(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Isabel Conway and I'm a travel writer.
I've just returned from Barbados in the Caribbean.
Well, I went on a fact-finding mission to see how we travel
in this age of COVID and to see how the people
of Barbados were handling the pandemic.
Of course, they depend on tourism for their economy so much.
Well, my protocols started in Cork, having my test done
on the Wednesday before our departure.
And then when we arrived, we had another test,
but that was on the Monday morning.
So we arrived in the early hours of Sunday morning
and we stayed within the precincts of the hotel
until the next test and the results, of course, of that,
and that came, I think, within about 10 hours.
I actually didn't mind those swabs
and I absolutely didn't mind any of it, really,
to get out and travel again
and to be able to continue to see the world.
You know, we have our limitations in travel at the moment,
but, you know, I think we've got to just put up
with what we have and make the best of it.
Our hotel resorts was on the beach.
We could look at the beach
and we could admire the fabulous gardens
and, you know, wander around and just really be there
in this beautiful Caribbean paradise with amazing weather.
As soon as we were freed, we went on a catamaran
and had a moonlight sail, and we swam
in this wonderful turquoise, clear water late at night.
We had a barbecue that was fabulous.
Other highlights were Bridgetown.
Exploring the old town with a wonderful local guide,
very colorful lady who told us so much about the past
and also about the Irish who are known as the Redlegs,
because, of course, they all got sunburned.
The cruise was absolutely fabulous.
It was an absolute highlight
and there were water sports as well,
paddleboard, not paddle boarding, but surf boarding.
And I went out in a kayak with a, you know,
you could see underneath and you could see all the coral
and the beautiful fish, that was fabulous.
And then we had another amazing toy.
We held on like hell and it took off with us
and it was fantastic.
It was like riding some kind of a horse
in the middle of the sea.
Inland we went to this wonderful place
where they're bringing back the old forest
and, you know, the indigenous plants and trees.
And we planted our own trees there,
and that was a really fabulous thing to do.
And, you know, made me want to say
"Oh, I'll be back someday to see how high it is now."
With Mount Gay and that was fascinating
because, you know, the man who was in charge
of that was a really, he was a total expert in rum
and it was really interesting.
I've been to lots of distilleries in my time
and, you know, all over the world,
but that was a particularly great one, I felt.
Really, really well worth doing.
I have the feeling that Barbados
was absolutely a safe place to be.
They've only had seven deaths and I think about 200 cases
and none of them local, so no local transmission,
and I think it's about as safe a place as you would find.
Everybody was so conscious of protocols,
you know, of sanitizing, of mask wearing,
of taking the temperature.
We were in these amazing rum shacks
and our temperatures were taken.
And it was just as if you were going into a high-end hotel
as regards, you know, the protocols
and everybody is really aware of it.
And even on the street,
I saw people pointing at other people, put on your mask.
They were really watching each other.
And, you know, they're so conscious of the fact
that they need to keep the COVID out
to get the tourists back.
I can't wait to return. I loved it.
I had visions of a very luxury place,
that bit false, you know, a bit artificial.
And it's not like that at all. It's really authentic.
And when you get into the countryside,
it's absolutely beautiful and very unspoiled.
(upbeat music)