Wednesday, February 22 Barbados
We docked in Bridgetown, the capital. The island is 14 miles wida and 27 miles long. It was uninhabited when the English settled in 1627. Now, more than 90% of the people are of African descent and their dialect, known as Bajan, makes their official language, English, very unique. Tourism is the main economy and exports are sugar, molasses and rum.

A bus took us to a "Beach Carnival" where the people helped us get settled on the beach and pampered us all afternoon. Included in the price were hot dogs and hamburgers, live entertainment and all kinds of rum drinks!

Ron (middle of photo) was amazed at how easily he floated in the salt water.

One of the guys told Ron "You're gonna burn, mon." and brought him a chunk of aloe vera plant that was about 6 inches thick and 2 feet long! When I took this photo, he already had a number of rum drinks under his belt. I had only two pina coladas.

"Spirit Dancers" performed to ward off evil and, above the beach, the Caribbean music played on.

When we got back to the ship, Ron went straight to bed. He said that's the first time he ever experienced a spinning room. So I went for supper alone and lost the rest of my winnings at the casino that night.