on your left in the grounds of a large cream house with an orange tiled roof.
The clue is in the name. The first thing that strikes you is the view. The restaurant faces out over the Atlantic and the wild and rugged northeast coast of Barbados. Everyone who arrives for the first time is compelled to walk over to the cliff edge and just take in the view. On a clear day, you can see almost to the top of the island.
The dining area is entirely open-air on a raised, covered platform. In inclement weather there are weather-proof sides that can be lowered to protect the diners. The building behind the dining area hosts the bar and kitchen.
The menu is mostly traditional Bajan fare such as coconut shrimp, fish cakes and chicken wings, served with a variety of sides including rice and peas, macaroni pie and breadfruit fries. It’s all delicious and reasonably priced. Occasionally, they offer special treats such as Conkies or Souse. The Catch of the Day is particularly good value, consisting of a generous serving of fish with sides and salad at around BDS$30, just under the £10 mark depending on the exchange rate. They have a well-stocked bar and a great cocktail menu. It was here that I was first introduced to the devilishly divine Bajan version of the Mudslide. A gloriously calorific, frozen concoction of rum, Baileys, Kahlua, cream and chocolate sauce for just BDS$18, or £6.
The staff are attentive and friendly, and the service is excellent. The tireless and lovely, Da Reisha, and the rest of the team, go all out to make you feel welcome and looked after, even predicting your drinks order on arrival, when you have been there more than couple of times (as we have).
Da Reisha, Point of View
Point of View is largely aimed at the local market. Few visitors venture out this far. But, if you do, it will definitely be worth it, and they will make you feel at home. All sorts of people go there to eat and drink, from mature couples to young families, and everyone in between. They cater for large groups, but you’ll need to book in advance. Otherwise, at the moment, you are fairly sure to get a table if you turn up on spec.
During The Time of Covid, Point of View has reduced opening hours. They open around 5pm on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and from 11am on Saturdays, but this is changing all the time. You will have your temperature taken on arrival and be asked to sanitise your hands. As with all shops, bars and restaurants in Barbados, you will not be admitted without a facemask. Once you are seated you are permitted to remove your mask but must put it on again to move around the venue.
Entertainment
For us, one of the highlights of Point of View is the entertainment. On Karaoke nights the audience is treated to a succession of musical favourites from the many regulars. Wizard’s, almost Country and Western, vibrato renditions of Shirley and Whenever You come Around, will melt your heart and ring in your head for days. Rasta-Man (aka Dreadie) will charm you with his Bob Marley, Johnny Nash and other reggae classics, and Andy, the singing chef, pops out between orders to deliver delightful falsetto performances of, among others, Ella Fitzgerald’s A Tisket a Tasket or Christina Perri’s A Thousand Years.
However, the real star of the show is the talented and beautiful Imira (real name Shondell Jahbari) who compares the Karaoke, occasionally treating us to her own spine-tingling deliveries of the likes of Gladys Knight’s Midnight Train to Georgia or Christina Perri’s Jar of Hearts. On Sundays she sings with two of the regular live bands, Therapy and The Project Band. Both are essentially cover bands but do include a few of their own original songs. Inevitably, whichever band is on, the night will end with everyone up and dancing to the rhythms of soca and calypso.
Sometimes, extra special guest artists have been known to make an appearance. The last time we were there we were treated to an incredible performance by the living legend, The Mighty Grynner. The utterly charming, charismatic, hip-swiveling, 74 year old Calypsonian, who has won the coveted “Tune of the Crop” award 7 times, and has a highway named after him, totally stole the show. Grynner Leggo
On Sunday the 29th of November, to coincide with Barbados Independence Day celebrations, Imira launched her own single, Love and Music, performing it live with the Project Band, as it was simultaneously live-streamed on social media. We wish her every success!
Miami beach is our absolute favourite beach in Barbados for swimming and relaxing. We discovered it 2014, when we first stayed on the east coast, and it was recommended by our hosts at the time. We have visited many other beaches on the island and are always willing to try out other people’s favourites but, so far, none has compared with Miami, and we keep coming back here.
Description
Miami Beach enjoys some of the best features of the south, east and west coast beaches, all rolled into one. It has the powder-soft, white sand of the west coast, and the water is warm and shallow, with just enough east coast surf for a bit of fun. It has a long wide beach with an area at the back shaded by Casaurina pines, and it’s south facing position at the bottom of the island, makes it a great place to catch one of Barbados’ legendary sunsets.
