Netsirk

Hi all!

I have just accepted a position in Barbados and need to find a place to live! After reading all about the island online, and reading many of the threads and comments here my girlfriend and I are very excited to come to the island. While expensive it sounds like a great place to live and work.

We are looking for a furnished apartment/condo/house with 2 bedrooms. Can anyone recommend if there is a property management company or real estate firm that I can speak with?

We are planning on visiting the island the week of February 18th to look at apartments and pick one out for when we come to live in May/June. Your help would really be appreciated!

Kris.

Bajanboy

You should start by looking at Cariblist (www.cariblist.com). This has thousands of properties listed covering all types, sizes and locations. Let me know a bit more about what you are looking for and I will give more specific reccommendations.

Netsirk

Thanks!

I am looking for a 2 bedroom place, must be within walking distance of some amenties (food, fun, bar), and have a good kitchen. Somewhere around 1500-2500 USD/month. I don't need to be close to where I work so it only matters that I find a nice place to live in a nice area.

I have never been to Barbados before, my first time will be in February when I choose a place to live! Any advice on neighbourhoods or areas that are nice/fun would be great.

I am also very interested in cycling, not sure how that will factor in.

Thanks!!!

Bajanboy

Hi:

Traffic in Barbados is so bad that you definitely should choose where you live relative to where you will be working and where your kids will be going to school (if you have kids coming with you).

As for being walking distance to amenities, that would have to somewhere along the South Coast, or perhaps in Sunset Crest on the West Coast, which is close to Holetown where there is a supermarket, and lots of restaurants and bars. Other than that, no other locations will provide such walking access.

A car in Barbados is really a necessary. If your girlfriend is not going to work, then she is going to need to find a group of friends and things to do, otherwise she will get bored very quickly, especially if you are living somewhere where you might be stuck at home without a car. The thrill of the beaches and the warm weather can wear off very quickly. Cars are expensive with a Toyota Corolla costing about US$30,000.

So, if you tell me roughly where you will be working, I can better advise you.

Kind regards

John

Bajanboy

As for cycling, you will be taking your life in your hands on the roads here. The roads are narrow and some are in a state of disrepair. Are you in to road racing, or it is more riding for fun?

Netsirk

Thanks for your reply John, I will be working from home 99% of the time, a meeting maybe every few weeks so I am much more interested in living in a good place - a commute is not in my future, no kids either so only if one of us wanted to go to the University would that be an issue.

I agree, we will certainly need a car. I am coming down myself in May and I hope to find one before the girlfriend comes in July. New is nice but unnecessary; I don't mind driving an older car - is there an online classified ad service?

Also - we have a cat. I saw some information about importing pets and it mentioned a 6 month quarantine... does that mean in BGI or in the originating country? We are in Canada.

Thanks so much!!

Kris

zanne

In regard to the cat, let me know what questions you have...right now ours in the UK for the 6 months. The quarantine must take place in the UK-- not here.

shines

Hi there

I would think the best places to live would be either on the South coast near to St Lawrence Gap or near to Holetown on the West Coast. Both of these areas are lively with lots of bars/restaurants. However you can live a bit further away from these areas if you drive and get a lot more house for your money and in an area not so burden with tourists in the peak season. It is cooler if you go inland a bit and upwards too. Plus you get less mosquitoes this way.

You will definitley need a car to get around, I hope your girlfriend drives too.

As for cycling, you do see a few "real road" cyclists, as rare as one every week maybe though, the roads are pretty narrow, the traffic can be extremely heavy and the buses drive eratically.

I am sure you will find something to suit easily enough...

Sue

Foxy_fromCanada

Hi all,

some really helpful information here! Thanks!

I'm Kris' aforementioned girlfriend. Zanne, hoping you can help me with the cat issue. We're Canadian, so I'm not sure if the same rules apply re: 6-month quarantine, but most of the info I've found so far seems to say the same. I really want to bring our cat with us, but I'm worried about the quarantine. Can you tell me what it means? Is your cat in another location? What is the quarantine like? What else do you have to do to get your kitty there? I have nightmares of our Desmond being all alone in a tiny cage somewhere for 6 months

Thanks,
Michelle

Bajanboy

Hi Foxy:

It says on this web page (see the bottom of the page) that your cat will have to be sent from Canada to the UK for six months quarantine before coming to Barbados.

http://www.foreign.gov.bb/pageselect.cfm?page=121

There is another document relating to the protocols for clearning an animal through the airport.

http://www.foreign.gov.bb/Userfiles/...20of%20ARC.pdf

All in all, it does not sound promising. Contact the Barbados High Commission in Ottawa.

Barbados (High Commission)
Tel: (613) 236-9517
Fax:230-4362
130 Albert St, Ste 1204, Ottawa

Good luck!!

John

zanne

Foxy: Our cat Lui is 4 months through the quarantine in Manchester, he is doing just fine there...I can recommend the same facility if you are interested. After doing a lot of research I found the facilities in the Manchester area to be more affordable and as well a shorter trip from the airport to the kennel.

Do you have Skype? If so I can speak to you about what I have gone through.

I will tell you that spending US$ has made it quite an expensive proposition all in all, I will spend about 2500 pounds to bring him here to BB. This should be followed by the fact that we made a lot of sacrifices to bring our family here and the one thing that I am really looking forward to is waking up with that furball staring me in the face. We had 3 cats in NYC, the other 2 were not really fond of my young son, and have been re-homed.

Bajanboy

US$5000 to bring a cat to Barbados?? You must really love that cat!!
.

zanne

Like I said, I sacrificed a lot to get here-- the cat, well he was non-negotiable. One major problem though is that the US$ is so weak. Barbados needs to get over this rabies thing and worry about other more important things...I would happily donate $$$ to local animal causes rather than spend it on a six month cat hotel stay.

The way I look at it, when people freak out about the cost, well to each his own...some have luxury cars, big screen/flat TV's, etc. My husband and I were thinking to tell people that our cat is Sox the Cat, aka., Bill Clinton's cat that he gave to Mary Currie at the end of his administration (they look similar)...at least he would be famous!

MissyMum

A couple of really good sites with lots of info on travelling with pets are the following:

http://www.petfriendlytravel.com/?page=intl_travel and

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm

Your cat will need to be on the Pet Travel Scheme to enter the UK (have regular rabies shots and a blood test from an approved lab and be microchipped).

Hope this helps.

zanne

The PETS only applies if you have time before you leave your own country, ie. & month notice, 1 month to have the shot and titer and then 6month waiting. If you are going to be leaving with 1-2 months for Barbados the only thing you will be saving yourself is a little bit of money and time in quarantine. When my cat left JFK there would have been additional handling charges for him to be processed as PETS. Either way if you are leaving soon you are going to be spending roughly the same amount of money--PETS was just a way for people to avoid the quarantine if they new they were leaving far enough in advance.