Before visiting Barbados, I wasn’t really worried about how safe the island would be and how freely I could move around as a tourist considering i’m from Nigeria, black and would blend in quite well. However, my husband as a white tourist would stand out and thus safety posed a concern. This is because, based on our experiences in Nigeria (my home country) where tourism is not prevalent, many locals stare at “foreigners” like they’re aliens from mars, sometimes random beggars on the streets go as far as demanding money from them on the spot. Therefore, many foreigners or “white people” as they are popularly called by Nigerians, are exposed to muggings or possible kidnap just because they stand out and are assumed to be “rich”. So we didn’t know what to expect in Barbados which would be the 1st majority black country we’ll both visit besides Nigeria….
We did some research online and many articles spoke of how safe the island was and how safety wasn’t an issue. Well now that we’re here in Barbados, based on our experiences so far, I can also say that Barbados is generally safe like anywhere else in the world. For white tourists, people don’t stare at you and generally don’t care to bother you unless they feel like you need help, then they’re 100% willing to offer it even without you asking for it.
Once, I and my husband were waiting for the bus at constitution river terminal and as we stood at the terminal assigned for passengers going to Bayfield, one of the buses arrived and we forgot to check the direction the bus was heading (usually a sign on the windshield) and were about to hop on, when a local asked ‘are you going in this direction?’ We immediately realised we were about to enter the wrong bus and quickly replied no, we got off and offered many thanks to the kind local.
If you’re worried about how safe driving around the island of Barbados is, during the day it is very safe, at night it is also safe but don’t drive in a place you’re not already familiar with. Public transportation is also safe for tourists at any time of the day and like I said, no one really cares about the color of your skin and you shouldn’t have any problems moving around. As for walking, it is safe to walk around but note that most roads have no sidewalk which could be dangerous for walking as the roads are quite narrow.
So is Barbados safe? In my opinion, Yes! It is very safe in Barbados and if you don’t go looking for trouble, trouble won’t find you!
PS: This post is merely my opinion and observation based on my experiences and should not be considered as legal advice. Five Foot Nomad is not responsible for any misrepresentation or misinterpretation of any posts on its website.
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