I quickly tighten my grip as the server hands me a white clamshell container packed with my order. Its weight is a surprise. I pop it open and ogle my fish sandwich stacked on a mountain of macaroni pie — pasta tubes baked in ketchup, mustard, onion, egg, milk and cheese — plus breadfruit and creamy coleslaw.
It’s Friday night at Oistins Fish Fry in Barbados and the street-food stalls are jammed with hundreds of locals and tourists, who flock to the quiet fishing village for the weekly fresh-catch fete. My heavy meal is bested only by the heavier beats blaring through the speakers. It’s too loud to chat with my travel buddies, so I work away at my dinner and take in the sounds of reggae, soca, ska and, of course, Rihanna — the island’s unofficial queen, and official National Hero — while a crowd dances in front of the DJ’s stage.
It may not be the type of vacation scene you’d typically picture when booking an all-inclusive in the Caribbean. But I’m learning that Barbados is a destination where it’s highly encouraged to get off the resort lounger and go explore.
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Oistins Fish Fry is a popular weekly event that draws hundreds of locals and tourists.
Alex Jackson
Totalling about 440 square kilometres, the whole island of Barbados could fit comfortably inside Toronto’s city limits, making it easy to cover much of the 11 parishes in a few hours. Travellers can tool around via rental cars, or even taxis and public buses, but to get my bearings, I start with a bumpy guided tour with Island Safari.
Sitting in the open back of a Toyota Land Cruiser truck, the canopy shielding me from the sun on this 30-degree day, I bounce in my seat as driver and guide Andre Edey takes our group from winding paved roads to rocky paths.
We cut through fields with grazing blackbelly sheep, hillside forests where I spot green monkeys (only slightly olive-tinted) sitting in tall grass, and seemingly endless rows of sugar cane, which covered about 60 per cent of the island in the late 1600s. Although tourism is the economy’s biggest driver today, the historic sugar industry still gets its dues for its celebrated offshoot: rum.
With the distillery of Mount Gay dating back to 1703, Barbados takes the title of the birthplace of rum, and the spirit seeps into many facets of daily life. When we ride by a small stone building, Edey tells us, “See, that’s not a bar — it’s a rum shop.” Immediately, a man at a picnic table on the porch shouts back, “It’s not a rum shop — it’s a gathering!”
There are about 1,500 rum shops on the island, which serve the liquor by the bottle instead of by the glass. If considered sips are more your speed, head to one of the island’s four distilleries for a tasting. St. Nicholas Abbey sits on a 350-year-old plantation, which was recently restored to produce single-cask “sipping rums,” the owner’s son Simon Warren explains as I dabble after the onsite steam-engine train ride and a tour of the Jacobean Great House, built in 1658.
The Great House of St. Nicholas Abbey, built in 1658, is now a heritage attraction offering rum tastings.
Barbados Tourism Marketing
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Barbados is dotted with several centuries-old buildings, including Sam Lord’s Castle, a Georgian mansion dating back to 1820 that sits adjacent to the island’s newest all-inclusive, the Wyndham Grand Barbados Sam Lords Castle in Saint Philip, my home base for the trip. These heritage structures owe their survival to the fact that Barbados has mostly dodged bad hurricanes, due to its location.
“Only historically are we a Caribbean island, but geographically we are not,” says Edey, alluding to the fact that the nation floats solo, 160 kilometres east of the nearest island chain. The haze I see when looking along the coast from Hackleton’s Cliff? Sahara dust that’s drifted across the Atlantic.
With few devastating storms (plus government-led initiatives), Barbados’s agriculture and food production have been able to flourish, too. The island lays claim to being the culinary capital of the Caribbean, with over 400 restaurants to choose from. I can’t dispute the title at the seaside Primo Bar & Bistro in Oistins, where I dip into an avocado and mango salad topped with grilled shrimp, followed by parm-crusted barracuda, and bread pudding for dessert, a Bajan favourite.
Across the street, Cocktail Kitchen is a buzzy spot that is recommended to me again and again. The namesake drinks feature, of course, rum, but I sample the tangy reposado-and-thyme take on a paloma. The menu, highlighting farm- and sea-to-table ingredients, includes blackbelly-sheep risotto, flying fish tacos, a daily market catch, and a well-rounded vegan section (I can vouch for the delicious pumpkin and chickpea curry).
The feasting is perfect fuel for my other island plans: the 40th anniversary of Run Barbados, an annual race weekend in December, offering everything from a fun mile (with prizes for best costume) to the full 42.2k marathon, plus multi-race challenges for ambitious athletes. I choose the fun mile and an attainable 5k, which is the most popular distance, with just over 350 participants.
The writer’s view of the Run Barbados 5k, one of several distances in the race weekend.
Caitlin Kenny
Though the draw is smaller than, say, the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Run Barbados lures runners from all over the country and around the globe. During my warm-up, I meet first-timers from Saskatchewan and Scotland, while others are repeat racers. “It gets into your system, Barbados,” says Louise, a doctor from England who’s been visiting and running for about 30 years. “Once you come here, you always come back.”
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The island’s charms are on full display throughout the race. From the laissez-faire start line — no clipboard-armed commanders in sight — to the roosters milling along the course, the chill vibe eases my usual race anxiety. And the scenery makes it impossible to leave my iPhone buried in my spandex pocket.
The out-and-back course curves along the east coastline, a panorama with Atlantic waves crashing on one side. On the other, the Sleeping Giant rock formation gives the impression you’re sneaking around the head of a snoozing titan.
Cooled by the ocean breeze in my last kilometre stretch, I find energy to pick up my pace, and am soon celebrating with fellow finishers, our medals clanging against our chests while we jump around to calypso hits.
To keep the post-race party going, we head to the strip of open-air bars at St. Lawrence Gap for what Bajans call a “Gap night,” where you can meander from pub-style patios to karaoke sing-offs. The next day, my last of the trip, I unwind back at the Wyndham with a rum punch in hand. My only adventure is going from umbrella shade to pool and back again. Because, out of the many things you’ll find in Barbados, my favourite is balance.
Caitlin Kenny travelled as a guest ofBarbados Tourism Marketing, which did not review or approve this article.
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