Barbados is the ‘Little England’ of the Caribbean, but not to the point where the locals have given up rotis for kidney pies, or rum for bitter ale Bajans, as the islanders call themselves, are as West lndian as any of their neighbours, and have tended to appropriate rather than about English customs. Tou’ll notice this the first time you check out a local cricket match, since the gentlemanly English game has a totally different rhythm here. Nonetheless, there are old stone Anglican churches in every parish, horse races on Saturdays and portraits of Queen Liz hanging on plenty of walls.

February to May

Taking a tram ride through Harrison’s Cave, an astonishing network of limestone caverns and subterranean waterfalls

Reveling a lush tropical plants in the natural wilderness of Welchman Hall Gully or the cultivated botanical gardens of the Elower Forest

Exploring the Barbados Museum and the adjacent history- laden Garrison area Wandering around grand 1 th – century plantation home and estategardens

Bodysurfing at Crane Beach, a scenic stretch of pink – tinged sand

Encountering local fauna at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve, which features green monkeys, red – footed turtles, caimans, brocket deer, iguanas and agoutis

Read the acclaimed novel ln the Castle of My Skin by Bajan author George Lamming, in which he tells what is was like growing up black in colonial Barbados

Listen to calypso artist the Might Gabby, whose songs on cultural identity and political protest speak for emerging black pride throughout the Caribbean

Watch The Tamarind Seed starring Omar Sharif and Julie Anderws, a romance cum spy thriller set partly in Barbados

Eat cou – cou (a creamy cornmeal and okra mash, often served with saltfish ) or souse ( a made out of pickled pig’s head belly, spices and a few vegetables, commonly served with a pig – blood sausage called ‘pudding’

Drink Mount Gay rum or Banks, which is a good locally brewed beer

Workin’ up ( dancing )

Cricket fanatics; elderly women in prim hats; calypso music; rum; nightlife

Barbados boasts more international cricket players on a per capita than any other nation; women are the head of the household in many families, and a majority of children are born outside of wedlock

ln 1751, at age 19 – some 38 years before he would become the first US president – George Washington visited Barbados as a companion to his half – brother Lawrence, who suffered from tuberculosis. lt was hoped that the tropical climate would prove therapeutic… The six – week Barbados trip was the only overseas journey George Washington ever made.