6 hrs, 4 kms

Barbados has the best public transportation by far of all the islands, starting from early in the morning until late at night . Also, thanks to a constant ocean breeze, it isn't as hot as the other islands. And it doesn't seem to have any really dangerous neighborhoods that I need to avoid... So I guess I don't have any excuse for not thoroughly exploring this country.

My plan is to do a sort of "Z" hike. Start on the upper Caribbean coast... hike across to the Atlantic side... then back across west through the middle... then follow the south coast back to the Atlantic againg (part of which I did yesterday). This way I can Parkbench every single parish of Barbados.

So today I'm going to catch a bus to Holetown on the Caribbean side and do the first segment of this hike. It's a bit of a tedious ride, as we have to pass the the more dense sprawl around the capital, but finally we reach the touristy town of Holetown. Here there's a long, shady park with traditional Barbadian wood houses turned into colorful boutiques catering to tourists... A bit artificial, but...nice...

Across the main road is a monument dedicated to the first landing of the British in 1605. That arrival, for better or for worse, was the first step in making Barbados what it is today.