Discovering Welchman Hall Gully, Barbados

Craving some sun? Jess's post may make that even worse......!

Jess, aged 14, writes: Over the summer, I was lucky enough to be invited to stay at my friend's house in Barbados, and I had the most amazing time. We swam in the sea, visited museums, went sailing, and ate lots and lots of food. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Welchman Hall Gully, a gully full of gorgeous plants and animals right in the centre of the island.

Prior to the trip, I didn't even know what a gully was. It turns out that they only take up five percent of the island, but contain a third of its plants. I was fascinated by this, and ran around trying to identify plants that we had learnt about in geography at school!

[caption id="attachment_3402" align="aligncenter" width="1699"] The gully was absolutely filled with plants[/caption]

As soon I walked into the gully, it seemed as though I was instantly transported to the middle of a rainforest. Plants stretched high above my head, monkeys roamed around me, and nutmeg and mace lined the floor. We kept running around to pick these up, and I delighted in finding a large one to take back with me.

The vast majority of Welchman Hall Gully is taking up by all of the incredible plants, but there were so many other aspects I loved. Upon walking into the gully, I saw a green monkey eating a banana on the feeding platform. At one point, there were lots of birds (I don't know which type) flying above us, and at another, I held a millipede for the first time. I liked sliding down a short section of the gully on a zipwire, and seeing gorgeous views of the island after walking up some stairs.

[caption id="attachment_3403" align="aligncenter" width="1699"] I held a millipede![/caption]

For someone who is really interested in plants and geography, I really appreciated the signs that told you information about the gully - at lots of places I go to, I find myself needing more information, which wasn't the case here. I also appreciated the amount of shade from the plants, as I really struggled in other places in the island.

My favourite part of the gully was a giant bamboo plant, which was definitely the biggest I've ever seen. Estimation is not my strength, but it must have been at least five or six times my height. Each stick was so big that I spent ages simply staring at it, as I never would have thought it possible for a bamboo to grow so big.

We finished off our trip to the gully with a walk through a cave. The gully was formed by the collapsed roofs of caves, and I really enjoyed walking through one. On the way up to the cave, my friend showed me a macaw palm tree, which both fascinated and scared me. It looks the same as a palm tree, except the trunk is covered with spikes. I wondered if I would have touched it, before realising that it was out of the way and the spikes were very visible. It was as very easy walk, although I have been told that there are harder ones! I was excited to see a stalactite and a stalagmite, and liked jumping down from a big pile of rocks.



Overall, I really loved my visit to Welchman Hall Gully in Barbados. It was so serene and tranquil, and everything was absolutely beautiful. I felt really removed from everything, and loved getting close to nature in a way that just isn't possible in London.

Admission to the gully is $12 for adults, with a booklet included. Children aged 6-12 are $6, and children under 5 go free. I was not asked to review the gully and all opinions are my own.

Visiting the Eden Project, Cornwall

When we went to Cornwall, one place was top of the list to visit - the Eden Project, even though we weren't even sure exactly what it was.....

Jess, aged 14, writes: For such a large and famous destination, the Eden Project is quite difficult to describe. It consists of two large biomes which replicate the climates of the Mediterranean and the rainforest, an exhibition on dinosaurs, large gardens, lots of places to eat and drink, and a centre full of rides, such as a zip wire, giant swing, and a free fall. Even though everything was quite varied, we enjoyed all of it and had a fascinating and exciting day.

[caption id="attachment_2597" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The view of the biomes[/caption]

The Eden Project is so large that you have to take a bus from the car park to the centre. We quickly made our way to Hangloose, the location of the adventure park.

Robert, aged 11, says: I love adventure activities, so it sounded great to try out the fastest and longest zipwire in Britain. We prebooked the zipwire for me as it sounded the most fun, but I was horrified to find I was more than five kilos too light to go on it safely. Instead they offered me all the other activities to do instead of the zipwire, which just that shows how good it must have been. I decided to go on the The Drop and Big Air.

[caption id="attachment_2596" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert jumped on a beanbag from eight metres in the air![/caption]

First I went on Big Air, which was basically jumping onto an airbag. Firstly I had three goes jumping from about a metre up, this wasn't very thrilling but still vaguely fun. Then I got two goes at jumping on the airbag from eight metres up, I was really nervous. The few seconds you were falling were quite exhilarating but when you hit the bag it hurt your bum. Overall it was a bit like something you would do at a kids party.

