Day two of the trip had us heading away from the grounds of the hotel after a morning spent sitting by the ocean.
I was worried there wouldn’t be much to cover for day two since my second post of the trip was about our experience eating golden apples, followed by a day two wrap-up with several images some months post-trip. Six years later and I am yet to scan any of the film shots or Polaroids I took on this particular day (pathetic), but there are still plenty of digital shots remaining so I will pull from those.
As I previously wrote, we began our journey by foot, starting out in the hot sun at exactly the wrong time of day, a theme that would repeat itself throughout the trip. I scanned the landscape for details that I imagined might paint a picture of what my grandmother’s small food garden must have looked like way back when. In my childhood I was told stories about milking goats and catching a chicken to slaughter for dinner. I thought about all of this as I happened upon packs of chickens roaming freely and small homes with modest plantings of tropicals that I recognized as popular houseplants at home in the cold North.
You may recognize this popular houseplant as a variegated croton (Codiaeum variegatum). I often spotted these growing as hedges surrounding homes throughout the three islands I visited. In Dominica it was common to see them covered with wet shirts, pants, and other freshly laundered clothes set out to dry — a different, if not brilliant interpretation of “lay flat to dry.”
One of my goals for this trip was: Eat as many custard apples (Annona squamosa) as possible. I set to it immediately.
A beautiful and grotesquely misshapen opuntia with some sort of variegated euphorbia beside it. Barbados was a Euphorbia lover’s dream. One of the many things botanical that makes me want to revisit it.
We swam here and then I spent the rest of the day walking around uncomfortably with a wet bathing suit underneath my clothes.
After a brief swim in the ocean, we passed the rest of the day walking along the main road past the fishing town of Oistens taking photos of plants and things that caught our eyes.
Oh, you know, just some crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii) hanging out next to a fence.
Another plant that cropped up around Barbados were various forms of the genus sansevieria aka mother-in-law’s tongue. I was surprised to see it thriving in dry soil right out in the hottest sun and in the moist shade underneath larger plants. Now I understand why this plant is so adaptive and tough. The trip inspired a new-found love of the genus and I have since gone on to acquire a handful in the years since.
Six years later and I still regret that I didn’t go closer to investigate exactly what was meant by a Christmas tree! And if so, what was the cost to transport them there? And how much would that cost? And if they weren’t the Xmas trees that I know so well, what type of tree were they? So many important questions unanswered!!
Before leaving Oistens, we stopped at the famous fish market to find our dinner. Unfortunately, we were not there for the Friday night fish fry, which is supposed to be the best time to go. The food we got was okay, but not memorable.
I don’t recall why we chose this booth, but I wouldn’t doubt that it had something to do with the allure of their signage and the promise of excellence.
I suspect that Davin is drinking irish moss here, a thick drink that is made using a sea vegetable. He loves it; I’m not a fan.
By no means the best West Indian meal of the trip but better than the over-priced and mediocre food they served at our hotel. Not sure what fish we chose, but the blackened things in the foreground are plantain. I promise you that better meals were to come in the days that followed.
Back at our hotel at the end of the day. Since we don’t often end up in photos together, I took a single pinhole photograph of us on each day as a memento of the trip.
simply awesome