In 2013, I decided I wanted to play my first mas (the word “mas” is short for masquerade, also known as Carnival) overseas. I had been taking soca workout classes for a few years, first from what was then known as Socacize and is now known as Karibfit. These classes were a way for me to connect back to home in a way I hadn’t been able to since college (always thankful for the many friends I met at the University of Maryland in College Park who represented Africa and the Caribbean). Though everyone knows that Trinidad and Tobago are life goals for anyone who wants to truly test their carnival vibes and stamina, I wanted to start off in a place that I knew would be just as much fun, vibes and more.
Fast forward four years later, and I finally reach Barbados in July 2017 to jump in Kadooment Day (it is always the first Monday in August) which is the culmination of CropOver (formerly called the Harvest Home Festival) CropOver marks the end of the sugarcane season, which is a key and substantial part of the Barbadian economy. CropOver is actually a four month long affair that begins in April with the end of the growing season and the start of cane cutting. By the way, there is nothing like chewing on a fresh piece of sugarcane, which is something I had not done in YEARS (since I was a child) until I went to Jamaica in 2015.
Because I had planned on traveling alone and this was my first jump outside of the US (really, it was my first jump ever), I did extensive research on everything- different bands, travel, things to do on the island, etc. I simply started searching out various pages on Facebook and Instagram for any information I could find (the Barbados CropOver Hub is an amazing resource, among many others). I ended up picking Zulu International to play mas with on Kadooment morning. Their theme in 2017 was “Carnivals Around The World” and the sections were FIRE. It was easily the most creative theme I had seen for any of the carnival bands, I ended up in the Jab Jab frontline section (shoutout to Grenada) and my peers in the Holi, Chinese New Year, Coachella, and Rio sections looked equally amazing.
Zulu was an excellent value for the price and service, which included flexibility with the payment options, excellent photographers on the road, plenty of food, drinks (alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and their trucks on the road to use the facilities, take a break, or cool off. Kudos to the snowcone man, because it was BLAZING hot on the road. I am not one to complain about the heat, so believe me when I tell you it was hot. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Also, the post road lunch at Mount Gay Rum Factory was everything, especially after chipping down Spring Garden Highway (which is the main route for Kadooment). I honestly can’t remember if it’s six miles or eight miles, but all I know is that it took about 8 hours for us to get down the road, which is average.
While doing research, I also found out that Barbados has a J’ouvert on the Friday night before Kadooment Day, which starts in Queens Park. (Is it just me or does every island have a Queens Park?) I ended up jumping with Cloud Nine Revellers. The founder of Cloud Nine is a Trinidadian who lives in Barbados, and she pulled together an excellent road experience for me and the others, from dropping off my costume at the hotel, excellent drinks on the road, great djs and breakfast for us after also chipping down Spring Garden until the sun came up. It was a good mix of people as far as age ranges. I had considered some other bands but some looked like they skewed toward 20-somethings and your girl didn’t have that kind of energy to hang. In fact, I am not a night person at all, so I was surprised that I was even able to hang for J’ouvert. It doesn’t start until almost one in the morning and goes until the sun comes up.
By the way, if you haven’t realized by now, the title of this blog post comes from one of my favorite songs from the 2017 road march- “Good Morning” by Peter Ram, who is a Bajan. That and “All Ah We”-his other big song from 2017, gave me everything I needed to get on bad in Barbados.
