sea turtle release

I got a call at work today from the Barbados Sea Turtle Project. I had signed up to their calling list a few weeks ago to be notified if there was a sea turtle hatching and release. They were calling to let me know that a release of Hawksbill sea turtles was scheduled tonight at 6:00pm about 30 minutes from where I live. I checked the bus schedule and realized I would have to catch the bus at 5:00. So I left work early, ran home, changed, grabbed some leftovers, and literally ran to the bus stop. 30 minutes later and the bus still wasn't there ... I hadn't factored this into my planning, but I should have assumed the schedule was on "barbados time."

After standing for 45 minutes on the most crowded bus I have ever been on (apparently they don't have capacity laws), I ended up being 15 minutes late for the release. The baby turtles usually take their time getting to the water and can take up to an hour, but not these turtles. They were quick. So by the time I got to the beach, all 167 sea turtles had made it to the water. Needless to say, I was frustrated. But I didn't totally miss out. There were a few stragglers that kept getting washed back onto the shore so I snapped a few pictures as quickly as I could before the next wave washed them back out to sea.

 

And this last picture I got off the Sea Turtle Project's website, all of the turtles heading for the water. I'm sad I missed the release but I'm still happy I went. I was told that there would be more releases in July on the South coast (way closer to me) so I will hopefully have another chance!

the last supper

On Wednesday night, Rob and I went to Naru for our last supper "out" in Barbados. We just ended up ordering take out and having leftovers Thursday and Friday night (which worked out well because I had an allergic reaction to something and didn't want to leave the house ...).

But our last supper was definitely blog worthy! Naru is a restaurant that specializes in "Caribbean cuisine, Asian Techniques, Sushi & Traditional Japanese Dishes." The seating area is right on the boardwalk by Accra beach so you can enjoy your dinner with a view. 

After ordering cocktails, a Naru Iced Tea (vodka, rum, tequila, malibu, raspberry sake, orange and pineapple juice and grenadine) for Rob and a Purple Haze (raspberry sake, dragonberry bacardi, malibu, cranberry juice and blue Curacao) for me, we decided on a couple appetizers.

We started with the Local Rabbit Gyoza, pan fried Japanese dumplings with Jalapeno/Ham compote, yuzu dressings and sweet soy. They were amazing!  The sweet soy and jalapeno was a great sweet and spicy combo! We also had the Marinated Calamari and Grilled Octopus salad with mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes and radish with a yuzu dressing. The calamari and octopus were so tender in this salad and it was a pretty decent portion. Rob was afraid that the radish would be an overpowering flavour but it blended really well.

For mains, I went for the Marinated Yellow Fin Tuna. It was seared rare with roasted garlic mashed potato and a hoisin and tamarind vinaigrette. The sauce was so delicious I could have licked the plate. Over the last year or so I have started liking tuna sushi (my friends and I went for all you can eat almost every other Friday). However, I had never ordered tuna as a main so I was excited to try this and I definitely wasn't disappointed!

Rob had Roasted Duck with with Mu-shu pancakes. It was basically build your own duck tacos! It came with roasted duck, crispy duck skin, cabbage, apple, lettuce and some sauces. I loved the presentation and the duck that I tried had a realy nice flavour. It was funny watching Rob assemble his tacos in a nice restaurant. But try as he might to be tidy, the server still came over and cleaned up his place before dessert.

My usual go-to dessert is the one on the menu with the most chocolate. However Rob isn't the biggest chocolate fan so I end up eating most of the dessert (what a pity!) So this time we opted for a dessert that both of us would eat, a cinnamon coffee cake with warm caramel and chocolate ice cream. It was good but it left me wanting more chocolate ... guilty.

The service at Naru matched their food. Rob actually said it was the best service he had ever had and I would have to agree. I'm definitely adding Naru to my list of restaurants that I want to take my dad when he comes this Thursday!

island tour, bajan style

Last Sunday Rob and I met up with some locals and toured the island bajan style. This means hopping in the back of a truck and heading to places that most tourists would likely never find. After meeting up with about five other trucks/SUVs we headed up the west coast. Our first stop was to the abandoned U.S. Army Base. It was set up in the late 1950s but was abandonned in the early 80s. We had high hopes of trekking up the lighthouse, but unfortunately it was bolted shut and we couldn't get through (not for lack of trying!)

It has been so dry here that there have been a lot of brush fires, hence all the black scenery. From the army base we headed north. I keep finding myself in shock everytime I visit a new place on the island. From the calm west coast, the jungle-ish interior and the rough and rockey east coast, it's all so diverse!

