08.01 This Barbados night has been warm. One good thing is the fact that it wasn't as warm as the night before. I must have been sleeping in some bad position. It hurts on my left side. I hope it will ease.

09.47 We just had our breakfast and have become civilized. We have also realised that we don’t share bathroom with Eddie and Catarina. They have a bathroom of their own. Now it is time for the beach.

12.03 Today's visit to the beach was great. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing. The blowing wind brought with it some sand. The sand stuck on body, face, legs and hands. Christer thought I looked like Kenny Rogers with all the white sand in my face.

12.41 We are standing at a bus stop waiting for a bus. There are three kinds of buses going into Bridgetown. The question is will our bus be yellow, white or blue. The blue are the largest one and are owned by the government. The yellow ones are pretty big and privately owned. The white ones are the ones with largest numbers and are similar to the ones we travelled with on the previous islands. The vehicle which passed us right now is the last one I want to go with. It was a hearse.

12.54 Two mini buses stopped and we entered the last one. Now the front one is driving as slow as he can and the drivers argue about who took passengers from who. I guess it is just for fun, or? The bus is white with a wine-red stripe.

We have reached yet another capital. This time it´s Bridgetown.

13.27 It took some time to get into town. There were many who wanted to go there and we practically crawled there. We are currently at Barbados National Bank. Maybe they will allow us to exchange our Trinidad dollar bills? http://www.caribbean-on-line.com/br/btmap.shtml

13.39 It is practically impossible to exchange our Trinidad dollars. We have though arranged with money. I just went to an ATM. Now we are seated on a bench at the Independence Square. In front of us we can see water and on the other side is the parliament. The water by the way is the Constitution River. A little further away from us we can see a small arch.

Independence Arch, Bridgetown

14.05 We have sat down at the Waterfront Café which is along the Careenage. Here we will have coffee. Today I won’t let go of it, neither with grip nor with sight. Out in the water we can see boats that cost more than an average year’s salary. It feels great to just sit down and relax.

Peter drinking coffee, a happy man!

The parliament building in Bridgetown

Bus station near Cheapside Market, Bridgetown

Swan Street in Bridgetown

15.22 We’ve searched for and also found the post office. We weren’t that lucky in our search for the tourist information. Now we are sitting on a supporting wall in the Jubilee Gardens with a view towards the Saint Mary’s Church. Just now a lady with a big plastic bag filled to the half with bottles passed us. The time has come to head for a grocery store.

15.50 Christer just said how great he thinks beverages are. He said it as we just had sat down on a bench in the Independence Square. Before that we heard for God knows which time a man crying out ”Taxi taxi”. He waved with his keys and said “I have a taxi”. Isn’t that great for him? Why on earth would guys whgo are about to enter a park need a taxi? We have since the last note strolled back, passed something called Hope’s Alley. It was full of garbage, not hope. Perhaps it was named after a person. We carried on to a store for some shopping and here we are now in the park.

Independence Square with the Barbados flag.

17.53 We remained for a while around the Square before we decided to head home. I was asked to immortalize an Indian couple in front of a fountain. I managed to do so. After that we looked for a bus home, took pictures of some young British ladies with their cameras and went to the bus station we arrived at earlier. The journey home went just as slow as the one into town. Although slow we got where we wanted to. On the way from the bus stop a man in a car told me not to tell anyone that the Barbados government had spent millions of dollars on building pavements so that people could walk on them. Apparently I had walked on the road for a short while. We stopped by a store and bought more soft drinks. Outside of the store I met a singing man. He wanted to have some money for the song. Another man asked me if I had some money for him as well. I didn’t have any money for any of them. Now we are home with our beverages and money to spend on other things.

18.57 The wash of today is hanging on the line outside of the house. Some bites that we have got on our legs and feet during the trip are really itching. Not the bite itself but the area around it.

19.33 It is a new evening; it is a new meal and a new place. We are at New Century to try some Chinese food. The restaurant is just above the main road. Not far from today’s bus stop

20.19 I sure had better meals. My sweet and sour pork arrived in three parts, one plate with deep fried pork, one with rice and a bowl with sweet and sour sauce. Not much taste and hardly any service.