Miami beach is popular with locals. During, the cooler hours of the early morning and late afternoon, people come there to exercise: walking, swimming, playing paddle ball, or working out on the fitness equipment. I’ve even seen people boxing, practicing yoga or karate moves and doing shuttle runs.
A man-made promontory divides Miami Beach in two. The cove on the west side is smaller and more sheltered, and as close to a swimming pool as you’re going to get in the area. There are a few picnic tables on the headland, and a small area of sand, but this area is largely used for swimming. The water is calm, warm and shallow. If the waves are too rough on the main beach (which they can be in certain conditions), and you don’t feel brave enough to get out beyond the breakers, a short walk over to the other side will present you with a gentler option for your sea bath. Generally, visitors favour the east side and locals the west.
How to get there
If you are travelling from the west, Miami beach is on the main southern coast road, just after Oistins. You can park in the car park behind the old Barbados Postal Service building, that also serves the Oistins Police Station and Magistrates Court. If you prefer, you can carry on along the main road, past the point where Thornbury Hill Road forks off to the left, and take a right down Enterprise Drive. Turn right when you hit the beach road and you can park anywhere along there.
Facilities
The facilities on Miami beach are good. There is a lifeguard station on the headland and a shower and toilet block at its end. In the car park there is usually a street vendor selling fishcakes and soft drinks, and another couple near the shower block. In normal times, they would sell beer and fish cutters (the Bajan version of a sandwich), but this has all changed during the Time of Covid. Again, in normal times, on the main beach, a couple of people rent out sunbeds for BD$10 a day, and there is a stall that sells beachwear.
For many years, a highlight of Miami Beach was Mr Delicious, a catering van that sold Bajan snacks and cocktails. Sadly, Mr Delicious closed down a year or two ago, reportedly due to family “issues”. The lonely old van now stands desolate and rusting, in the corner under the trees.
On the beach road, there are a couple of hotels where you could grab a more substantial (and pricier) lunch if required, and at the time of writing, what looks like a new beach bar, is currently under construction at the far end of the road by the shower block.
Thanks to the Barbados National Conservation Commission, who look after the outdoor environment in Barbados, you can even get free Wi-Fi on Miami Beach. However, be aware that the signal can be poor at times.
Swimming
Generally, Miami beach is fantastic for swimming. But conditions vary, depending on the weather. On a calm day (and most days are like this), the water is calm and crystal clear, but in unsettled conditions the waves can be frighteningly big and create a strong undertow. For us, the waves are part of the fun of bathing on Miami Beach. Timing your entry and exit to coincide with a gap between the “big ones”, is essential to avoid catastrophic wipe-outs. I’m slightly ashamed to admit, that a highly amusing form of beach entertainment, involves watching the display of spectacular, inadvertent acrobatics when various people get taken out by a wave. Our own personal experiences of this, have involved embarrassing disrobing incidents, and the loss of some very expensive sunglasses.
However, some people have been seriously injured, and you do have to be careful. There is a flag system in place. Green means it’s safe to swim, yellow means you should take care, and red means you should stay out of the water. You can also get a sense of the strength of the undertow from the colour of the surf. If the surf is brown, it means it’s churning up the sand and you should take care.
Of course, if it’s too rough to swim on the main beach, you always have the option of moving round the corner.
Location
Miami Beach is close to the fishing port of Oistins, the bustling heart of the southeast corner of the island. There are plenty of places to stay in the area, and a relative abundance of shops, cafes and restaurants. Most accommodation consists of self-catering houses and apartments, but there are a couple of hotels on the beach road. For a while, the only hotel in the area was the boutique, Little Arches, with its roof-top restaurant, Café Luna.
A couple of years ago Accra Beach, one of the island’s most popular south coast hotels, built a sister establishment down at Miami, the Abidah. Honestly, the towering, aquamarine and white, Abidah was a shocking emergence that dwarfs the quaint and elegant Little Arches next door. However, initial fears that the beach would be overrun with sun-greedy, rum-swilling tourists, have so far not been realised. However, The Time of Covid began soon after Abidah opened, and only time will tell what the future holds for the gloriously generous Miami Beach.
