Barbados 2

So we kicked off 2014 by learning how to surf... 

I stood up on the first go! however almost immediately got hit by a giant surfboard in my leg - surfing is pretty dangerous, even for me! I got back on though :) 

We went and saw some animals at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, which was so nice as they were free to roam around a giant jungle with the benefit of being fed daily! 

ginormous tortoises!

then kicked off the boat trips... for some reason my dad decided to book two different catamaran trips! The first one was Cool Runnings - a really fun day where we swam with sea turtles, dove down to ship wrecks and watched a beautiful sunset. We ate some great food and ended with everybody dancing on the deck under the stars!

The second catamaran trip was with Calabaza (below). They were a little bit more informative and peaceful as there were less people to accommodate, and the catamaran was so luxurious! The people on the boat were really lovely and took lots of pictures (underwater too!) for us to (cry over) look at when we were back home. We did essentially the same things on this trip as the one before, but the whole experience was completely different! We were really lucky to be able to experience both! 

 

my brother feeding the fishes! 

 

Another day we went to Hunte's Gardens, down the road from our hotel. It was one of the most magical places I have ever been - built in 2 years, in a sink hole by a very eccentric man of about 70 who lives in a little hut overlooking the beauty. There was classical music playing and you could just sit and listen to the birds singing and the music, it was amazing. 

I took the opportunity to try and work out how to use the macro lens my boyfriend bought me for Christmas here - took a few goes but eventually worked out the (very) basics! 

And that concludes Barbados! Literally the best place I have ever been in my whole life, everybody was so lovely and caring and everything was so beautiful! The food and drink are all amazing - basically it is an unspoilt paradise, and I hope to go back there someday! 

Beach porn in Barbados

Happy New Year! Over the Christmas holidays I was lucky enough to be going on a family holiday to Barbados... aka PARADISE!

I used the opportunity to finally figure out how to use my Nikon D3200 so with over 2000 pictures, there may be a couple of posts!

We were staying on the East coast, in the most beautiful hotel I have ever been to, Atlantis Hotel! With only ten rooms, and a famous and well deserved reputation for food and views, it was incredible. My bedroom was a suite (they all were) and had a living room!!! I went to sleep and woke up listening to the ocean and took hundreds of pictures from the rooftop, mainly of rainbows that came and went.

On the first day we drove to the West coast and checked out their incredible beaches, with many pina coladas and flying fish sandwiches to hand...

a rope swing, trampoline and ice berg awaited us at the Boatyard

and I got to practice some cheerleading! 

Then we drove back over East through the jungle and found the most beautiful, deserted beach! There was hardly anyone on the acres of land except a couple of fishermen, with washed up coconuts lining the shore. Throw in a sunset over the mountains and some good company = paradise. 

Then it was back to the hotel for some incredible freshly caught seafood! The next day was an unusual one, my family and I spent the last day of 2013 on segways... 

moooooo-ve

insanely amazing views

We spent a lot of time exploring Barbados' beaches - there was one everywhere you looked! This was a giant lift on Crane Beach - the 6th best in the world :)

Miami Beach, more of a local than tourist haunt was also amazing, deserted and supplied with rum punch from a little van aptly named 'Mr Delicious'. 

This concludes the first couple of days in Barbados - next time there will be less beaches!