21.01 We have bought a newspaper, Daily Nation. In it you can find the things you usually find in a newspaper. I have though found some new stuff. In an obituary people are asked to send their condolences via e-mail.

22.38 Something that Christer has found in the newspaper are reversed work ads, people who offer their services instead of companies asking for people. We are just thinking about tomorrow. There are some things to do, try a new beach, have a beer and so on. Can we combine that and perhaps something else?

Friday 27th of July

08.37 I hope the last grains of sand are washed out from my scalp. A gentle breeze rocks the bushes in our hostess garden and thin clouds floats over the sky. It is a new day, a day when new money enters our accounts. It is about time!

10.36 We’ve laid out the plans for the day. We will via internet learn more about the beach we plan to visit. The main problem is how to get there. We will also exchange questions and answers with our next home. I wonder if our mosquito repellent is water proof. We suspect we might have been bitten on the beach.

Peter thinking about the plans for this day.

11.44 We’ve learned about the transport but haven’t been able to connect to hotmail. We didn’t get in contact with Saint Lucia. Now we are thinking about where to go for a swim. Shall we go to Crane Beach although we don’t know if the bus stops there or just remain here? On the local basketball field we saw an elderly singing man. He held onto a cricket bat.

12.13 We will remain here. It is time to put on the sunblock and pack what we really need, a tower for instance. After that we will slide into the slippers and walk away towards Dover Beach.

14.37 We went to the beach beyond our usual one. It was a better beach with not as much people and guys selling grass. I took the chance and took a picture of a local guy walking by. He noticed it and got slightly crossed and wondered what I was doing. I told him that I wanted a memory from the beach. From the beach we saw aeroplanes from known and unknown airline companies slowly descend towards the airport. On our way home we met the singing man again. This time he was arguing with another man while he held a mattress. It is now 88˚F at our home the thermometre says. That is around 31˚C. We have spoken to our hostess Gertrude. She has promised us to arrange with a taxi to the airport tomorrow.

Another day on the beach.

Lots of space on the beach near a closed hotel.

Not the happiest aloe vera salesman.

15.31 We are wondering if it is possible to pay the departure tax with credit card or some foreign currency, perhaps Trinidad dollars. We will have a pleasant evening if that is possible.

15.50 The internet café we visited earlier today had closed for the day. Now we found and entered another one. The time has come to exchange information with Saint Lucia

16.18 We are sitting by a green table at the sports pub Whistling Frog. We are having a beer each. According to the menu a draft beer cost 5 dollars. The man who tapped the beer wanted 7 dollars and claimed that 5 dollars were for the small ones. We think these are pretty small. This we don’t like. Why treat tourists this way? This might have been our first day here. But on the other hand, he knows that behind us are hundreds of thirsty tourists. Christer is about to write a postcard. He bought the two last stamps in a small shop. Lousy beer man!, but the beer is great.

Christer drinking beer and having a fight with a stamp.

17.29 We have returned to the beach. The time has come to take pictures of our recreation area.

19.01 On our way home from the beach I saw a small monkey sitting in a sun chair. I think someone charged people to hold it and/or take pictures of it. The dusk is lowering itself over Barbados. It is dim around me. The outer lights of Oriental Dining are out of order. We have come here for yet another dinner. I will pay this dinner with my VISA card. This move will render us hard cash tomorrow to pay the taxes with.

20.16 We are back in our room ever so pleased. Now all we have to do is gather strength and motivation to pack. It must be done or it will be left behind.

22.36 Once again our bags are packed. The time has come to round up yet another island nation. Barbados differs from the others we seen. There has been another feeling, another treatment. Earlier it has felt like the people have given something extra. Here the feeling has been take it or leave it. In many ways this is a perfect copy of most big tourist places around the world. It is less genuine and more business around it. The capital and beaches have been great to visit though.

Saturday 28th of July

07.01 In about one hour ago someone started to work outside our window. I think they are cutting stone or something similar. What makes a person start working at 06.00 on a Saturday morning?

07.39 The road work has stopped. All we can see are their small tent which we can see above the bushes. Will everything run smoothly today? Will the taxi we ordered through our hostess get here? Will everything be OK at the airport? Will we be driven to our next home?

