Taking a taxi to Wildlife Refuge or Booking Through Cruise Line

[mwalker]

Hello everyone,

 

We will be in Barbados on September 2 (Tuesday). We were disappointed to find out that Harrison's Cave is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I checked out Glory Tours since a lot of people have recommended it, but none of the places sparked our interest except the Wildlife Refuge. Plus the tour seemed pricy for places we really didn't want to go too. ($79 per person).

 

We thought about taking a taxi to the Wildlife Refuge once we get off the ship (or possibly a bus) since that would be a lot cheaper, our cruise line (RCCL) also offers an excursion in a 4x4 vehicle into the interior of the Wildlife Refuge, and it states that some parts of the Wildlife Refuge are not passable without a 4x4 vehicle - this excursion is $62 which seems expensive to me! Is it true that you might not be able to see everything without a 4x4 vehicle?

 

I read that the best time to go is between 2 and 2:30 for the feeding of the monkeys. Is that true?

 

Thanks for all your help.

Michelle

[Aplmac]

The Wildlife Refuge/Reserve is a tiny enclosed 1 acre(?) compound

where you park your car/vehicle in their small car park

and mosey around the joint on foot! - It's more like a Zoo...a small zoo.

It's not "East African savannahs that go on for miles and miles" on safari!!...don't let anyone fool you, okay?

 

Suggest you walk the 300 yds. til you're outside the Port's Gatehouse

and contract one of the more-human OUTside cab drivers there

to take you along the West coast for a few beach views

winding up at Wildlife Reserve/Grenade Hall/Farley Hill (yes a 3 in one stop)

and then make your way back, maybe via the East Coast.

 

Alternatively, you might make your way there via the East Coast

-with lunch in Bathsheba at Bonito or Round House-

getting up to Wildlife Reserve/Grenade Hall/Farley Hill region by about 2-2:30 p.m.

which is when most folks report as the best feeding time,

and then making your way back to the ship via West Coast afternoon drive-back.

The latter's probably the better choice, all things considered.

[mwalker]

Thank you for your advice. What you explained is pretty much how I had pictured it (that you wouldn't need a 4x4) but being a tourist, you never know! With your advice, I won't be doing RCCL's excursion and will save some money!

 

I did find a tour on Glorytours.org that I hadn't seen before. Looks like it goes to Bathesheba, Wildlife Refuge, and Ocean Park. We will either do that or do the bus/taxi to Wildlife Refuge.

 

Does anyone know how far the Wildlife Refuge is from the cruise port?

 

Thanks again! I love these boards!

Michelle

[Aplmac]

Does anyone know how far the Wildlife Refuge is from the cruise port?

It's a good ways up towards the Northern section of the island

- the Ports down in the SW....

 

so if all you ever did was get a cab from the Port

go straight to the Wildlife reserve and then right back to the Port

you'd still get to see a fair chunk of the island, en route!

 

The island is 21 miles long(North-to-South)

...and 14 wide (at its widest point)

so it's not like distances travelled are measured in hours....more like minutes.

 

Unless your taxi driver is stretching it for you(they do sometimes)

the drive from Port -directly to Wildlife Reserve-

should be somewhere on the order of 45 mins. to an hour, no more.

Likewise a direct return trip.

 

Hope this helps the space/time dimension thing...

[skippy61]

Hello.

 

This sounds something like what we are looking at doing.

We will be in port for 1 day from from 8am-5pm.

Would it be best for us, a family of 5 - 2 adults and 3 teenage daughters to book a private guide in advance or try and get one outside the gates of the port on the day.

We have a quote for $165 for 4hr with a driver.

We would also love to see the Harrison Caves- would this be possible?

About how long would this take ?

 

Thanks in advance

[Sarah Taylor]

I don't really like to get into questions like these but I really do feel I would like everyone to understand this.

 

Say you do a regular taxi Tour and you are say 4 people.

 

You decide to go to the Wildlife Reserve

Orchid World

and St Nicholas Abbey

 

(just an example)

 

Here is what happens

 

You pay the Wildlife Reserve US$46 the taxi driver gets US$23

 

You pay Orchid World US$36 the taxi driver gets US$8

 

You pay St Nicholas Abbey US$50 the taxi driver gets US$10

 

You just paid US$31 more than you needed to.

 

Say you where quoted US$150 for the 4 hours well is ended up at US$181 and most of you folks tip so add on average US$30 padow US$150 goes to US$211

 

Now most 99% of places pay this commission to encourage taxis to take you there so it is not just these listed.

 

Research, research, research