Bridgetown to Belleplaine: A tale of two feet

Never again! That is the mantra I repeated to myself as I put one foot in front of the other on the final stretch of what was easily the most physically demanding thing I have ever done in my life. Never again. It sounds familiar. Only because I made the same promise last year. Actually, I have been making this promise for the past four years but for some reason, I keep on coming back.

This past Sunday, I was among the hundreds that took on the Barbados Hiking Association’s challenge to complete the 2020 First Citizen’s Bank Colin Hudson Great Train Hike. The 26-mile trek, which follows the path of the Barbados Railway that operated between 1883 and 1937, offers locals and visitors the opportunity to see the island from a different angle.

With the Barbados Hiking Association running hikes every Sunday that last three hours, this special event is a far cry from the usual with an average time of between nine to ten hours. Going from Independence Square to Belleplaine in St. Andrew, one gets a chance to take in a bit of everything that Barbados has to offer and if the walk does not take your breath away, the idyllic views most certainly will.

With options to move off as late as 6 am, my group of five decided to take in the 3 am start. The first few hours took us through the pitch black cane fields of St. George into St. Philip, while the first light of the morning’s sunrise crept upon us just before Carrington Sugar Factory.

We had sugar canes as our company until Three Houses Park and the terrain changed to beach cliffs just before heading into Consett Cutting. From there, to Bath, to Martin’s Bay, Tent Bay and Bathsheba, the crashing waves on the rugged East Coast sang a song that rang in our ears for hours, allaying the fears that manifest in your mind on the Ermy Bourne Highway.

With your feet and legs complaining every step of the way, the East Coast Road seems as though it has been stretched five times over and it becomes a test of the mind as every bend in the road gives birth to another. By the time there are no more turns, the rural village of Belleplaine becomes the most beautiful thing you have ever seen as you can almost taste the finish.

You are greeted by cheers and a medal and a sense of accomplishment unlike anything you have ever experienced. You ache for a few days and think back over the experience and every step you took and tell yourself ‘never again’. And just like that February rolls around and you find yourself in Independence Square – again!