It's been one deliverable or the other breathing down my neck since I have been back from this holiday. Everything has a price and going away for 10 days definitely has it's consequences but I would do it over again in a heartbeat.
My sisters and I haven't been on any trip together since we all got together in 2018 in Zanzibar. In the beginning of the year, my sister casually said she wanted to celebrate her birthday somewhere tropical and asked for recommendations. So i told her "say less" and started looking into destinations that would work for both of us. My other sister couldn't come with us given she just had a baby and it would have been a huge commitent on her part. After some research, we settled for Barbados, we bought the tickets immediately to avoid any last minute cancellations, in hindsight, I'm glad we did as a lot of work started to creep up leading to the trip, if I hadn't bought the ticket long in advance, I would have bailed.
We planned to spend 10 nights in Barbados, honestly, we both needed some sunshine and  distraction from our daily lives. I arrived 3 days before her which she still clowns me for. Lol sorry I can't help myself, but I did upgrade the room on her arrival so it feels new. Also, I didn't get any activities done asides for diving prior to her arrival. Speaking of arrival, my sister actually missed her flight and we were extremely lucky to secure the last ticket on Virgin for the following day (her birthday eve). Honestly, this was the most stressful part of the holiday, I was livid. I couldn't fathom it, who misses the flight to their birthday trip? Thankfully we got it sorted.
I was so excited to see her when she arrived, I had told everyone at the hotel that it was her birthday trip and they give us the best time ever. I had prepped the dinners and decorations. I picked up bottles of champagne from the airport which I ended up drinking as my sister does not drink.
The weather in Barbados was perfect, the sun shined so beautifully and the hotel was stunning. We stayed at the Hilton Resort, Barbados, it is not a new property but they have the best views of the sea and the location on the island is phenomenal. We had the best rooms and the service was excellent, everyone was extremely welcoming and nice to us.
Prior to my sisters arrival, I had booked all the tours I would like us to do together, it was a bit challenging as we don't have the same risk tolerance but I booked them anyway and hoped to use the excuse of her missing her fight as a leverage for her to come with me should she decline. Luckily, pep talk was enough to get her on board.
Day 1 - Catamaran Cruise
This was highly recommended as it was full day tour with alcohol and food onboard as well as swimming with turtles, music etc. While waiting for our bus to arrive, we met two other girls who we later found out were mom and daughter, I only asked a question but somehow turned to a conversation and we ended up being so close during the trip that people actually thought we all came together on the trip. This is how i was able to recruit more people for my sisters birthday đŸ™‚
The cruise was not short of my expectations, the crowd was phenomenal and they all knew how to party. It was already 6pm when we got back to the hotel, we ended the day with some dinner and chilled by the pool side. Barbados does not really have a great nightlife so people tend to stay in their resort and depend on the activities planned by the hotel which ends around 8pm too. Thankfully, I had bought enough bottles so I took a bottle of whiskey down to the poolside and invited our new friends and other people to drink with us. My sister was tired and she went to bed but I made sure I collected her few minutes to midnight (her birthday) and we all had couple of shots and sang to her. She went back to sleep, I carried on with my new friends till about 5:00am when we went to watch the race horses take a bath and see sunrise. Looking back, its one of the best night of the trip.
Day 2 - My Sister's Birthday
I had not planned any tour for this day as I wanted her to enjoy the hotel, beach and facilities prior to going for her birthday dinner. I had devised a plan to get her out of the room for the decorations. The hotel staff were professionals, I made sure she went straight to the pool after breakfast and started ordering cocktails, I had invited our new friends down too so she doesn't get bored and ruin the surprise. It worked and we were there until 3pm. She later said she was going to the room and ta..da it was a surprise! she was indeed happy about it, we all dressed up and got ready for dinner. Dinner was well planned and impeccable, they had personalised the experience, we arrived just before the sunset and we watched the sunset at our seat just before dinner. I really loved this for her, she later thanked me and admitted no one could have planned it better.
Day 3 - Diving and Snorkelling
I had planned taking six dives on this trip, however, I didn't want my sister to get bored when I go around my day so I booked her a snorkelling trip, so, whilst I'm diving she's snorkelling, luckily, it's the same boat which meant we could reunite later. It worked out well and we saw similar things, I really wanted her to see the shipwrecks, I'm glad she was able to see a bit of it. Diving in Barbados is phenomenal, my best experience is swimming in the ship, I have a scar on my head as a souvenir, it was indeed an experience, the ocean wasn't shy of turtles and other underwater creatures. I managed to fit the rest of my dives in the mornings so I'm not away for too long.
Day 5 - Submarine
This was a risky one, especially with the recent submersible incident, I was actually surprised she didn't make a lot of fuss about it, I'm adept in diving but the submarine experience was phenomenal, we were 130ft deep in a submarine, we saw the wrecks, ruins, turtles and all sorts. It was indeed an experience.
Day 6 and 7 - Pools, Beach and Stable
These were the last days we had together so we spent it casually relaxing at hotel. I got the rest of my dives in then went to visit the stables. I made a connection with one of the horses I had seen at the beach at sunrise and wanted to get to know her more. She's called "Hot Stepper". So I was basically her handler for a day, the most stressful and rewarding day job I have taken till date, she was beautiful in all sense of the word, we bonded and I'm looking forward to her race in the coming year. Also, I realised that my dream of becoming a Jockey may never happen as I weigh more than an average jockey, it's fine I'm comfortable been a leisure handler.
I really like Barbados, and I actually think it's the classiest of all the Caribbean islands, the men weren't as audacious or annoying with their sexual advances as other islands and I would have been okay as solo traveller. The only thing I didn't like was the absence of a great nightlife and it was very expensive compared to other Caribbean islands. I was told the best time to visit is during the carnivals. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this trip, my sister and I had the opportunity to bond, even though a lot of the time spent together was mostly us goofing around, cracking premium jokes and making impressions of other people, we still made time for important discussions. Also, I met my soul sister on this trip, I have never made a friend so easily, her energy was pure and we were both intentional about the time we spent together and I loved that for us.