ABOUT BARBADOS

Barbados
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Barbados is a pear shaped coral island, approximately 21 miles from north to south, up to 14 miles east to west, and with a population of 275,000 people.

Barbadians - also known as 'Bajans' - are warm, helpful and friendly. The island is English speaking and is part of the British Commonwealth. 

Barbados is a safe place for a holiday. Visitors from all over the world are drawn to its enviable climate, together with its warm, clear blue sea and brilliant white sand beaches which are great for people of all ages. Being the most easterly Caribbean island. Barbados is seldom troubled by hurricanes and boasts 3,000 hours of sunshine each year. Any tropical showers tend to be short and sharp. (Please see the annual temperature and rainfall graphs below).

Barbados is a gourmet's paradise. You will find an excellent selection of restaurants to suit all tastes and budgets - everything from fast-food dining to excellent, top class establishments.

Confirmed beach addicts and water sports fanatics are equally at home in Barbados, with a variety of great beaches to choose from and plenty of operators offering diving, snorkelling, water-skiing and similar activities. A number of companies run boat or catamaran trips along the coast, there is a submarine that cruises the coral reefs to watch the fish close up and you can charter boats for deep-sea fishing.

The island offers a number of year round distractions away from the beaches including; world-class golf courses, tropical gardens, a wildlife reserve, rum distilleries, restored colonial plantation houses, horse riding, a racecourse and, of course, the national passion - cricket !

Seasonal attractions include the Crop Over Festival that runs from mid July through to August and the Holetown Festival celebrations during the last 2 weeks of each February. Holder’s opera and classical music festivals are held each March. Holders Hill also hosts several polo matches between September and March each year.

Barbados has an impressive range of historical sites, gently rolling landscapes, dramatic scenery, hidden caves, cliffs and gullies to explore.

Hire cars, taxis and the inexpensive buses - with a flat rate fare of BDS$ 1.50 (equivalent to around 50p) - are just a few of the ways you can travel around the island. If you really want to splash out, Bajan Helicopters offer short but spectacular tours from the heliport in Bridgetown.

Holidaying in Barbados requires no special medical precautions, inoculations are unnecessary and the tap water is safe to drink.

The island’s unit of currency is the Barbados dollar** but major credit cards and US dollars are widely accepted as payment for goods and services.

**2 Barbados dollars are usually equivalent to 1 US dollar.

If you are an animal lover and interested in improving the life and welfare of animals in Barbados, please join The Ark Animal Welfare Society. For more details, go to The Ark website at: www.arkanimalwelfarebarbados.com.

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