The Ginger lily(Alpinia purpurata}, a beautiful tropical plant native to the Pacific islands of New Caledonia, New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, can be observed growing throughout the tropics. I have seen this attractive ginger in three of my favorite destinations-Thailand, Costa Rica and Barbados. There are two varieties - in many places, the red is popularly called the Jungle King and the pink is called the Jungle Queen. Nice names! Wherever it is grown, Ginger lilies are popular as cut flowers and in ornamental flower arrangements. In Barbados, the easternmost island in the Caribbean, the Ginger lily is so common in private gardens and in such wild places as Welchman Hall Gully, that one might conclude that it is Barbados’s National Flower. Actually the Pride of Barbados is the National Flower. When you walk into the lobby of the Casuarina Beach Club, if you look carefully you’ll see some strikingly beautiful pillows on the chairs with the Ginger lily design woven into them.

Barbados
Nature

A new feature that I am instituting on this weblog is “A plant or flower of the week”, which will appear every Friday. I have been very fortunate to see so many exotic and beautiful plants and flowers both in the wild and in private and botanical gardens during my numerous journeys to the tropics. As the owner of Calypso Island Chronicles (and Calypso Island Tours), I would like to share some these ‘flowers and plants” with fellow botanical and nature enthusiasts.

The first flower of the week is the Velvet Stepladder Plant (Costus malorteanus), a species of the ginger family, which is indigenous to Central America.I encountered this unusual plant while taking a leisurely hike through Welchman Hall Gully in Barbados a couple of years ago. The Gully is a one-mile long and home to a variety of tropical plant and trees, including nutmeg, bamboo, clove and palms and an assortment of flowering gingers. At the end of the trail, there’s small climb to a lookout point with spetacular views of the rugged Atlantic Coastline. Surveying the scene, my eyes locked onto an unusual colony of plants. Having never seen this plant before, I decided to step closer to get a better look. The flower of the plant was very exotic; in fact it looked more like the face of some kind of animal more than a flower. The plant that I was admiring was the Velvet Stepladder, otherwise known as Spiral Ginger.

I have to admit, that this was one of the most unusual looking plants that I have encountered in my travels.

nature
Barbados

The east coast of Barbados represents a dramatic change from the tourist culture of Barbados’s golden west coast. A certain wildness prevails here - parts of the east coast have unusual rock formations formed by the relentless Atlantic surf. One of the best examples of this is at the seaside resort of Bathsheba, where giant boulders and rocks are strewn chaotically across the beach. It is definitely one of the most picturesque and beautiful spots on the island and it’s otherworldly ‘soup bowl beach” is considered by many to be the best surfing spot in the Caribbean. In fact, many international surfing competitions are held here. Be forewarned though there is a serious undertow in this area. When I was there, some of the young Bajan children were frolicking in the waters near Mushroom Rock. Overlooking Bathsheba is Andromeda Gardens, Barbados’s oldest Botanical gardens and further up the coast is Chalky Mount, an artisan village where they make clay pottery.

Barbados

Entrance to Casuarinas Beach Club

Welcome to Barbados!

Barbados

Beautiful, beautiful Barbados, gem of the Caribbean Sea,
Come back to my island, Barbados
Come back to my Island and me
Please come back, where the night winds are blowing
Please come back to the surf and sea
You’ll find rest and you’ll find peace in Barbados
Come back to my island and me

This is a famous song by the Merrymen, the most famous Bajan Calypso group. Most of their vintage Calypso songs were penned in the 1960s’s during the heyday of the Beatles.

I have some very fond memories of Barbados; during the 1980’s, I made five trips to this small island of only 166 square miles located in the southeastern Caribbean. After an absence of nearly 15 years, I returned in October 2003 to conduct some research on venues and attractions for a new Botanical Tour Program that Calypso Island is organizing. Despite the addition of a a variety of new hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs and the like, Barbados had not changed that much.

Barbados has got to be one of the most tranquil places in the Caribbean; besides some of the most outstanding beaches in the Caribbean, there are so many interesting places to visit including three outstanding botanical gardens and such historical great houses as St. Nicholas Abbey and Sunbury House

Barbados

The highlight of my most recent trip to Barbados in Oct. 2003 was a most memorable Sunday morning hike through the countryside sponsored by the Barbados National Trust, a government organization that promotes the indigenous culture, art and natural history of this small island nation. The hike was approximately 4 hours in duration and by all means it was ‘no cakewalk”. There were about 100 participants in the hike, which was divided up into 3 groups based on ability and experience - fast, moderate and slow.

There is nowhere else in the Caribbean (and few places in the world) where such organized nature hikes take place on a regular basis. Furthermore, in the Caribbean, nature hikes are usually just a tourist activity - in Barbados, the nature hikes are geared more towards the native population and is an activity that promotes national pride and environmental awareness. About 80 % of the participants were Bajans (natives) and about 20% were visitors. Too bad other Caribbean counties have not instituted an activity like this.

Being a novice, I joined the slow hikers group, which was led by Colin Blackwell, a well respected Doctor and Educator. The hike itself, took us through a heavily forested gulley, a dark cave populated by bats and through a sugarcane field. Who would have imagined Barbados as having such a wild side? I truly enjoyed myself and met a lot interesting people including some visiting Jamaicans who used to live in the San Francisco Area

By the way, participation in these hikes are free!

Barbados National Trust Hike

Bathsheba, Barbados’ scenic Atlantic coast

I remember my final trip to Barbados in the 80’s very well; it was in Dec. 1988, when I flew to this small island to participate in the Barbados Marathon (26.2 miles).

Having adequately trained for this grueling run, by training on the hills of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, I was really pumped up in running my first Marathon in the tropics. Commencing from the Airport at the southeastern tip of the island, the run, which was supposed to begin at 5:00AM, was delayed until after 6 :00AM. As the sun really becomes intense after 8:00AM, nobody was looking forward to running the last part of the race underneath the hot tropical sun. In addition, as I had tweaked my left knee while training (runner’s knee), I was running with somewhat of a handicap. Although firmly wrapped, the knee started acting up at about 12 miles, at which point I started favoring my left leg and my running mechanics got all messed up.

It was exhilarating running through downtown Barbados, with throngs of Bajans cheering on race participants with the accompaniment of some pulsating Calypso and soca music; and the final 10 miles on the virtually shadeless Queen’s Highway was sheer torture. Hobbling the last couple of miles, questioning my sanity for participating in this ordeal, I heard the strains of Wait for me, Grynner’s latest Calypso hit and the roar of the crowds up ahead. Realizing the end of the race was near, summoning up all my strength, I put on a surprisingly good kick over the last 300 yards.

With a time of about 3:35, I obviously did not finish first or place in the top ten. Still, I was relatively pleased with my effort (bum leg and all); furthermore, I was proud of myself that only 2-3 ladies finished ahead of me. After hydrating myself at the finish line, with an assortment of liquid and drinks, I felt like a million dollars and I was all ready to start training for my next tropical marathon (never happened). * Almost every marathon runner will tell you about the feeling of total exhilaration after finishing a race.

*On a side note, since Nov. 1988, I have run in two 10K races in the tropics, one in Jamaica in the early 90’s and one in Bangkok, Thailand in Nov. 2004!

Barbados