In December, 2005, the Kepharts, minus
Thomas who had to work (ha!), traveled to Barbados to spend the holidays
with friends and relatives.
Barbados is in the Atlantic Ocean to the east of the Windward Islands..
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Barbados's modern history began in the 1600s as a sugar colony founded
on the African slave trade. It is one of the few Caribbean nations that
has always been under British control. Slaves on Barbados, as in other
British West Indian territories, gained their freedom in the 1830s, a
generation before those of North America. |
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For a few days, we stayed at the Coconut Court Resort hotel in Hastings,
Christ Church. This was the view from the balcony of our room. |
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| Aimee
and I spent some time fish-watching on the reef. Amazingly, we were able
to see dozens of species of reef fish even though we were only a few yards
from the shore. |
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| Aimee
and Willy enjoy the gentle surf in front of the hotel. |
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| Willy and I were married at St. Patrick's
in August, 1974. |
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| After a few days at the hotel, we moved to
the home of one of Willy's former school mates. It was beautifully decorated
for Christmas, Barbados style. |
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| On Christmas Day, while the adults visited
and prepared the food, the kids played dominos. |
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| Flying fish, caught in the surrounding waters,
is the national dish of Barbados. Here Willy and her school mate Pam clean
some for Christmas dinner. |
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| Not all of Barbados is flat; the hilly Scotland
District in the northeast was, historically, home to the descendants of
indentured servants brought from the British Isles to work in the cane fields.
It was the failure to find sufficient labour from this source that led to
the African slave trade. |
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| Farley Hill was a sugar estate that served
as a set for the 1957 film "Island in the Sun," starring Harry
Belafonte. Sometime later the estate house was burned. |
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