Delicious "fish & cheese cutter" sandwich from "Cuz's" shop on Pebble Beach. Cutter refers to the bread roll and the fact that it is cut in half, unless that was just a joke our hosts told me.
I would never have thought of putting cheese with fish, but it was very good. Sandwich includes lettuce, tomato, fish made on the spot in some spices, mayo, and the ubiquitous "pepper." Don't ask what kind of cheese or what kind of fish. It is the kind you are getting.
Each sandwich was $10 Barbados (BBD), $5 USD.
Subash is writing about all of the Barbados food, which will be up on www.thecricketcouch.com soon.
As you may have guessed from the lizard post (if you didn't already know) I love animals. I will take any animal, but reptiles seem to have a special place in my heart. On our 2012 trip to Trinidad I took us far out of our way to see leatherback sea turtles--an amazing experience I easily list in the top five things I have ever done.
In Barbados, like that previous trip to Trini, what I most wanted was to see a sea turtle. I didn't care what kind, I didn't care if it was on the beach, in the water, in the rain, from a distance, in a box, with a fox, I just wanted to see one.
There are about a hundred different sea turtle snorkeling tours here that range from 5 hour booze cruises to a quick jaunt out. Most of them are priced around $100, and take a group of at least 15 people out at a time.
I searched the Internet and pamphlet stands, looking for something that could balance between our daily budget and a potential once-in-a-lifetime experience. Near the end of the trip, by chance, I stumbled upon "Barbados Blue," a diving shop along Pebble Beach (on the south coast) near the base of the Hilton Hotel. Diving is clearly their main business, but someone must have figured out they could add a couple more people on to snorkel and expand business a bit. The price was only $40 for around 3 hours--by far the cheapest I have come across. There were no frills, no endless rum punches, and no crowd--just a pair of fins, the small life vest to keep me from drowning, face mask, and guides who clearly knew what they were doing.
The boat dropped off the scuba divers and the remaining 6 of us (five Canadian school teachers on vacation together and I) were off in search of turtles.
In my imagination, the boat would have to take us to some secluded cove in order to find something so majestic. It turned out to be quite the opposite--the boat anchored in the middle of the coastal water, completely surrounded by other boats and buoys, within sight of the crowded beaches.
I've only ever snorkeled once before in a sixth grade remedial swim class for dummies, and the main things I remember are humiliation and the feeling of drowning. This experience was a whole other world. On the boat you are a clumsy hulking animal, with giant flippers on your feet and a box on your face, but in the water you are a smooth creature, seeing clear to the bottom, dolphin tail legs swishing along with the fishes. The water here is so crystal clear, and the sea turtles came immediately to eat the small fish handed out by the tour guides. My dream to just-see-one-turtle-please-please-please was instantly surpassed beyond any expectation.
Our incredible hosts let me borrow their underwater camera, and even though I was there the pictures still blow me away.
These are all green sea turtles. You can tell because they have 5 scutes (the name for the individual "scales" on the shell) down the center and 4 on each side, one claw on each front flipper, and two scales right on top of the nose, called "prefrontal scales." The hawksbill sea turtle, for example, would have four prefrontal scales and two claws on each front flipper.
The bigger sea turtles were each surrounded by a little fish entourage hoping to catch bits left behind.
I didn't know how to use the zoom on the camera, so this is really how close they got. Grabbing on to the turtles is strictly forbidden (as it should be), but you can put out a hand to gently stroke their shells as they swim by.
The guides recommended keeping our hands closed in fists while near the turtles, as they can mistake pale waggling fingers for the fish they are hand-fed. I must confess to secretly wiggling my fingers at a turtle or two to make them come closer--sorry guys!
Some of the bigger turtles had a fish which I believe is a remora attached to their underside. The remora are worth looking up, as they have a crazy mouth they use to attach to their hosts. They appear to have a commensal relationship (commensalism from the Latin commensalis meaning "sharing a table") with the remora hitching a ride and getting to eat free leftovers while also cleaning the turtle.
I took a brief video with the underwater camera to try to capture how graceful the turtles are. You'll have to excuse how jumpy it is and how I for some reason pan away right at the worst moment.
After the sea turtles we boarded the boat and went back to where the scuba divers were above some wrecks. The oldest wreck there was from World Word I, and the youngest from 2002 which was sunk on purpose to make a reef.
They were also incredible, full of different kind of coral and other growths that I would call "yellow tube-ies" but obviously must have a real name I just don't know. There were fish everywhere, and while most of the pictures are of the zebra striped ones, closer to the wreck were all kinds of brightly colored and strangely shaped fish.
Look at the pointy orange-tipped nose!
Kathleen fish.
One of the guides took my camera and swam down to the wreck to take this picture of me. They could hold their breath for an incredible amount of time. I tried swimming down at one point and within just a few feet it felt like my eardrums were going to burst.
The Barbados Blue tour ended up being the perfect thing for me. I'm not a good swimmer, and even with the little vest keeping me afloat I was tired by the time we stopped. If you swim really well the time in the water might not be enough for you, but for me it was over right at the point I started to worry I wouldn't be able to keep going much more. The lack of food and drinks kept the price low, and the small group of snorkelers made for a much more intimate experience. I found this picture online of one of the other popular 5 hour tours and to me, while it would probably still be worth it to see the turtle, it looks like a nightmare:
I'm sure you could still come away with a great turtle photo, but the actual time in the water would be spent trying not to crash into other people as you all vied for a spot.
