I got together with a group of friends to try out the Segway tour up in the north of Barbados. First off booking the tour was a breeze. The Segway guys kindly agreed to meet us at the St.Lucy Parish Church, not to pray but to guide us to the starting point of the tour at the somewhat remote Cove Bay location. I think some of the more nervous ones in our group did actually do a bit of praying while we waited in the churchyard 🙂
Once at Cove Bay, our instructions began. No one seemed keen on being the first to step aboard these vehicles, probably afraid that they’d speed off quickly towards the cliff, or fall off! Annie, the bravest of the group, agreed to be the guinea pig. She quickly absorbed the instructions on moving forward, turning and most importantly stopping. Seeing how comfortable she looked we all hopped aboard our own Segways and tested out our skills.
Our segways… and a cow!
Once we were feeling comfortable on the segways, we slowly headed out across the field towards the cliff’s edge. The field is a popular spot for grazing cows, so we had to quickly get the hand of turning to avoid ‘you know what’ or risk getting the segway’s wheels rather dirty.
As we were heading along the cliff feeling quite smug about how easy these segways were to control, my friend Harry asked if we knew that the inventor of the segway had plunged to his death off a cliff while riding a segway. No Harry we did not know that; nor did we want to! And definitely not at that moment.
Our view while Harry shared that nugget of information!
We must have short memories because that tragedy was quickly forgotten when Annie suggested a segway race! The segways are placed in a slow mode, known as ‘Turtle mode’, for beginners so racing was a bit of a challenge. Going in circles produced the best results but as Annie learned going too fast often leads to a tumble. No harm done and we were soon continuing the tour.
The next challenge was going down, and then back up, a small embankment. With guidance and encouragement from the Segway guides, we all made it safely through and continued our clifftop journey.
The views were really incredible. Many consider this part of Barbados the most beautiful. Its remoteness, lack of the typical tourist traffic, and the power of the Atlantic waves add to this beauty.
The rugged beauty of Little Bay
After a brief stop in Little Bay to admire the view and savour the cooling breezes, it was back to Cove Bay along the road. We has started the tour fairly early in the morning but by now the sun was blazing and we were happy to get back to the cool shade at Cove Bay and the promised rum punch included with the tour.
Guess who’s in Turtle mode and who isn’t
We were in for a treat as the guides took the segways out of ‘Turtle mode’ and showed us the true power of these machines. It was a thrill to speed down the road… now we could really race! Those still in ‘Turtle mode’ were left in the dust as we sped off. A little girl who lived nearby joined us in the race on her bicycle; she pedaled furiously and did a pretty good job keeping up with us.
Heading back to Speightstown to pick up some lunch for a picnic at Farley Hill park, we were all really pleased with our tour and agreed to do it again sometime.
Special thanks to the guides at ‘Segway of Barbados’ who ensured our safety, taught us a bit about the island and kept us laughing throughout the tour. Yep, we’ll be back.
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