There are plenty of places to eat in the area. The most obvious is the Oistins Fish Fry, which comes alive on Friday and Saturday nights, but we also love Surfers Café and, if we fancy a treat, Café Luna. For lunch on the beach, with the absence of Mr Delicious, and the current unavailability of a fish cutter washed down with a cold Banks, we’ve taken to picking up a patty from one of the street vendors by the bus station, or Crumbz Bakery on the corner of Thornbury Hill Road, and bringing down our own cold beers in a cool-box.
Miami beach is very close to the airport. In fact, every flight that arrives in Barbados flies low over the beach on its approach to the runway. You might think that would be an irritating intrusion but, to the contrary, it is yet another point of interest for the Miami beachgoer. Grantly Adams is not Heathrow. There are only a few flights in and out of the airport each day and they are concentrated at the same time. Early to mid-afternoon is generally when most inbound flights arrive. Plane spotting is a popular pastime on Miami Beach, with everyone stopping what they are doing and shielding their eyes to watch the planes pass over. When we are expecting visitors, we have been known to wait for them on the beach until we see their plane arrive, then hop into the car and head over to the airport to pick them up.
The Time of Covid
Miami Beach is a very different place during the Time of Covid. The sunbeds are tied up in blue tarpaulin waiting for better days, their owners reputedly temporarily trying their hand at selling fruit and vegetables instead. The usual street vendors, with their cold beers and fish cutters, have been replaced by newcomers offering limited menus of fishcakes and soft drinks. While it is never crowded, pre-Covid you would have to get there early to nab your favourite shady spot. Now, you pretty much have your pick, whatever time of day you arrive. Fewer planes are coming in, and their arrival stimulates extra interest and discussion about which airline they represent, and where they have come from.
History
Miami Beach is officially called Enterprise Beach, and indeed, this is what is on the sign as you hit the beach road. However, locals always refer to it as Miami, but everyone I have asked, doesn’t know why. Enterprise is an area to the east of Oistins that is popular with Canadian and American visitors and immigrants (I prefer the term “immigrant” to that of “ex-pat”). It is a bit of a hub for surfers with some of the islands surf schools operating in and around Freights Bay.
Miami Beach didn’t exist until the late 1970’s, after the headland was constructed. Because the currents move from east to west on the south coast, the structure allowed for a build-up of sand on its east side, and so Miami Beach was born. Once the beach began to grow, the trees were planted with the deliberate intention of creating a much-needed area of shade.
People
Miami Beach is popular with locals and tourists alike, but its location means that it is never overcrowded, or hasn’t yet become so. It seems to be far enough away from the west and south coasts to deter most “all-inclusive” hotel guests from venturing that far. A few guests at Little Arches (and presumably Abidah in the future), have been known to leave the poolside and come down to the beach, standing around awkwardly for the time it takes for a member of the hotel staff to lay out their sun-beds, plump up their plush, navy cushions, and erect their matching parasol.
Miami Beach is especially popular though, with the “returning national” population, and with immigrants from the US, Canada and Europe, who have made Barbados their home. The main attraction for them seems to be the shade, and regulars will unfold their beach chairs under the trees and settle down for a day of reading, relaxing, chatting and people watching, interrupted by the occasional dip.
Bajans tend to frequent the beach in greater numbers at the weekends, setting up the picnic benches under the trees with foil covered, steaming trays of all sorts of deliciousness for family parties and other get-togethers.
Fred
Fred is almost an institution on Miami Beach. A warm and friendly, recently widowed, retiree from the USA, who has had a home on the island for 30 years, who visits the beach every day except Sundays, when he lunches with his neighbours. He sits in the shade of the same tree, arriving around 10:00 and leaving promptly at 15:00. You could set your watch by him, and we do. We tend to head home around 16:00 ourselves so, when Fred leaves, we know we have an hour left.
If no-one else is there, Fred reads or makes use of the NCC Wi-Fi to play Words with Friends on his i-pad. But, generally, he acts as a magnet for other regular visitors to the beach and is rarely alone. All manner of people are drawn to him, and he is a focal point for networking and introductions on the sand. Everyone seems to know Fred, and Fred seems to know everyone. People come to the beach specially to talk to him. They’ll park their car on the beach road and pop down for a seat and a chat, before carrying on with their day.
We met Fred a few weeks after we arrived this time. He has subsequently introduced us to other people, facilitating the first buds of an emerging social life on the island and some helpful contacts for future visits. He is a font of knowledge about living on Barbados. Whatever you need, he can tell you where to find it or how to go about getting it, whether it is a ladies hairdresser, good quality beach chairs, a tasty roti, what is covered by your rental insurance, or how to open a bank account.
