TOO MUCH (GREEN) MONKEY BUSINESS...WILD SIDE OF BARBADOS

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS - It's quite a shock to go from the chi-chi west coast of Barbados up at Sandy Lane to the seaside craziness of this island nation's south coast.

The area around St. Lawrence Gap and ChristChurch is chock-a-block with pizza joints and hotels that
line the beach. The bad news is a lot of it looks a little worn and tacky. The good news is it's all pretty "real" and doesn't have a manufactured feel.

As I walked along looking for an affordable place for dinner in St. Lawrence Gap (warning - don't order
Mexican food in Barbados; it may be closer to Mexico than Toronto but we beat these guys hands down
when it comes to making a burrito), several nice young men offered to give me a taxi ride or some womanly companionship for the night. Isn't that hospitable?

In addition to a bit of an Atlantic City/Wasaga feel, the south side has one big advantage over the west
coast, and that's the surf. Myself and a fellow swimmer were able to catch some pretty good body-surfing waves in front of the Bougainvillea Resort. It's a nice, homey kind of place; not fancy but large rooms
and a welcoming management with a barbeque pit and a small restaurant that serves good french toast at breakfast.

Bajans, by the way, or a lot of them, call Bougainvillea plants "Brokenvillea." I have no idea why, but I
like it.

MONKEYING AROUND

I'll have more to say in next year's golf magazine, but suffice to say the Green Monkey course in Barbados is all it's cracked up to be. It's absolutely glorious, and a ton of fun to play. It's easily the prettiest course I've ever seen that's not on the water. But you can see the Caribbean a couple miles away on many of the holes.

STEEL DRUMS

Is there anything more romantic than sitting at a beachside bar on a warm summer's night in the Caribbean and listening to a guy play the steel drums while singing a reggae or gentle soca tune? I don't think so.

BEER WARS

My first cab driver in St. Lucia told me he doesn't think his country's rum is better than what you can get in Barbados. "But Piton beer is definitely the best," he said.

Having tried Piton and Barbados' favourite beer,Banks, I gotta agree with him. Piton is decidedly more interesting.

I haven't had the good Cockspur rum but, so far, I also have to say that Chairman's Reserve rum from St. Lucia is my favourite. Tried some Mount Gay from Barbados last night but it's not as complex to my taste and doesn't have the same depth of flavours as Chairman's Reserve. Guess I'll have to try some Cockspur at lunch.

ALL BARNARD, ALL THE TIME

Star movies editor Linda Barnard is still blogging hard from Ireland. Check out her latest installment, this time from Dublin.