Travelling allsorts

Our first trip to Barbados was in September 1979! We stayed in a self-catering apartment at the Silver Sands Hotel for 3 weeks at the tail end of the hurricane season - and it was fantastic! We recently returned for a couple of weeks self-catering in an apartment near Hastings and, guess what - it was fantastic! The essence of Barbados hasn't changed. It remains totally laid back yet modern. Everyone has smartphones and multiple TV channels but the traffic has increased by about 1000% and some of the vehicles wouldn't pass an MOT, even with a hefty bribe. Very few roads have unbroken surfaces, there are meaningless signposts and the road maps are not exactly accurate. Advice: just chill. The west coast area is mostly navigable but don't expect an easy journey inland or towards the east coast. After realising that we'd driven through the same village a couple of times, we gave up. We failed to find Eddy Grant's place but succeeded in finding the underground...

I don't think we made the best of Jamaica. We stayed at a very nice all-inclusive hotel in Montego Bay, which sounded glamorous because I always think of the song. The staff we encountered were friendly and the food was pretty good. I'm not sure why 'very nice' was disappointing. There was an uninspiring shallow beach which we had virtually to ourselves because guests seemed to prefer the pool areas and security staff guarded the beach perimeters to ensure that the private beach stayed private. And I think that was the problem, we felt like prisoners - might as well have been guantanamo bay as montego bay. Of course, we were allowed out of the hotel but always with an underlying message of lurking danger which, if you have children with you, you take no chances. To join escorted tours and even to hire a taxi was priced astronomically high per person, so we elected to remain in our open prison. Thank goodness it was only for a week.  (Montego Bay : Bobby Bloom)...

With Halloween creeping up on us you might like to have a peep through your fingers at my favourite British chocolatier, Hotel Chocolat’s ghoulishly gorgeous Halloween goodies. Whether you’re planning a party, having a quiet night in behind the sofa, or bracing yourself for an army of trick or treaters – you’ll find the very best selection of mouth watering scary treats! Hotel Chocolat have a true passion for chocolate, they even own their own cocoa plantation, Rabot Estate in St.Lucia . If you haven’t tasted their delights Halloween is the perfect excuse as they have a fun range of spooky chocolate boxes that will be sure to keep your little monsters quiet! Camilla, 2012