Sugar cane plantations

You have all probably heard of a Caribbean paradise island, called Barbados. This island is the home of the famous singer Rihanna, and the place where Tiger Woods got married. I have been there twice (and, of course, plan to return), and I can say that I know quite a lot about it, but this entry is definitely not dedicated to listing random facts about the island. It will be focused on only one fact: In the not so distant past, Barbados was one of the most important sugar producing areas, even in the worldwide scale. And for that, people had to grow sugar cane.

In the past…

People that live in Barbados, jokingly call it 'the only black country in the world that is doing well'. I must admit that this is quite true. At least this is my impression after spending there almost a month in total. But not everything was so nice in the past. Barbados had quite a lot of slaves, which were working on the sugar cane fields, and then, the revolution (a very bloody one) happened, which made the slavery stop. But the sugar production has of course continued, because the rich people on the island have purchased parts of the sugar cane fields and employed workers there.

The sugar business skyrocketed, until other Caribbean islands started to dominate the sugar cane industry. The people that had purchased the sugar cane fields in Barbados saw that this business was not good anymore, and started doing something else. So most of the sugar cane fields were abandoned.

… and now

Of course, most of the sugar cane fields were situated in the inlands of Barbados. But when you drive there nowadays, you will see only about ten percent of the original amount of sugar cane fields. But even that seems huge, when you see it. I honestly cannot even imagine the original amount of fields.

When driving (or walking) through the inlands, you will spot some well – preserved plantation houses from the past, which now serve either as holiday homes for families or a place to stay for rich tourists. I said rich, because an overnight stay in one of those houses costs upwards of five hundred Euros! Of course, there is the staff (cleaner, maid, cook and so on), but you could spend that money on something else. Hey, this amount of money can mean another vacation, why would you spend it on one night?

The tours

There are several agencies that offer the sugar cane tours. If you are interested in going on one of these tours when in Barbados you can book them on various websites, but the better, and also much cheaper option is to book the tour when you are already on site. Walking around almost anywhere on the island, you will notice a lot of beach shacks – those are different tour operators that also sell sugar cane fields tours.

The good thing about booking the tours personally is that you can negotiate the price. The standard price for such a tour on several websites is about forty Barbados dollars (which equals twenty US Dollars). But if you try to negotiate, the price can get as low as thirty (or even less) Barbados dollars, which equals fifteen US dollars. I have tried to negotiate myself, but I did not have any intention of taking the tour. I just wanted to know what is included and how much I would save by going on the tour by myself.

The tours usually last from two to three hours, and, at the end, they include a gift of a jar of sugar cane juice in one of the plantation houses. One of the tour operators that I was talking to also offers you the opportunity to try harvesting a part of the sugar cane with a machete.

Do-it-yourself tour

I have done the tour myself, because I somehow believe that the agencies only show you what they want you to see and you do not really get to have the authentic experience. So, here is what I did. When I went to Barbados for the first time, I decided to try CouchSurfing for a few days to get to know the locals, their habits, and get some good insider tips about the island. So I asked the guy I was staying with about the best way to see as many of the sugar cane fields as possible without having to rent a car. Surprisingly, public transport system in Barbados is excellent, and it will take you almost anywhere on the island.

From what I heard and read before I went to Barbados, the best sugar cane plantations are nowadays situated in the region of Saint Phillip. Saint Phillip is situated on the south – western part of the island. This you will also find the famous, picture – perfect Bottom Bay beach.

My CouchSurfing host was kind enough to give me a lift to the first sugar cane plantation. And this is how the way there looked like:

The first thing that I saw is that the sugar canes are not in a very good state. Then my host told me that, if the owners do not feel like harvesting the sugar cane, they just leave it there until it dries up, which is a pity. If I was an owner of such a plantation, I would definitely do my best with harvesting the sugar cane, so I could earn something with it, and, of course, keep the tradition of harvesting.

I got out of the car at the end of the first plantation, and started to walk in the direction of one of the plantation houses nearby. On my way there, I noticed a couple of workers that were harvesting the sugar cane, and I got really scared when all of them rushed to me. Honestly, I thought that they would attack me or something, but, in the end, it turned out that they were not used to seeing white female tourists wandering around by themselves in the inlands. We had a nice chat, and they gave me some sugar cane to chew. They said it is very sweet, but it was disgusting, so I had to spit it out and they laughed at me.

After that, I tried to wander inside the field. The sugar cane plants were actually taller than me. Well, I am not a very tall person, but still. It is awesome, how close together they grow. After a few steps inside, I had already lost my bearings, and I had no idea which direction I had come from. And then I remembered all those horror movies that I had seen. You know, those about serial killers chasing people through the corn fields. Maybe this thoughts helped me remember in which direction I had to go to get back to the road.

Then I continued my journey. At this point, I would like to tell you that Barbados is a very safe island. Though there are some parts that should be avoided, there was absolutely nothing dangerous in walking alone through the sugar cane fields. Believe me, I had done my research before going there.

Soon I arrived to the plantation house that my host was telling me about. And here, the same thing as before happened. There were a couple of staff members, sitting in front of the house, and when I walked by they came up to me and invited me in. And guess what, I got to try the sugar cane juice (it was very refreshing, but a bit too sweet), and they offered me a machete so I could try harvesting the sugar cane. It is more difficult than you might think, and I was relieved that I still had all ten fingers on my hands when I finished!

I offered them to pay for it, but they just laughed at me, so I thanked them and continued my way. The point here is, that I got all the things that are included in the tour, absolutely for free. Of course you go on the tour by bus, but I really do not see the point of this. I am also not saying that everyone will have such luck as I did, but it is definitely worth a try. After all, you can still take the tour when you return.

The last part of my journey was the longest, because it went through the biggest plantation there. It was a straight walk, almost three kilometres long, and it was awesome. What was even more awesome (but a bit scary, too), was the fact that I did not encounter a single human being while walking through.

When I arrived to the end of the plantation, I noticed that the bus station was situated just opposite to the point where I was standing. Well, I had to wait for the bus for almost half an hour, but the time passed more than quickly.

Just one little 'warning', regarding buses in Barbados – next to each bus station, you will find either a sign 'to town' or 'out of town'. All buses at the sign 'to town' will go to the capital city of Barbados, which is Bridgetown. The buses at the 'out of town' sign can go anywhere, so do not just hop on one and hope it will go in your direction. Another problem for me, when I was waiting for the bus in Barbados, was the dilemma, on which side of the road to wait for the bus. As you know, I am from Europe (where almost everywhere we drive on the right side of the road), and people in Barbados drive on the left side, so each time I had to think if I was on the right side of the road.

A sweet conclusion

If you love exploring picture – perfect sandy beaches, the Barbados is definitely a place you should visit at least once. But even as a beach fanatic myself, I can say that after a few days of swimming and getting some sun tan, I really wanted to explore what else this beautiful island could offer, beside the beaches. So I decided to explore the sugar cane fields. And as you can see from the experience that I have described, I was not disappointed at all. And I encourage you to do the tour by yourself, not just for the sake of saving money, but mainly for the sake of an awesome experience.