Why Barbados is better off the beaten track Nicola Brady I didn't fall in love, the first time I went to Barbados. There was something that felt a little too divided about it: the Simon Cowell-esque glitz battling the real, beating heart of the island, which I couldn’t seem to infiltrate. Everything I did was tediously touristy, from the rum-soaked jeep safari to the rum-soaked boat trip. Though I’d physically seen a lot of the island, in reality I’d experienced nothing. Second time around, everything changed. A lot of that was down to my guide and taxi driver, Haskell Drakes. A former prison guard, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the island and a never-ending stockpile of gossip.