Traveling throughout Barbados, you’ll see many of the small, simple houses which date back to the colonial period of the 18th and 19th century. Known as Chattel Houses, they were the living quarters of the African slaves who worked on the large plantations. These houses did not have a permanent foundation and could be easily dismantled and moved to another site. Some of the Chattel houses have been retrofitted (and enlarged) and have been converted to boutiques or small restaurants. On my last trip to Barbados, I came across several chattel houses that were being rented as small seaside cottages to tourists including the colorful Seaview in Bathsheba on Barbados’s scenic Atlantic Coast. See picture right corner

The last time I was in Barbados (September 2003), I stayed at the Casuarina Beach Club. Located about ½ mile south of the busy tourist hub of St. Lawrence Gap, the Casuarina was an absolutely wonderful place and had done so much towards community tourism and safeguarding the environment. It was only 1 ½ years later (in Spring 2005) that the Casuarina closed up shop and the property was sold to Almond Resorts. In my Eulogy to the Casuarina Beach Club, I discussed my feelings towards this hotel in detail.

At this time, I would like to share some memories with you of this special hotel in a short video that I put together. Enjoy!

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I came across some very disturbing news the other day that caused me to shed a tear or two – I discovered that the Casuarina Beach Club in Barbados had ceased operations in Spring 2005 due to financial problems and the property had been sold to Almond Resorts, a large resort management company headquartered in the Caribbean. With the management’s dedication to conservation and environmental issues not to mention the magnificent rainforest-like gardens that enveloped the hotel, the Casuarina Beach Club wasn’t just any hotel - it was both a sanctuary and a very special institution.

I first discovered Casuarina Beach Club on my first trip to Barbados in 1985 when it only had 45 units or so. Of all the hotels I visited, the Casuarina, while definitely not the most luxurious hotel on this small island, was by far my favorite. In the ensuing years, I sent a number of clients to this fine property including my parents, and I had the opportunity to stay there myself in late 2003. When I returned, I really didn’t recognize the Casuarina as it had grown quite larger (but in a very environmentally friendly way). The showpiece of the hotel was the magnificent rainforest gardens - so very lush and green.

The philosophy of the Casuarina Beach Club was grounded in a very strong environmental ethos - they implemented a number of environmentally friendly practices – including composting, recycling as well as actively promoting local Bajan culture and community tourism. Eclectic paintings by some of Barbados’s premier artists were often on display throughout the hotel amidst plantings of lush tropical foliage and flowers. Over the years, the Casuarina had received numerous awards for their Green Philosophy and Conservation ethos.

After a significant expansion and thorough remodeling of the existing facilities over the last three years, the new resort renamed The Almond Casuarina was scheduled to reopen in May 2008. Among the major changes, the new hotel will have added 100 more guestrooms - bringing the room count up to 267 - two more swimming pools, a fitness center and like all Almond Resorts, it will be all-inclusive.

I can only imagine that in order to accommodate the expansion, a good chunk of the rainforest gardens was removed and many trees in the immediate area were destroyed in the process. The additional facilities and rooms can only have a negative impact on the environment in the already resort saturated area known as St. Lawrence Gap. I really can’t say whether Almond Resorts will continue all the environmentally friendly practices of the former management - my gut feeling says no, but I guess the new Almond Casuarina will be profitable, hence sustainable.

Goodbye Casuarina Beach Club; I will miss you dearly!

Have you ever totaled up the number of countries that you have visited in your lifetime? Furthermore, how many times have you traveled to each particular country? Breaking it down even further, what places/cities have you visited (with at least one overnight stay) in each destination/country? If you answer all these questions carefully, you’ll have put together your own TRAVELER’S RESUME.

Let’s start out with yours truly. My inaugural trip as a traveler happened in Dec. 1973 when I went to Mexico for 3 weeks. Over the ensuing 35 years, I have traveled to 25 different countries. If you look at my RESUME, you will see that I’m very partial to the tropics. Call me the tropical traveler if you may.

NORTH AMERICA:

• Mexico (18)

Puerto Vallarta (3), Mexico City (3), Guadalajara, Villahermosa, Merida,
Mexican Caribbean – Cancun (4), Playa del Carmen (2) and Tulum; Oaxaca (5),
Puerto Escondido (5), San Blas(2) Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo,
Baja California - Cabo San Lucas (4), La Paz and Loreto,
Costa Alegre - La Manzanilla (2) and Bahia de Navidad

CARIBBEAN:

• Jamaica (30+)

Kingston, Blue Mountains, Port Antonio, Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril,
South Coast - Black River, Treasure Beach and Milk River Bath; Cockpit Country,
Mandeville and Christiana

• Barbados (6)
• St. Lucia (2)
• Antigua
• Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo and Sosua Beach

