Tourists pour into
Barbados
from all over the world, drawn by
the delightful climate, the big blue
sea and brilliant white sandy
beaches. Many of them rarely stray
far from their hotels and
guesthouses, but those who make an
effort find a proud island scattered
with an impressive range of historic
sites and, away from the mostly
gently rolling landscape, dramatic
scenery in hidden caves, cliffs and
gullies.
For more than three centuries
Barbados was a British colony
and retains something of a British
feel: the place names, the cricket,
horse-racing and polo, Anglican
parish churches, and even a hilly
district known as Scotland. But the
Britishness is often exaggerated,
for this is a distinctly West
Indian country , covered by a
patchwork of sugarcane fields and
dotted with rum shops, where calypso
is the music of choice and flying
fish the favoured food.
The people of Barbados, known as Bajans
, take great pride in their tiny
island of 430 square kilometres and
250,000 people, which has produced
writers like George Lamming,
calypsonians like the Mighty Gabby
and cricket players including the
great Sir Gary Sobers, who have for
decades had an influence way out of
proportion to the size of their home
country.
Tourism plays a major part
in the country's economy and
revenues have been put to good use.
The infrastructure and public
transport are first-rate and there
is no sign of the poverty that
continues to bedevil some Caribbean
islands. Development has mostly been
pretty discreet, many of the
facilities are Bajan-owned, there
are no private beaches and no sign
of American fast-food franchises.
