Welchman Hall Gully!

 Saturday, February 24, 2024. 

We had booked a private guided tour for the Welchman Hall Gully tour.  The drive was about 40 minutes from our villa at Bottom Bay and we arrived at ten am for our 10:30am tour.  

According to their web site, the monkeys usually come around at about 10;30am for feeding.  However, today, the little simians must have been famished as they had bellied up to the bar at 9:30am!  From my reading about the Green Monkey of Barbados   they were introduced about 350 years ago from Africa and were likely "pets" brought over on the slave ships.

  

With our guide, Ashan

The tour office has a cute name, "The Chunky Monkey", although, all of the monkeys we saw were all quite svelte!  We hung around the front gate area to the gully for our guide, Ashan, who arrived a bit early and after introductions and his description of what the tour would comprise of, we headed into the Gully.

I am always interested in history, natures wonders and gaining knowledge and meeting new people.  Well I tell you, this tour hit all the bases for me!  First and foremost, we met Ashan!  What an absolute delight!  Ashan was clearly passionate about the eco system of not only the Gully, but his country.  He was extremely knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and his style and method of delivery was absolutely spot on for our group.  This, I believe, is a testament to his ability to "read" his guests and then deliver his presentation in an interactive way geared to the audience before him!  We found Ashan to be a positive, outgoing, polite and gentle person.  Although, he said growing up he was very introverted and had to consciously work at being more outgoing and confident.   Kudos to him for his personal achievements which enabled us to have, without a doubt, the best experience we could get for this tour!

Ashan also had a keen interest in the culinary arts (his mother is a chef!) and so his level of esteem rose exponentially with my darling bride!  There were many conversations that started out talking about some local landmark or foliage and ended up being steered towards some type of dish that could be prepared using the  plants all around us!  We can mostly thank Munchie for that, and believe me I do, as I always benefit from any new dish or recipe that she decides to try!

Throughout the tour Ashan was pointing out so many things that we would have just walked by without realising what it was!  From the wiggly com-posters (millipedes) working at returning the dead vegetation to soil, to termite colonies and their "highways" along some of the trees.  And Ashan pointed out in the eco-system, the termites actually are beneficial to the trees they live on, eating only the dead bark and wood helping to keep the host healthy.  Of course all the wood used in construction is "dead" so of course, termites chow down on it!  Ashan also gained additional kudos from Munchie when he presented her with the wild nutmeg seeds which he found littered about the forest floor and a couple types of sage, oregano, thyme and a couple of types of bay leaf!

Ashan was also our photographer for the walk.  It was apparent this wasn't his first rodeo with taking pictures along the tour!  He had a number of "spots" that resulted in the most awesome photos!

On line the tour was estimated to be about one hour.  We were almost 2.5 hours!  Ashan kept us interested and engaged throughout!  At the end of the tour Ashan invited us to a local spot that he frequents, for a beverage!  He said it was the coolest spot on the island!  We hopped into the chariot and within minutes were at the Vault Vybz Bar and Grill!  First Ashan showed us "the vault"  the tomb of the first owner of the Welchman Hall Gully, General William A. Williams, a soldier from Wales who had a plantation there.  Hence the name of both the gully and the bar, which was on Vault Road!

We picked up some beverages at the Vybz and walked across the road to some makeshift benches and tables nestled under the trees with the most cooling and pleasant breeze!  Ashan was spot on regarding "the coolest" place on the island.  We sat there with Ashan and traded stories about our life in Canada and his life here on the island.  This was the perfect finish for the morning outing!

Munchie and I have been on many guided tours throughout our travels and all have had their pluses and minuses, but I must say that Ashan has been by far and away the best tour guide we have ever had!

Ashan

We said goodbye to Ashan (after obtaining is contact info!) and headed south.  

We ended up in the Fitt's Village area again and stopped in at the Bikinis Beach Bar for lunch.  Another great spot along the beach!

We returned to the villa and Munchie of course got busy whipping up a little something for dinner!  

Another footnote here, Ashan had cut a "vase" out of a downed bamboo cane that we brought home with a plethora of greenery harvested during the tour.  Munchie then created this wonderful arrangement!

Another footnote!  Yolanda had told us a funny story about BJ and his beer!  Now BJ definitely enjoys beer and once said the beers he consumed had no more calories than a porkchop!  Since hearing that story we have been enjoying "porkchops" quite regularly!  And not to be left out, Munchie decided since some vodka is made from potatoes, her drinks are now "spuds"!

A full moon capped off the end of an absolutely fantastic day!

I have put together a little compilation of our photos from the gully: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xAMEk2cy9oNES5qs7

Cheers to all............more to come!