• Cuba

Havana and Varadero Beach

• St. Vincent
• Trinidad
• St. Maarten/St. Marten
• Bahamas

Nassau and Eleuthera

• Caribbean/Panama Canal Cruise

SOUTH AMERICA:

• Colombia

Bogota, Cartagena and San Andres Island

• Peru

Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley including Machu Picchu, Amazon basin

• Ecuador

Quito, Otavalo and Mindo

CENTRAL AMERICA:

• Costa Rica (6)

San Jose (6), Heredia (2), Sarapiqui (2), Manuel Antonio (3), Dominical,
Pacific Lowlands – Carara ; Guanacaste – Canas and Palo Verdes NP (2), Tamarindo Beach (2), Ocotal and Los Innocentes; Jaco, Tortugero, Monteverde (2), Osa Peninsula, La Fortuna and Arenal (4),
Caribbean Coast- Cahuita (2) and Puerto Viejo; Wilson Botanical Gardens
(San Vito), San Gerardo de Dota and Nicoya Peninsula - Playa Samara

• Guatemala (2)

Guatemala City (2), Antigua (2) and Lake Atitlan

WEST AFRICA:

• Ghana

Accra, Gold Coast, Kumasi

• Togo

Lome

• Mali

Bamako and Mopti

• Ivory Coast

Abidjan

SOUTHEAST ASIA:

• Thailand (7)

Bangkok (7), Chiang Mai (5), Mae Sa Valley (2), Phuket (3), Koh Lanta, Koh Jum,
Koh Samui (2), Koh Chang (5), Pattaya (3), Khao Sok National Park, Chiang Rai Province – Doi Tung (2), Mae Salong (2) and Chiang Kong; Kanchanaburi (2),
Sangkhlaburi, Sakaeo, Sukhothai (2), Ayutthaya and Mae Hong Son Province-Pai (2), Soppong and Mae Hong Son (2)

• Laos

Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Mekong River Cruise

• Cambodia

Siem Reap(Angkor Wat)

EUROPE

• England

London Area

Please note: Number in Parentheses () indicates the number of visits

Feel free to submit your Travel Resume here!

I live close to San Francisco, a city that has a reputation for excellent Italian restaurants. Over the years, I have been to a number of these restaurants to have a pasta dish and to be honest with you, I have been very disappointed. Either the sauce is nothing to write home about or the pasta tasted like it came from Safeway. Believe it or not, the most delicious pasta dishes that I’ve had in recent memory was in Quito, Ecuador, upcountry Thailand and in Barbados of all places. Who would have of thunk?!?! In Quito, the name of the restaurant was Spaghetti, an upscale eatery located in the Mariscal tourist district. I was pleasantly surprised - the vegetarian penne pasta had a very delicious herbal-based sauce, and mixed in with the pasta was spinach and cooked mushrooms. Muy sabroso…The cost ? About $7.00USD.

In Barbados, the restaurant was located close to the Casuarinas Beach Club in the upscale resort district known as St Lawrence Gap. The owners were a middle-aged couple from Sicily, and Mama Mia that lady cooked up a very delicious pasta dish for me…

Too bad that in San Francisco Bay Area, nothing can compare to these two wonderful culinary experiences….

I bet everybody who is familiar with tropical plants and flowers will easily be able to identify this plant of the week. Of course, it is the Bougainvillea, a genus of flowering plants native to tropical South America. Of all the tropical flowers that I have seen, by far the most common is the bougainvillea. I have seen it throughout tropical Latin America, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia as it a very popular ornamental plant. The bougainvillea also thrives in warmer climates throughout the United States - I have even seen this plant in some gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The paper flower (Bougainvillea glabra) is by far the most popular ornamental species of the Bougainvillea genus; the bracts that surround the small white flower come in many different colors and they look very much like paper, hence the common name ‘the paper flower”. In my travels, I have come across a number of hotels that are named after this popular tropical flower including my favorite hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica , the Bougainvillea Hotel and there is a hotel in Barbados, aptly named the Bougainvillea Beach Resort.

Planning your next adventure can be both very fun and very time consuming. There seems to be an infinite number of resources on the Internet that you can utilize to get background information on destinations -including out of the ordinary places to visit and recommended sightseeing expeditions. There are also dedicated hotel review sites, including several that cater to the ‘backpacker”, budget type of traveler. Two of my favorite sites for hotel reviews are Trip Advisor , where readers contribute their reviews on hotels around the world and TravelFish, a travel site which deals exclusively with travel to Southeast Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos- and has some excellent recommendations for the young, backpacker type of traveler (travelers on the cheap). Travelfish in particular is a very easy and straightforward site to use and I highly recommend it if you are planning a trip to SE Asia. Another interesting site is Virtual Tourist, a community of mostly intrepid travelers who share their travel experiences with recommendations on hotels, things to do and see, places to eat in addition to posting some of their travel photos. Good Stuff! A couple of sites worthy of mention, especially if you’re trying to garner some info and get some tips from fellow travelers on Thailand or Bali, is the Travel Forum.