08.50 It wasn't any road work. Someone on the other side of the street had put up a party tent. They will have a party tonight. I still can’t figure out why they started so early. Now we have been driven to the airport by our hostess neighbour. She is the one who was supposed to pick us up some days ago. Now we will relax before we check in.

10.01 We have been looking and searching but haven’t seen any counter or booth where we can pay the departure tax. Now as we have passed the passport check and security we still haven’t found any tax booth. There is no trace of one, neither existing nor a former one.

10.41 We just realised that our gate, number 9, is located in another building. We went there and here we are. Still no sign of any tax paying place.

We´re leaving Barbados.

11.00 This was a taxfree airport. We are onboard yet another airplane. We are getting a hang on this. Still the earlier flights feel so distant. Now awaits a journey to the northwest to get to Saint Lucia, yet another island on our round trip but the last new country this summer.

11.20 It was magnificent to take off from Barbados and see the densely populated island disappear beyond the horizon.

SAINT LUCIA

12.29 The flight went just fine. A funny thing is the fact that we flew in over the island right around where we are going to stay. We have sat down in the vehicle that will take us from George F.L Charles Airport in the capital Castries northern outskirts. The airport is still known by the locals by its old name Vigie. Left behind us on the airport are our passports. Apparently we needed a visa to enter the country. That is at least what the passport police claimed. This is dramatic news for us and not at all matching the information that we had before the trip. We are supposed to get our passports in Castries on Monday. Our driver´s name is Barney. He has earlier in his life been driving a taxi in London. The passport police kept talking about visa and that we should go to the office. I wonder what office he meant. We didn’t find any one at the airport. There is supposed to be one in the capital by "the waterfront".

Beautiful views of Saint Lucia seen from the plane.

A long interesting taxi trip with Barney.

13.03 Our ride has taken us past some breathtaking views. We are going through leafy forests. This reminds us of Dominica.

13.16 We made a short stop in Dennery to fill up with petrol. Dennery is also Barney´s home village and he has informed us about the fishing port and some other useful things.

Our accomodation, "A peace of paradise" in Mamiku.

13.39 We have arrived to our new home, A peace of paradise, in Mamiku. http://www.a-peace-of-paradise.com/ On the way here we passed a huge construction place with golf courses, a port and other stuff. In a hammock a Mexico-based British lady called Jackie is reading a book. We are arranging with transport to pick up the passports on Monday and to the airport on Wednesday. We are doing this with Barney, he who brought us here. Our hostess Lorraine Royall has just served us a rum drink and some banana chips. She has also offered us some bananas. The chain Sainbury´s in the UK buy their bananas from Saint Lucia so there are several banana plantations here. We will stay in one room and our backpacks in another.

Pluto

A familiar sight in tropical countries.

Peter making a phonecall to Roger.

16.35 I have phoned our old friend Roger in Sweden to check out what he was doing. In Östersund where he lives it is a music festival and the time is 22.35 there. Roger is though at home sober and proper. He claimed that all was fine. We also met Pluto the dog who was left here as a puppy. Lorraine is amazed how quick we got approved by Pluto. An Englishman who stayed here for two weeks during the cricket World Championships never got approved and never was allowed to pat him. Now we will walk over to the neighbour´s place and bring home some dinner that we ordered. Jackie wants to remain here.

17.18 Our food wasn't ready and Lorraine bought us some local rum and cola. We sat inside a small shack, a local pub. The place was run by Daniel and the food was cooked by his wife Sheila Margaret. Margaret is their family name. We are back at home and as soon as the food is done Lorraine will go and get it.

Tasty rum in Daniel´s very local "pub".

20.09 Homemade Creole food was just great. We had rice, meat, dasheen, some kind of root crop, beans and salad. We also tried the beer of Saint Lucia, Piton. Now we are sitting on the back porch surrounded by singing crickets and birds. On the wall a gecko lizard is hunting. He just caught a butterfly which he swallowed in a haste.

22.17 The time has come to part the mosquito net and crawl to bed. I am looking forward to sleep. I am exhausted yet full of thoughts. Why did they take our passports?

