I fell in love with travelling since I took my first trip to Margarita about 4 years ago. I couldn’t find anyone to go with me but I just needed a vacation, a break from work and my growing road rage (developed from the Valencia Stretch). The shopaholic in me wanted to return this year but since I wanted to ensure I got maximum bang for my buck I had to go with Barbados instead; cheaper flight and longer time in the hotel.
What I normally do before any new place I visit is to see what sites of interest is a must see and of course shopping areas. So the Harrison’s Cave came highly recommended from friends who were there before so why not go see what they saw.
Now be prepared to spend people. For the four persons in my group it amounted to US$70 for the driver to take us from the hotel to the caves and then back to the hotel! But I heard I got a good deal. The trini in me never pays so much to travel but then again our gas is subsidized!
So on entering the venue, you are greeted with a nice big welcome sign and a sitemap. Walk straight ahead and get ready to spend some more money. It was US$107 for 3 adults and 1 child. My pockets are empty now and I’m really wondering if it’s all worth it.
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| Welcome Sign |
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| Site Map |
So forward march and now you come to some elevators where you have to take a short trip down. The view from the elevator is breathtaking; you get to see the top of the cave interpretation centre, which is your next stop.
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| Cave Interpretation Centre |
At the cave interpretation centre, you get information you can read on the history of the caves and then you’re off into a dark room to see a short video clip. At this time I am wondering when I will see the cave already; that’s what I came to see! The tour guide then makes you recite some pledge that you would take nothing but pictures, touch nothing and leave nothing but well placed footprints.
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| Inside the cave centre, did you notice I was wearing the main colours of the Barbados flag? So well that part came next! You are made to board a tram and are taking on a downwards journey to the centre of the caves. Now be prepared for slightly scatter showers and sites that are beautiful, that even the camera couldn’t really capture.    You can see part of the tram here, which looks like a buggy with no doors. The formations on the left side of the picture are called the village.  This shows the complexity of the cave system with stalactites and stalagmites, stream flowing in between ridges.   What I appreciated about the tour of the caves was that the tour guide made it so interesting pointing out formations that resembled shapes or persons, giving great information about the different names of these formations and they even took off the light completely to show the darkness of the caves which the early explorers would have faces at times. It was such a wonderful experience, that my words can in no way describe what I saw, you just have to go down there for yourself. So that question I had earlier on about whether the money was worth it, well I guess you have the answer already!  |