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I've just returned from a 5-day trip to Barbados. Booked late last
Wednesday and flew out two days later on Xmas eve from Gatwick on
British Airways. Loads of seats available and I heard later that BA's
never had a worse Xmas to Barbados in terms of passenger loads.
On my first night I went to my favourite place, the Ship Inn in St
Laurence Gap. There were two bands: The Swing, quite reasonable, and
The Heard who played rock for an hour from midnight. This latter band
was the best I've heard in Barbados since Spice.
The place looked half-full instead of being packed, confirming my view
that lots of tourists have stayed home.
For you netheads, there's a PC with internet access in the Ship Inn
for $5/hr. Whilst on this subject, I also saw an internet access sign
in Broad St opposite Cave Shepherd.
One new piece of construction caught my eye, ie a rather smart walkway
along the careenage in Bridgetown. But one thing's that gone is the
famous lights at Bonnetts as the local residents have lost their
sponsor.
It rained every day, which served to highlight the poor state of the
roads (potholed many of them) and the drainage system which is largely
incapable of keeping roads from being flooded after heavy rainfall.
Barbados now lacks two top hotels, the Hilton and Sandy Lane which
should have reopened by now but is hugely late. You have to wonder if
the project will ever finish.
Incidentally, the Hilton had been destroyed by explosives, the first
time that this had been done in the Caribbean. There was, I
understand, quite a crowd that witnessed the "implosion" of the
building. The hotel is being rebuilt at a cost of US$33m.
Technologically, I saw more mobile phones than before and I'm sure
that internet usage is on the increase, but held back by the sloth of
Cable & Wireless which has a 100% monopoly on fixed and mobile phones
and the pipe to the internet. The guy I stayed with has only been
waiting two years for a second phone line for internet access.
Nevertheless, a relaxing break, back to the rain and cold in Blighty.
Thanks to Roger for this trip report ...
December 1999
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