Sunday 29th of July

08.02 I am awake and I sit in the wind from the fan. The time has come to get ourselves and the day in order. We will not go abroad today. After all we have no passports. This passport police joins the gang of zealous passport police that have given us trouble through the years. Earlier members is the one in Ceský Têšin (4/8 2002)and most of all the man in Eilat (2/8 2005).

09.55 Our hostess has brought us breakfast. Today we were served coffee, bread, cereals and soursop juice. She has also called her friend and checked about the visa. It seems like the passport police was right. There is some new regulation starting from this year. The friend claims that there is no cost around it. We can’t still see the idea in being a tourist island and demanding a visa from the ones coming to visit. We have had time to exchange homepage addresses with Jackie. She is the British lady who works as a teacher in Mexico. She has told us some fascinating stories about her work in countries like Bangladesh. Her page can be found at http://geocities.com/jacteach7/index.html

11.37 I just spoke with my youngest brother in Sweden. Christer and I just met the other dogs of the house, the wirehaired Benson, PJ (same as my nickname) and one which name I forgot.

Lorraine with her dogs.

Christer on a Sunday walk.

Bananas, bananas, bananas.

This is where we´re going today.

12.00 We’ve started our walk towards yet another botanical Garden, Mamiku Botanical Gardens. Along the road are several banana trees. Some of them grow in blue plastic bags. It is a calm warm day. It is hard to get stressed up in this kind of environment.

12.10 We are surrounded by trees and plants here in Mamiku Gardens. We are just a short walk from home. Under us is a bench made out of straight and crooked pieces of wood. At the entrance we got some practical small handbooks that tell us the names of all plants and trees here. They all got numbers.

12.58 After I had eaten a ham sandwich and had some juice I decided to take a look in the souvenir store here at Brigands Bar inside the area. One of the books was ”Birds of the West Indies” by James Bond. Not the agent himself but the man whose name were used to name the agent.

Peter near the entrance of Mamiku Botanical Gardens.

A lovely view towards the eastern coast of Saint Lucia.

13.16 We found a new bench on our walk through the green. The view is breathtaking. I can see minibuses passing by, palm trees, the ocean and islands.

14.07 We have just left the remains/ruins of the old house/picket high above the garden. It was laid in ruins 1796 during a battle between freed slaves known as brigands and Englishmen. Before the Englishmen a French baron called Micoud resided here. The house was built in 1766. Now we found a new bench and all, well almost all, of our senses are challenged. We hear birds, see plants, feel scents and something is biting my right upper arm. Ouch!

"Grandpa´s house" inside the Mamiku Gardens.

14.43 We’ve left a crumbling house behind us, a house known as Grandpa’s house. There we found some citrus trees, basil, ginger and aloe vera. Now we are about to round up our walk here. First we will have a last bench break. This visit was just to kill some time on a Sunday but it turned out to be really great with lots of exiting plants, a calm and cosy environment and an interesting trail with a great view.

15.54 We have returned home and checked on the internet about visas to Saint Lucia and got different answers. I also took the chance to shower under the clear blue sky in a bamboo hut. Christer went there this morning and is on his way back there.

The "bamboo shower"

18.10 We had yet another tasty dinner. We went over to Daniel´s place and picked it up. Today we had chicken, beans, salad, dasheen and bread fruit. The bread fruit had just been picked from the tree. Benson accompanied us during the dinner. He looks like a German shepherd dog. He is though gray dark and has a really coarse fur.

20.38 It is time for yet another soiree. To nights concert offers, birds, crickets and a dog. This is enjoyment to the extreme.

20.44 The service here is excellent. Lorraine has borrowed a new hard drive to the computer so that we shall be able to check on the internet. She also fills her fridge with different kind’s beverages and other stuff. Everything is based on trust. We tell her what we had and pay for it later. She takes not much extra for it although it is bought in stores miles away. We have a whole villa to ourselves in the evenings since we are the only guests here after Jackie left and Lorraine lives in another house.

21.17 We are planning to lie down on a sun bed each out on the back porch. Here we will have beer while the concert carries on. According to our latest check the cost for the visa is $45. I guess we will find the answer to this tomorrow as we plan to go into Castries and hopefully reunite with our passports.