At this point I switched to my waterproof camera because I wanted to explore in the water a bit. However, after watching some of the boys go in without shoes and come out with coral cuts on their feet I decided against it. The quality of these pictures aren't the greatest. But you get the gist!

After the boys came back to shore, we hopped back into the truck and headed down the east coast. A bunch of guys were visiting from England and were staying at a shack (literally) on the beach. The day had flown by and even though we had more stops planned, we ended up hanging out at the shack for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Around 6:00 we headed back to the south coast and stopped by Harbour Lights. After devouring an amazing cheese burger and getting our moneys worth of unlimited drinks Rob and I headed home early (it was a Sunday afterall). It was so nice to see the island from the eyes of locals. I might do a bit more of a "tourist" island tour when my dad is here so it will be nice to compare!

tarzan and jane

Saturday morning we literally dragged ourselves out of bed after a night of drinking. The last thing we wanted to do was get in a car and drive for an hour and then swing through the jungle. But that's what we had signed up to do. The zip-lining tour bus picked us up first and then we headed up the west coast of the island to pick up a couple more groups. We saw Sandy Lane where Rihanna owns an apartment and where most celebrities stay when they visit Barbados. It would have been a really nice drive if we were less hungover. We then got to the zip-lining site where we met our tour guides, Hakim and Fat Man. I have to say, they definitely made the tour! I'm just going to share pictures for now, but I'm working on making a video with some of the clips I shot!

 

The middle of the island is such a stark contrast to the coasts. The gully, an old collapsed cave, is literally breathtaking. I looked down on my last run and couldn't even see the forest floor because we were so high up. But what I did see was an amazing tangle of trees. In some of the pictures you can see vines that hang down from the trees. I imagine those are what Tarzan used when swinging around the jungle, but in reality, those vines become the roots of the trees when they reach the forest floor. So cool!

It was an amazing day even though we were hung over. We had plans to stop at the market but we weren't feeling up to it after another long car ride. Eventually we got dropped off in Bridgetown and made our way to Chefette to cure our hangovers with fried chicken!

"and on wednesdays we wear pink"

I had just planned to have lunch with Rob on Wednesday but my supervisor convinced me to take the afternoon off!! So in true Mean Girls fashion (Rob's favourite movie, shhh) I pulled out my hot pink bikini top and decided to play hookie from work. After we ate and napped, we lathered up in sunscreen and hit the beach.

I managed to try four more drinks off the Tiki Bar menu. Hmmm I think that leaves me with about 40 more drinks to try. I was trying to go down the list alphabetically but it didn't quite work out that way. One of my favourites had a few kinds of rum, peach schnapps, peach juice and mint. Interesting combo!

Once the sun sunk behind the trees we decided to head back home to shower. At this point our lunch was in our toes so we headed to Bert's Bar (the Ottawa Senators' owners have a sports bar down here!) to grab some food and catch the game. I love going to Bert's because I know I can get a good caesar (even though they don't put any "snacks" in them). And lastly, here's a snapchat from Bert's, the only picture I took!

boozin' at the boatyard

Rob flew in Saturday afternoon and I was able to surprise him at the airport. He was already at the taxi stand when I spotted him and I was practically one foot in front of him before he noticed I was there! Even though I knew he could have just taken a cab to my apartment I really wanted to meet him. I'm glad I did! 

Once we got to the apartment and Rob unpacked, we spent the afternoon by the pool. We then went out for dinner at Tapas and had a few drinks at the Tiki Bar before heading back home to pass out! Sunday morning we woke up early for breakfast. After a quick stop at the beach, we did some grocery shopping for the week. I didn't realize how little food I actually had in the house until Rob came. But we stocked up on snacks and plenty of rum and beer! 

In the afternoon we headed to the Boatyard. This place is pretty cool! You pay $40 barbados to get in, but you get that $40 back to buy food and drinks at the restaurant. There's a rope swing, a water trampoline, cabanas and beach chairs so it's a pretty sweet deal! We decided to rent a jet ski which was fun, but rather salty. My eyes still hurt.

After jet ski-ing we enjoyed multiple beverages and some food. Rob tried a flying fish sandwich for the first time and I had coconut chicken strips. It was all really good and definitely worth it. Needless to say we spent quite a bit more than our "tab" which is a common occurence at the boatyard I'm sure. All in all, we had a great "first" day, even though it was a bit overcast!