Sunday, January 29 – Barbados

I’m planning on a relaxing day, my last in Barbados. Work on a journal entry. Do some laundry. A little reading on the porch. Many places, and things, are closed here today anyway – including the buses.

A word about Barbados. I think it’s kind of overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time here. And my apartment was great (especially the porch!). Of course, the beaches are nice, but there are many other places in the world with equally beautiful beaches. And they’re less expensive! Traffic on Barbados can be a pain at times, and it’s not very pedestrian friendly (which is important to me). And finally, I read a lot about the friendliness of the locals. Well, I found it to be a 50/50 proposition. I encountered a fair amount of grumpiness. A shame. My feeling is that Barbados is the kind of place people visit so they can say “I’ve been to Barbados”. Not my intent, but I guess I can now say that too! Haha.

Travel Note: For my trip to South America in 2019 I purchased a medical insurance policy. It included $50,000 in emergency medical coverage and $1,000,000 in medical evacuation & repatriation coverage. The cost for the 11-week policy was $27. For this trip, I bumped it up to $500,000 in emergency medical (includes COVID) coverage and went with the same $1,000,000 in evacuation. The cost of this 15-week policy was $452. The cost to upgrade the medical from $50k to $500k was $120. And the policy duration for this trip is one month longer. But still, a big spike in the premium cost from pre to post COVID.

Monday, January 30 – transit from Barbados to Grenada

I have a late afternoon flight on Caribbean Airlines that takes me to Grenada via a layover in Trinidad. I’ll be hiring Lisa once again for the ride to the airport.

I know I’m sounding like a broken record…but yes, the airline check-in agent did ask me about my one-way ticket to Grenada.

As I was waiting to board my flight, I noticed widebody aircraft for the following airlines parked at the gates: Virgin Atlantic (2 planes), Air Canada (2 planes), British Airways, and American Airlines (to Miami). This is definitely a popular destination!

The flight to Trinidad took about 40 minutes in a 1/2 full 737. I then had a 2 1/2 hour layover as I waited on the 8pm departure to Grenada. So, my seat assignment for the Grenada flight was 2A. I’m thinking, “Awesome, I’ll be one of the first off the plane and then on to a quick immigration clearance”. Wrong! The plane we were on happened to board from the rear!

The flight to Grenada took about 30 minutes. The seat layout in the plane is 2 x 2 x 20 rows, and it was full. We were the last arrival of the night and the immigration line went pretty quick (even though I was near the back!). If you’re wondering, no, the immigration officer did not ask me about my one-way ticket. And I didn’t have to wait for my luggage either. Nice!

The ride from the airport to my apartment took about 20 minutes and cost 20 USD. Fortunately the driver accepted US dollars, because there was neither an ATM nor a currency exchange office at the airport!

Tuesday, January 31 – Grenada

The plan today is to just roam around the area and get a lay of the land. I also need to find an ATM and pick up some groceries.

The ATM at the first bank I stopped at took me all through the input process and then wouldn’t give me any money. Oh Oh! There was another bank just down the road though, and I achieved success there. Whew!

The walk from my apartment to the grocery store took about 20 minutes. I was surprised to find that the prices here were not much different from Barbados. Must be a function of having to import most items.

Wednesday, February 1 – Grenada

I’m going to walk into St. George’s today, the capital city of Grenada. It should take about 40 minutes.

I had a nice walk around St. George’s. My plan now is to make my way back to the apartment for a rest and then head down to the beach to catch the sunset. But first…