Island Life
3 May 2021
One of my oldest friends has asked whether I would describe day-to-day living, shopping, interactions with neighbours and so forth which seems a pertinent thing to do.
As you can see from the opening image, we live in a middle-class neighbourhood. Despite that even the more affluent locals seem to like living in houses that are unfinished. Many lack an outer coating of paint which, with weathering, makes them appear derelict on first appearance.
Establishing a garden does not appear to be of much interest either. Many big houses sit in isolated plots of scrubland which only adds to the appearance of dereliction.
And architecturally, house design here for the more affluent is a mess; a mix of Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-classical and Art noveau. Earlier houses are influenced by Jacobean design elements and in many parts of the island, where there are older plantation houses, you could be forgiven for thinking you were driving through the French countryside.
The working class locals live in a more modern interpretation of the wooden Chattel house, essential a single story rectangular structure made of wood or breeze block and colourfully painted.
My immediate neighbour, an attractive mid-fifties lady, runs a car rental business. Hers is an interesting background. She’s of Guyanese descent, married a Frenchman and lived for many years on the Ivory coast, Africa, before settling in London. She speaks with a strong South London accent. She came to Barbados fifteen years ago, bought a plot of land and built a house.
One of her closest friends, a local, lives in a large house overlooking the cliffs nearby and dabbles in property development. On her land is a popular restaurant that the chef and his partner lease from her.
The owners of the green house directly opposite live in the UK and have not visited their home here since Covid struck back in 2020. Many houses on our estate appear empty.
Another neighbour is a magistrate and has a beautiful small house that overlooks the sea.
Bajans are a friendly, courteous people who greet you in a traditional British way. No Hi or G’day, It’s good morning, good afternoon and good evening. They wave when you drive by and will always greet you.
Given Covid and its restrictions we have not been as neighbourly as we might usually be so haven’t got to know many local people. This is compounded by living in the Parish of St Philip on the east coast, a semi-rural environment which suits us. There are no cases of Covid out here compared to the built-up areas of the capital Bridgetown and the south west and west coast communities.
The island is small, some twenty miles north to south by fifteen miles east to west. This means that one can easily reach the more popular areas and the capital’s shops. Having said that, catch the rush hour and one can be stuck for over half an hour crawling along the roads in heavy traffic.
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By choice, we have avoided the capital and more built-up urban areas and fortunately, a modern shopping complex, reminiscent of those found in American towns, lies in an isolated location only six miles away. Called Six Roads it contains one of the largest and best equipped supermarkets on the island, two banks, a post office, gas station, Polyclinic (medical surgery), Courts, a home retail store, Chefette (think McDonalds), clothes shops and a variety of smaller retail outlets. So, we have almost everything we need on our doorstep.
In terms of the cost of living, one can live here more cheaply than in the UK in terms of property rental payments and utilities. Fuel is about the same. The kicker is food. Being an island almost everything has to be flown in. Our supermarket bills can be up to double that in the UK. Okay, we don’t need to eat Yeo Valley probiotic yoghurt, an English west country firm whose products we delightedly found on the shelves of the supermarket. A 1kg carton costs GBP8.69, considerably more than in the UK. Said supermarket must also have a tie-up with Tesco as many of their own label products are stocked. I have discovered that in the heat here Tesco baked beans, once opened, survive much longer in the fridge than Heinz’s. I hate to think what preservatives they use.
Products are not always available. For example, there have been no cloves of garlic for sale for some six weeks. Then they appeared on the shelves as flights resumed to Barbados following the volcanic eruption on neighbouring St Vincent.
We determined to source our fruit and veg from local sources, mainly stalls along the roadside out in the country, but found the savings not to be that great, just a few dollars.
Alcohol is generally expensive. A bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz from Australia costs about GBP7.00 in the UK and that would be a budget wine there. Here it is a premium brand costing around GBP11.50. The cheaper wines from the Caribbean and South America are frankly disgusting.
Rum, the staple alcoholic drink of the island is cheap, but I have never liked the stuff, unfortunately.
A six pack of local beer comes out at around GBP4.85 which is okay.
Being British I drink a lot of tea and a pack of 50 Lipton’s Yellow Label teabags comes out at GBP3.00 while an 11oz pack of Arabica ground coffee is GBP8.74.
Meat and fish are more expensive though local fish bought at a fish market would be cheaper.
Try as we might it’s hard to reduce our food and drinks bills. I’m not ready to become an ascetic or give up alcohol.
How do the locals manage we thought to ourselves? A quick Google search shows that average wages between the UK and Barbados are broadly similar. Maybe the locals exist much more on the local staples of bread fruit, plantains, yams, mangoes, coconuts and locally sourced fish and chicken and eschew Yeo Valley probiotic yoghurt!
Apart from the cost one has to get used to queuing in the supermarkets. This isn’t down to Covid though that doesn’t help. I believe things could be organised more efficiently but the Bajans are a patient people and don’t seem to mind queuing. They have a relaxed attitude to life.
In terms of daily life, we exist in minimal amounts of clothing going barefoot inside and flip flops outside. One can save a small fortune in clothing bills. Every day the temperature is the same, between 26–28C. The humidity is around 70%. At night it’s around 24C. I’ve forgotten what it’s like to wear trousers, pullovers, coats and so forth. The heat is not of the crippling variety. Okay, you don’t want to be working outside in the mid-day sun but it’s bearable and a lovely temperature at the beginning and end of a day. We love the climate here and feel much healthier than in the UK.
The constant humidity, however, means rust is an ever-present problem for anything metallic; not dissimilar to the UK.
Golf, now that is a problem. By that, I mean sourcing things like golf shoes, gloves and clubs. There doesn’t appear to be a good golf shop on the island. Next time I’m back in the UK I will bring back some shoes and extra gloves. I guess given the small population, and the fact it’s a minority sport, it’s probably not worth a major retailer’s time setting up here.
We have established a daily routine. Three times a week we play golf and visit a beach to walk and swim. Often, we’ll stop for a drink and dinner in a beachside restaurant, watching the sun dip into the Caribbean Sea. A couple of times a week we go food shopping. We also take excursions to see the sights and will do more of this as Covid restrictions have eased.
Otherwise, we read, I write and we spend time in the garden where we have propagated a number of plants. We take a daily walk along the cliff tops and have our main meal in the evenings with a glass of wine. We then sit out on the verandah gazing at the stars, breathing in the smell of the Frangipani and other scents on the night air. Evenings are wonderful here. Sometimes we catch a movie on Netflix. It’s a very relaxing existence.
Speaking of which, it’s time for our evening cocktail!