Fred is a storyteller. Not only does he have an interesting story to tell on almost any topic you can imagine, but he also knows more about the recent history of Barbados than anyone else I have met. But Fred has another quality that is so rare in this day and age. Although he likes to talk himself, he is also a fantastic listener. He has an uncanny ability to urge you to tell him all sorts of things that you wouldn’t normally tell a stranger.
But the thing that fascinates me the most about Fred, is how resourceful he is. Many of his stories involve how he has fixed something or built something from scratch. Like the time when some girls that were staying with him had a flat tyre that was running on the rim, and he was able to make their car sufficiently driveable to get them to a place where they could get a new tyre, by wrapping a rope around the rim. Or the time when he was contacted by the water authorities who suspected he had a leak and he flew down with everything he needed in his luggage to find the source of the leak and repair it. Or the time when the sole of his shoe came away while he was in transit at an airport, and he just happened to have a roll of gaffer tape in his pocket which he used to fix it. When a man on the beach was talking about some issues he was having erecting a steel mesh fence, Fred just dropped into conversation that he has a special tool he could borrow called a “chain grab”, from when he built a fence around his own property to keep the neighbour’s dog out.
Bottom Bay is one of our favourite beaches on the island. No matter where we are staying, we always visit it at least once or twice on every trip. When showing friends and family round our island “highlights” it is always high on the list and never disappoints. We often stay in the area around Bottom Bay, and when we do, it is where we exercise every morning. 12 lengths of the beach is about 2km and takes us just under half an hour to walk.
Description
Bottom Bay is often listed as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It has it all in terms of iconic Caribbean beach characteristics. Wild breakers, rolling onto a small, palm-lined crescent of soft, golden sand nestling between rugged coral cliffs. It even has a cave. It’s not tranquil in the classic sense of the word, it’s difficult to hold a conversation above the sound of crashing waves and palm fronds rattling in the stiff Atlantic breeze, but it is utterly mesmerising. A few windswept moments spent gazing out to sea, where the rollers meet the reef, will blow away the most stubborn of cobwebs and sooth the most agitated of souls.
How to get there
Bottom Bay is on the East Coast of Barbados in Saint Philip, just north of Sam Lord’s Castle. Take a right from Highway 5 down Bottom Bay Road after Wellhouse and before Bayley’s Primary School and AJ’s Pool and Bar. At the end of the road is a small car park from which some steep stone steps lead down to the beach.
Facilities
Bottom Bay is a natural and unspoiled beach. There are no “facilities” as such. If you fancy staying for a while, take a picnic. In tourist season, there are usually a couple of local guys around who will rent you rent a rickety sunbed. For few dollars, they’ll knock you up a homemade rum cocktail served in a coconut shell, spectacularly harvested and cracked open, especially for you, by a barefoot climb up a palm tree, and single swipe from a machete. You also can buy little trinkets and hand-made jewellery from a seller at the top of the steps.
Swimming
Although the locals venture out beyond the surf, strong tides and a heavy swell mean it’s not safe to swim at Bottom Bay. It’s not unusual to encounter jellyfish in the waters of the East Coast too. They tend to be small and, while they will give a nasty sting, are not particularly dangerous. It’s just a case of being aware and careful but not too terrified to go near the water!
Location
There is a small settlement that sits just above Bottom Bay called Applehall. A couple of luxury homes sit right on the cliff edge, and just behind them is a newish development of small villas, most of which have swimming pools. Most of them are privately owned, but many are available for holiday lets. There are very few bars or restaurants in the area other than a few local rum shacks. At the top of Bottom Bay road, Lendees, a BBQ takeaway, serves fish, chicken, or pork ribs with chips on Friday and Saturday evenings.
The Time of Covid
Bottom Bay is quieter than ever during the Time of Covid. There are no trinket sellers or sunbeds to rent, and no sign of the tree-climbing mixologists. Even after just a few months, there is a sense that the beach is being reclaimed by nature. A lone male monkey seems to have made the gully his personal domain. The steps are becoming overgrown and slippery. Lizards stop and watch as you make your way down, seeming surprised to see you. Beach creepers are sending sneaky tendrils out across the path so that in a few more months, if you didn’t know it was there you might not find it. There seem to be more crabs than usual scuttling over the sand and uncharacteristically bold flocks of shorebirds will barely acknowledge your presence.
