Introduction

Imagine a television advertisement in which an expensively dressed young White woman browses the internet; a soothing male voice, accompanied by soothing meditation music, begins the voiceover:

This year you decided to escape to an island for vacation. Which island do you choose? They’re all tropical, after all. They’ve got stunning beaches, colourful houses tended by friendly people and lavish landscapes. So, all of them are pretty similar, aren't they? Well, not really. There is one island that stands apart from the rest. It offers a unique fusion of African and British cultures. An island that hasn't been homogenized, supersized and marketed away from being Caribbean at all. An island that puts its magnificently jagged cliffs against whatever the Atlantic brings and yet caresses the Caribbean with beaches that are the envy of the world. It is an island which vanquishes all your stress, immerses you and guarantees that there is still one absolutely authentic Caribbean experience remaining to be had on this planet: Barbados. This island has unique powers. Its mystical allure has drawn travellers for centuries. Breathtaking natural beauty, sugar cane, rum, green monkeys and flying fish mingle with laughter and innocence and compose a magical world. This is not a typical island vacation. Smaller, luxurious hotels with warm and welcoming Bajan hospitality and authentic Bajan days and nights that pull you in and wrap you up in sights, sounds, tastes and feelings that are hard to describe but impossible to forget.