On the Barbados Blue tour it was just six of us, and we were well spread out and lucky enough to see more than one turtle so it felt like it was just you and the amazing bounty of the sea soaring through the water.
Right before we got back on the boat to head back I spotted a small turtle sitting on the bottom of the ocean. I watched it from above as it ate from the sea floor. If you have ever seen a turtle--any kind of turtle--eat something, you will be able to imagine it, and I was delighted to see that the sea turtle was no different. It bent its head out in that adorable side-eyed way turtles do, snatching up little bits here and there. Coming up for air was equally adorable, as if you were lucky you could catch the moment it popped up its head and opened its little turtle mouth for a gasp of air before flying back down.
It was just incredible, and something I'll never forget. The way they glide through the water like birds in the air, their shapes appearing on the edges of your vision in the distance and soaring towards you, gliding underneath, their shells painted in watercolors, eyes glinting. A $40 trip that turned out to be priceless.
A little before 3 pm yesterday Subash and I stepped out of the car (thanks, Christine!) and into the steamy Barbados evening to join the throngs of colorfully dressed cricket fans wandering into the Kensington Oval.
After a brief bag search and body-wanding at security, we walked into the mouth of the looming concrete spaceship of the stadium. Two young women were staged near the entrance giving out free samples of aged El Dorado Rum, one of the sponsors of the Twenty 20 match we were about to witness. As an incredibly classy and cultured individual, the first day I assumed the small samples were shots, the only kind of alcohol-in-small-container I have ever been exposed to. I quickly shot it back, my face twisting in a comical grimace. Subash then pointed out all of the others sipping casually at their cups, mulling over the taste and savoring it. What can I say, I've been living in Penn State for a long time.
I have been lucky enough to visit a few stadiums now, and while my experience is still limited I feel confident that the Caribbean stadium experience would be hard to beat. The crowd is friendly, joking back and forth, flags and team colors are displayed proudly, a band of absurdly dressed horn and drum players wanders the seats, playing songs and starting waves. I realize that the Twenty 20 matches are generally a little more party and a little less cricket, but even the test match I saw in Trinidad had a similar flair, with steel drums and our seat-neighbors sharing their jerk chicken and alcohol.
I suppose if you really just want to zone in on the finesse and details of the match, this may be an annoying atmosphere, I'm not sure, but for me it was a blast.
I made a real effort this time to watch the cricket being played instead of wandering around to eat stadium food (Fish Cakes - fried batter with tiny bits of fish mixed in, fried on the spot throughout the game, delicious, 7 for $5 Barbados). The more I watch the more I understand, and by the end of the match I could guess what was going wrong, what the Barbados Tridents should have been doing against the Guyana Warriors, and why they were going to lose at the last second.
There are a number of small things I especially like watching, and here are two:
- When fielders near the boundary make a real effort to stop the ball before it hits the boundary rope and becomes a 4. I like to see them really try and sprint and dive for it, even when there is a good chance it will be for nothing.
- The sudden change in look on people's faces (in the crowd) when they realize they have been put up on the Jumbotron screen. I love watching for it, the moment of shock and delight and the frantic waving that follows
Last night I learned about "bowling yorkers," a very clever method, and one that seemed effective as far as I could tell. A third thing I like to watch is Subash. It is like he is out in the ocean, floating on waves of excitement and disappointment as players succeed or fail. It doesn't matter which side is up to bat or fielding, and there isn't one particular team he wants to win, he loves it all, any cricket well played.
Near the end of the match things were getting close, and the crowd wilder. The smell of beer emanated from the men behind me and the trash-talking between the Barbados fans and the Guyana fans escalated to an absurd level. Even through all of this, the friendliness remained.
The wandering band came down our aisle and everyone danced, waving their drinks in the air. I wanted to join but was entirely too sober, and asked one of the people behind me for a slug from their giant glass liquor bottle (sorry, Mom!). They passed it down and when I drank from it everyone cheered.
The game ended with Barbados losing. The Guyana cheerleaders danced, their hips moving in hypnotic circles, the foil pom-poms dancing in the evening air. A fan nearby had an American flag for no reason, draped over his shoulders as he hunched in sadness at the Trident's loss. We interrupted his internal eulogy to ask to borrow the flag, and then ask that someone take a picture.
It was an excellent three hours, and I feel like I am beginning to understand some of the nuances that make cricket a great sport. I can't guarantee I'm ready to make it past day 1 of an actual test match yet, but maybe, as this trip goes on, I will be.
Who knows, maybe by the end I will be like Subash, like the crowd around us, rising and falling with joy and frustration as my team bats and bowls, going for single runs and sixes, taking wickets and aiming for glory.
If you want to make collages a great place to find material is those little brochure stands in the lobby of hotels and tourist areas. I've been raiding them for pictures and maps and blue background, jamming fistfuls in my purse while the hotel clerk wonders why I'm so excited about the descriptions of tours, rum, and town centers.