History
Unlike may of the other beaches in Barbados, I’ve not been able to unearth any particular history on Bottom Bay and how it got its name. I can only assume that it is called after its location, and the fact that it is positioned at the bottom of a cliff, but then again, so are many other beaches in the area. However, I did learn from a man we met in the car park one day, that Bottom Bay was the place you went when you wanted to blow away the memories of past lovers.
People
Even at the height of the tourist season, Bottom Bay is never busy. Early mornings will see one or two locals taking their daily exercise there, and a couple of fishermen gathering bait for a day’s fishing elsewhere. A steady stream of visitors, Bajans and tourists, drop in from time to time throughout the day. Most, climb down the steps to the beach, take in the view and then move on.
Derk
We met Derk one morning, when he arrived on the beach with a couple of young men to go free diving for conch (pronounced conk). Derk, and one of the others, carried big logs adorned with plastic containers to convert them into flotation devices. Derk was wearing a worn wet suit, which he stuffed with chunks of polystyrene for added buoyancy. The other two men (one of whom was really just a boy) were wearing only shorts and t-shirts. All three had masks and snorkels.
We went over to chat to Derk and find out what they were doing. He was friendly and garrulous. Slim and muscular, with a wide smile that revealed more than a few missing teeth, it was hard to gauge his age. The other two divers eyed the ocean nervously, barely acknowledging our existence.
In just the few moments, as they prepared to head out to sea, we learned that Derk had been a fisherman, like his father before him, since he was a boy. He had supported his wife and family through fishing, for 30 years. Today, he was looking for conch to sell to a local Chinese restaurant. The idea was that they would swim out a few hundred metres and allow the currents to carry them further down the coast to Sam Lord’s Castle, diving as they went.
The other two were clearly anxious to get going. They waded into the surf and Derk hurried after them. He shouted back to us that he had a beautiful conch shell he could clean up and sell to us if we met him at 8 o’clock the following morning. We shouted back that we would be there, and he was gone.
We watched for a while as they swam further and further out until they were just tiny figures bobbing in the waves. From time to time they disappeared behind the heavy swell. The boy without the log seemed to be floating further and further away from the other two. I was terrified for them but had to assume that they knew what they were doing. The term “hand-dived” when applied to seafood, suddenly took on a whole new meaning for me! Conch, as a rare and expensive delicacy costing anything between $25 and $30 per pound, suddenly seemed hugely under-priced, relative to the risks that were taken in its acquisition.
We had turned to leave and were heading towards the steps when we heard shouting and turned around. The men seemed to be drifting back towards the shore. Derk was aiming for our beach and looked as though he was just going to make it. The other two were moving further south and out of sight around the jagged coral cliffs. Something seemed to have made them abandon their plan. We walked back down to where Derk had reached the beach and was striding towards us with his log balanced on his shoulder.
He explained that the waves were too big and the currents too strong. They knew when it was necessary to respect the sea and had decided to give up. Besides, the water was so murky that they couldn’t see the bottom and it was unlikely that they would be able to find any conch. I asked about the other two and he reassured me that they were deliberately heading further down so that they would not have has far to walk when they came ashore. By the time we parted at the top of the steps we had arranged to meet him back at the clifftop at 11am to collect the conch shell and its meat, hand prepared by Derk himself. Somehow, we had also signed up for a charity walk in a couple of weeks’ time!
Needless to say, a Bajan 11am stretched out to almost midday. We’ve learned to allow an hour beyond a given meeting time before it is acceptable not to wait any longer. It was the hottest time of day and there was no shade on the cliff top. We were sweltering. We couldn’t go home as we would have felt awful if he had turned up with the goods to find that we had given up and gone. Especially as he had not found any more conch that day. He arrived about 10 to 12 on a pushbike. The shell was majestic, and the meat looked and smelled fresh. He gave us our entry forms for the walk and told us to find him on the day to get our numbers. We left him pumping his bicycle tyres up for his journey back home.
I made conch fritters for dinner that night. Chunks of meat coated in a seasoned batter and deep fried with a lime and chilli mayonnaise for dipping. They looked good but in all honesty were extremely chewy. Imagine the rubberiest squid you have ever eaten and double its rubberiness. I’m fairly sure conch would fall into that category of food where you burn off more calories eating it than it contains. Maybe it was my cooking? I’ll have to try it in a restaurant next time I see it on the menu just to be sure!
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