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Welchman
Hall Gully, Barbados Part 3 |
Look for the fig trees that |
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On your walk, look for the marker on the bearded fig tree with its hanging, beard-like roots. In Spanish it was known as "Los Barbados," the bearded ones, and it is from this once common tree that Barbados is thought to have gained its name. Another unusual tree is the swizzle stick tree, which until recently was thought extinct on Barbados. Rum, after all, was invented on Barbados, and cocktails or swizzles are said to be a Caribbean innovation, so swizzle sticks were something of a necessity. Wood from the swizzle stick tree was used to make the cocktail stirrers. You'll find see orange trees here, too, but no grapefruit trees. It's not widely known, but the grapefruit evolved on Barbados as a hybrid between the shaddock and the orange. Originally called the "paradise fruit," it was one of the items that impressed George Washington when he visited Barbados in 1751. Because the gully is fairly wide in parts, it's easy to overlook the towering limestone cliffs that flank this sunken jungle. Actually, sometimes it's just plain hard to distinguish the walls from their heavy mantle of ferns and tree roots. But in places where the cliffs do close in and where openings in the cliff are large enough to stand under, you're reminded just what an unusual environment this truly is. What's even more remarkable is that Welchman Hall Gully hasn't been allowed to be invaded by that most ubiquitous of Caribbean species, the craft vendor. In fact, you won't find a single one anywhere. Welchman Hall Gully is a jungle of the most natural kind.
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