Blog Post #1

Barbados

Barbados is small island eastward in Caribbean in a group of islands called the Lesser Antilles. The islands gets its name from a Portuguese beaded fig tree that is native to the island. The small island holds a little more than 280,000 people. More than half of the citizens here are of European and African descent due to the African slave migration to the Caribbean islands in the 1600 through 1700s, but the first slaves to arrive were whites from Britain were people who thought to be against the King. The small country gained its independence from the British in 1966. When the British first arrived in Barbados in 1625 the island was mostly a jungle with many wild pigs running around. English is the official language spoken there due to past British rule. Another common language spoken in Barbados is called Bajan which is a mix of English and various languages spoken in west Africa. This country has a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Barbados is thought to be one of the most developed Caribbean islands and in the western hemisphere, as unlike many countries in the Caribbean they have piped clean water. It is a very tourists friendly place as they have around 500,000 tourist a year and it has the highest visitor repeat at 39%. There are many different things to do here while visiting such as snorkeling, nature and wildlife tours, the beaches, and historical and heritage tours. Some of the more popular tourist attractions are Andromeda Botanic Gardens which features tropical plants from all over the world. Harrison’s Cave which is a cave made a crystallized limestone and has streams, waterfalls, and pools. Last many people love to visit Parliament Buildings, Bridgetown which features buildings made of limestone from the 1800s as well as museums.