[caption id="attachment_2598" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert jumped down from the top of the building[/caption]

Next I went on The Drop which I had been told was going to be very scary. They made me put on a harness before making me walk of the edge of the tower before they dropped me down. This was really disappointing as I didn't feel like I was falling at all and didn't get any exhilaration from the experience. The giant swing  which I now wished I picked looked really fun, although compared to the no time queuing for my activities you might have had to wait a long time to do that.

[caption id="attachment_2601" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The view when you walk into the rainforest biome[/caption]

Jess writes: Next, we made our way to the rainforest biome, which is the world's largest indoor rainforest. The biome covers three point nine acres, and is full of plants from rainforests across the world. I am very interested in geography and the world's countries , so I was really looking forward to finding out about rainforests, their climates, and the adaptations plants make to live there. I was also interested in seeing how the biome was made, and how they regulate the climate.

While the information certainly was good (and presented in a way that younger children could understand) it certainly wasn't at the level I hoped it would be, and I didn't learn anything. However, I may be being too harsh - mum and dad didn't know a lot of the information, and they found it interesting.

[caption id="attachment_2602" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert held a coco de mer seed[/caption]

The biome was full of plants, and I loved finding out about them. I would have liked more information about their adaptations and where they were from, but there were a lot of facts on hand and I was fascinated by everything. I especially enjoyed seeing an epiphyte, but wished that there were more. We encountered one member of staff who was talking about a specific plant, but I had too many questions in my head and promptly forgot all of them!

[caption id="attachment_2603" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We saw lots of cool plants inside the biomes[/caption]

We learnt about the food in Malaysia and walked around a typical hut before walking up the biome to a waterfall. We found some information about what it is like to work in the rainforest (it sounds amazing, but too hot for me), and walked up to the top of the biome and looked down at the plants and people. We had to queue to do this and it got very hot, so be warned, especially if you are with younger children.

[caption id="attachment_2604" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert at the top of the biome[/caption]

After walking down, we learnt about tropical fruits, chocolate, and the production of rubber products. We bought really good baobab smoothies, and marvelled at the incredible plants. The family was especially surprised by seeing how pineapples grow! We rushed out as it was very hot, but I had a marvellous time.

Next was lunch. There are many options for lunch at the Eden Project, and we decided to visit the burrito bar. My vegetable burrito was delicious, and the salad that went with it was gorgeous. Robert found it a bit too spicy, but we washed them down with lemonade.

[caption id="attachment_2605" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We loved the amazing models of dinosaurs.[/caption]

Robert says: At the time we went to the Eden Project the exhibition in the land, air and water tent was on dinosaurs. We went in and saw the most amazing models of the creatures, they moved and made sounds. I didn't learn much (probably because I ignored the boards full of information) but it was really cool.

Jess writes: The Mediterranean biome was our last destination. I was surprised to see that California and South Africa have Mediterranean climates, and was pleased to see some familiar plants from our holidays. The biome seemed smaller than the rainforest one, but it was really nicely done and it seemed as though we had been transported to the Med.

[caption id="attachment_2606" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Inside the Mediterranean biome.[/caption]

 

The Greek and Roman myths hung up across the biome were a really nice touch, and there was someone telling myths to a cluster of children in the centre. I enjoyed learning about the benefits of different variations of tomatoes and other plants, and really enjoyed the visit.

[caption id="attachment_2607" align="alignnone" width="1200"] We enjoyed some ice-cream after seeing the biomes.[/caption]

After our quick trip to the (excellent, huge) shop and walk through the beautiful gardens, we left the Eden Project. We all really enjoyed the day, and I thought that the biomes were incredible. While I would have liked more information, I'm sure I'll be able to find what I want online. I definitely would recommend a visit for the whole family, as there was so much to do, and we had a really great day.

Disclosure: We were fortunate enough to be given free entry to the Eden Project and to try out the rides at Hangloose in order to write about it. All our opinions, however, are our own and not influenced by this.
A package to do the Drop and Big Air costs  £18. Other pricing can be found here. A family ticket for the Eden Project (for two adults and two children) costs £62 if you book in advance.

Be warned that if you have small children, there is a lot of walking!

Please watch the video below to see more about our trip to Cornwall:

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oWmvduevzM" width=200 height=100 ]

More by me and Robert:

Taking a Tour Up Big Ben!

A Fascinating Day at the Newseum in Washington DC