A Visit to North Point and Animal Flower Cave--Photo Essay

I'm ashamed to say that like most people, we often fail to explore what is in our own "backyard." In our case, our free time is usually spent at the beaches--which are magnificent here, but in Barbados there is so much more to see.  Luckily we have visitors once or twice a year and when they are here, we make sure to explore some of the beauties of Barbados that we haven't gotten around to enjoying yet.  This time, my mother-in-law is here for a visit so we made our way to Northpoint--the northernmost point on the island--and Animal Flower Cave.

Part of the reason we had never made the trek to St. Lucy (the northernmost parish) was that we had been told that a hurricane about 10 years ago washed out all of the animal flowers (anemones) but we decided to check it out anyway.  I'm very glad we did.  This first shot is a hokey tourist shot of the signpost in the parking lot pointing out the direction of other countries from Northpoint.

We were stunned by the view of the Atlantic crashing into the rocky cliffs of Northpoint

The waves were crashing and the wind was blowing so hard, the spray reached us even sitting in the little shelter.

I wish I'd gotten a shot looking down the very steep stairs into the entrance of the cave but I was busy kid wrangling.  Here is what it looks like once you're down in the cave itself.

As we had heard, there were no anemones left in the cave but the guide pointed out a small colony of tube worms with their fans open to feed.

One of the most beautiful things about the cave were the holes in the side which framed the stunning views like jagged picture frames.

This is the "Billy Ocean Window" because he shot a music video at this site in the 80's.  Every so often a large waves cause some water to come into the cave.  No toursits are allowed in at high tide or when the sea if stormy.  There is a rock pool that tourists can swim in.  It is 8ft deep at the deepest point.  We didn't bring out suits so we just enjoyed the sight of the still water reflecting the gorgeous sky.

When we left the cave, we passed all the little tourist shops with lovely unique merchandise.  I was tempted by a chattel house windchime but I decided it would scare the hummingbirds away. We walked over to a sign that said "The View" and passed between thatched walls.  This is what we saw.

The long thatched roofed structure attaches to the wall of the cliff and goes the length of the small cove.

The only anemones still at the sight are on a little flattened raised area in the center of the cove.

We really enjoyed our little jaunt to St. Lucy and now we know why it's called the windward coast!