First Impressions, horseback riding, St Ursula's, traffic etc...
 

I've been in Barbados for a few days now and decided to post some first impressions.

Customs - We arrived on time, going through customs was a breeze. From what I understand it was pretty busy. They did not check any of our bags so were in and out in below 30 minutes.

Driving here - We drive on the right in the US, they drive on the left here. It took a little getting used to especially the roundabouts but after a few hours of driving I got used to it. I kept saying to myself, "stay left". For the first few hours I asked my wife and kids to not really speak to me so I will not get distracted.

Jah Works Stable - We spent a few hours there. Nice place, nice people. It was a bit scary at times for my wife since the mountain roads were pretty steep. After a while she got used to it but still in pain The cost was $80 a person and my 5 year old was charged less, it was a total of $300 US. Since my wife and daughter were on one horse and it was their first time riding, the guide actually walked the entire trail with them for an additional $40 US. We also have him a tip in the end as well.

St Ursula's - We decided to check out conventschoolbarbados.com For primary school they are booked for Sep 2012 but will contact you if space becomes available. The school looks nice, I took a lot of pics that I will post later.

Traffic - traffic at times can be horrible! To get to St Ursula's from St Michael (they are also in St Michael) took almost an hour!

Dining - We've been to a few places already. My wife likes "Just Grillin" They have 2 locations, one in Holetown and one further south. We went to both. The one further south and a nice open atmosphere. We also went to Champers, really nice place too. The kids like Cheffets.

Supermarkets - we checked out SuperCentre It has everything you can get in the US. Prices are way cheaper for certain things and way more expensive for other items.

Doctors - My daughter caught a virus and was very sick 2 days after we arrived. We took her to a local pediatrician. She was excellent!! It was a private doctor and her prices were excellent. The pharmacy was in the same building too. If anyone needs her info I can post it. My daughter has a very rare condition, very few doctors in the US have even heard of it. Not only did she know what it was, she even knew the meds that they US doctors use to treat it. Prices on prescription medicine was very very cheap. We buy Mometasone in the US for $100 a tube. I paid $10 a tube at this pharmacy. The doctor spent about 30 minutes with her and then another 30 minutes letting her use the Nebulizer and the charge was $125! That's amazing to me. All the items from the pharmacy totalled $180, it would have cost me a lot more in the US.

That's all for now, if anyone has any questions let me know. I originally submitted this on the wrong section, reposting here now.

Thanks!!!

Anthony

Re: First Impressions, horseback riding, St Ursula's, traffic etc...
 

MagicJack - It works well here. I was behind a Siemens router and did not have to set anything up. It's 1/10th the speed I am used to but the magic jack worked great. We were able to keep in contact with all the family in the US.

Here is a link to the speedtest while I was down there.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/1174506633.png

Anthony

Re: First Impressions, horseback riding, St Ursula's, traffic etc...
 

The pediatrician mentioned in the above post was Dr. Marina Soo Ping Chow. She is excellent. I am back in the US and went to our pediatrician in the Long Island Jewish Hospital and she advised me to continue the same treatment Marina Soo Ping Chow started. She agreed with her diagnosis and treatment.

One of our major concerns with moving to Barbados was healthcare and after meeting this pediatrician we feel very comfortable. She can be reached at 246-417-9599 at is located at The Specialist Centre, Black Rock, St. Michael, Barbados

Thanks,

Anthony