Once upon a time, locals and tourists alike rode around the Caribbean island of Barbados on horse-drawn trams that ran on rails. The capital city of Bridgetown, its locus, became the largest, longest-running, and most colorful horse-drawn carriage system in the Caribbean with 25 streetcar cars on 5 lines running 10 miles of track. The system worked for 40 years, until 1925.
Today, transportation on the 14 by 21-mile island offers more — and faster — ways to get around, though I personally would love the romance of traveling down Barbados’ glorious coastline on a horse-drawn tram.
1. rent a moke. You can of course rent a conventional car, but the little open-sided Mokes are so much more fun to get around. Like all rental cars in Barbados, they are right hand drive. Mokes, around $75 US per day, have manual transmission and air conditioning courtesy of the entire exterior. Be careful: if it rains, you will get wet!
2. Hop in a road taxi. Called Zed-R trucks because their license plates begin with the letters ZR. At 75 cents a head, Zed-R pickups often carry more than the 15 passengers they’re designed for. There are no regular stops; people point to a Zed-R van wherever it is.
3. flag a cab. There are taxi companies and there are people who are licensed to drive their cars as taxis. The nameplate of both types begins with the letter Z. They do not have gauges; Always ask the price of the trip to your destination before getting into a taxi in Barbados.
4. Take the bus. The Barbados Transportation Board manages the official Barbados bus service. Bus stops are plentiful and marked by round signs reading “To City” and “Out of City.” The city being referred to is the capital of Barbados, Bridgetown, where many buses take you so that you can board another bus going to your specific location. The bus system in Barbados is quite good and the buses are clean and very popular with tourists. The fee is an exact change of 75 cents, Barbadian currency (about 37 cents in US currency).
Exploring the island is fun because the geography ranges from white sandy beaches to lush “Little Scotland” to abundant sugar cane fields. However, be prepared to be stopped by a man pushing a cart full of coconuts in front of you. But then, who’s in a hurry in Barbados?