If you’d really try to learn about other people’s travel experiences in depth, you’ll definitely want to check out a variety of travel blogs on your favorite destinations for an insightful and sometimes very personalized perspective. One of my favorite travel blogs is Calypso Island Chronicles by yours truly . This blog features such tropical destinations as Thailand, Costa Rica and the Caribbean and a variety of topics are covered including hotel reviews, travel commentary, some very humorous travel anecdotes and stories as well as a very unique plant of the week feature. The blog is loaded with wonderful pictures and a decidedly natural history bent - ecotourism and sustainable tourism topics are explored. A little bit nepotism goes a long way. In fact, you are reading this blog right now, LOL!

In addition to the wealth of information on the Internet, you may want to go to your favorite bookstore and pick up one of the many useful travel guidebooks available. Lonely Planet, Moon Travel Handbooks, Rough Guide, Let’s Go Travel, Frommers and Fodors publish some of the more popular travel books. There are also specialized guides for the adventure and the high end, luxury, elitist traveler (boo). Insight Guides and National Geographic Traveler publish the travel books with the most beautiful and glossy photographs.

Once you have figured out where you want to go and what you want to do, you can search for online travel agencies or tour operators who offer an itinerary or travel package that matches your particular needs and budget. If you need to obtain your own air arrangements, you can go to an airline website and look for special web fares or go to established air resellers like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz or Cheap Tickets to see if you can get ’ a sweet deal ’ on airline tickets. Other alternatives are Priceline, where you can submit a bid for airline seats and hotel rooms; the deal here is that you can’t select a specific carrier that you’d like to fly on nor a specific departure time. A special search engine selects the flights/hotel rooms based on your bid; if your bid is accepted you’ll be charged on your credit card for the air tickets or hotel rooms and your monies of course are nonrefundable. I have never purchased anything on Priceline, so I don’t really know what to say. Another alternative is to look for travel agencies/travel consolidators that specialize in discounted air tickets. Buyer beware - there are a lot of crooked companies selling discounted airline tickets on the web!

Now if you don’t want to spend hours (and hours) doing research on where to go, what to see and which hotels will be best for you, I would recommend contacting a travel agent who has expertise in the destination or type of activity (i.e. birdwatching, tropical garden tour, watercolor workshop tour etc ) that you have chosen. The travel agent in question probably has extensive in depth travel experience as well as pretty good familiarity with a wide variety of hotels in your preferred destination, The travel agent will save you a lot of time and aggravation - imagine the countless hours that you could spend researching your long awaited adventure/vacation to your dream destination on the internet. You may even burn yourself out doing too much research and lose interest in going anyplace! Of course, by hiring a travel agent to handle all the logistics and RSVNS will cost you more monies than booking everything by yourself on the Internet. I’m ‘guestimating” that it will cost you about 10-20% or more on the average. Please understand, that if you have hire a professional travel agent who has specialized expertise or is a destination specialist, he (she) is worth his weight in gold and the agent must be compensated properly for his services and expertise. Going through a travel agent for the arrangements will save you a lot of time and aggravation, that’s for sure!

Calypso Island Tours has considerable travel expertise for Costa Rica, Thailand and the Caribbean and we offer both group and customizable independent tours for travelers on any budget. In particular, we specialize in botanical adventures and nature tours. Check out our diverse tour offerings today!

I first encountered Crepe Ginger (Costus speciosus), a very showy member of the ginger family, while walking through Welchman Hall Gulley, a popular nature reserve in Barbados. On both sides of the nature trail, there were colonies of this very unusual looking ginger with crinkled white flowers protruding out of cone shaped red bracts. The Crepe Ginger, native of Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula, is widespread throughout the tropics. In particular, this ginger is very abundant and is one of the favorite ornamentals in Hawaii. Also commonly known as Spiral Ginger.

Parrot’s Beak’s (Gmelina Philipensis) is a tropical shrub native to the Philippines. The long pendulous flowers are comprised of yellow blossoms which emerge at the end of a tube-like structure of overlapping bracts. (Source: Flowering Plants of Thailand - A Field guide by Patrick D. McMakin). I first encountered this unusual looking plant in Barbados at the Flower Forest (picture 1-2 top left). During my travels to Thailand, I also stumbled across Gmelina Philipensis (where it is known locally as Ching-chai) in a unique shrine-like setting in the gardens of one the small guesthouses near Chiang Dao (picture top right).