With winter here in full force, its nice to have the warmth of Barbados on my mind. This past October, following an unbelievable wedding in September, my extremely beautiful new bride and I left for our honeymoon on the beautiful Caribbean island of Barbados. It was my first time to the island, however my wife had been many times and ensured the paradise that awaited us. I can tell you it was certainly paradise, and I have a few thousand photos to prove it. Join me over the next few weeks as we explore this amazing island in a five-part series.
For this trip I brought along my versatile 24-120 mm f4, a 50mm prime and a new addition to my kit, the Nikon 14-24 mm f2.8. I’ll be posting a full review once I get the handle on this lens, but for this trip in particular I was very impressed with it. I’m sort of a wide-angle junkie and loved the sweeping landscapes it provided, and it really capture the beauty of Barbados.
Welcome to Barbados
Upon landing, my first experience on the island was the taxi trip to our resort. If you’ve never driven on the left side of the road, it takes some getting used to. It doesn’t help that the roads are so narrow and everyone drives at full speed. At times, we found ourselves only a few inches from either a rock face or a sugar cane crop. With the airport being in the southern end by the capital, Bridgetown, we drove through most of the country to get to our resort, Royal Westmoreland located in the central part of the island. The island itself is only 34 kilometres long so it doesn’t take long to get from one end to the other. We arrived at our private villa just in time for the sunset. It was stunning. There’s nothing quite like a Caribbean sunset. As the sun set into the Caribbean sea, the beauty of the night sky emerged and the tranquil sound of crickets filled the air. We had surely arrived in paradise!
Royal Westmoreland and Mullins Beach
Nothing beats waking up to the Caribbean heat, specially when leaving the brisk fall air back in Canada. We began by lounging in the open air style kitchen, very common in island homes. We had a wonderful breakfast by the pool, including eggs, bacon, fresh mangos from the nearby tree and my new favourite condiment, pepper sauce. It’s a new staple at our house.
Now to get on with the day, the most important part of being in the Caribbean, beach time! While Royal Westmoreland is not directly on the beach, it’s only a short shuttle ride to one of the most stunning beaches around. With an average temperature of just over 30 degrees and the ocean only being a few degrees cooler than that, it’s perfection. And of course the famous teal Caribbean water. I had trouble getting my wife to come out of the water most days.
Located right on the beach is the Mullins Beach Bar. There we enjoyed local Bajan food. On a side note, you may think people in Barbados are called Barbadians, however if you listen to the locals, the proper term is Bajan. The traditional delicacies are flying fish, which is the national dish as well as macaroni pie which is pretty much a mac and cheese casserole. My wife also indulged in many umbrella laden drinks, all of which I was told were amazing. I took advantage of the perfect day and explored the beach.
We stuck around until sunset knowing we would be in store for a show and the Caribbean sun did not disappoint. Following that gorgeous sunset we headed back to our villa for a home cooked traditional Bajan meal, which consisted of a roasted chicken with customary seasonings, a local sweet potato mash and salad. I could definitely get used to this diet. What an amazing first day!!
If you’re interested in renting the Royal Westmoreland private villa, perfectly named the Sweet Spot. Check it out here.
I hope you’ve enjoyed Part 1, this was an incredible vacation and I’m looking forward to sharing more of it with you. Keep following and look out for the following segments as we explore the rest of the island.
Enjoy these photos and if you’d like to check more of Mullins Beach, check out the gallery.
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