The Miami Beach Barbados Boot Camp
Which are you? A boot camp bunny or a slow roasting tourist? Get down to Miami Beach Barbados and find out!
Miami Beach, also known as Enterprise Beach, is a hive of activity early in the morning.
But it’s exhausting sitting there after a swim, watching people prolong life through exercise.
Sgt Major in a turban
There’s the sergeant major chap in a very natty red turban leading a group of locals and tourists through an aerobic session on the sand.
I couldn’t guess at his age – a lot older than his pupils who were mainly in their fifties and sixties.
There’s a touch of the parade ground about him, but the emphasis is on fun.
Not so secret Barbados
The exercise gets the blood going and the body limber without anyone over-exerting themselves.
And he keeps up a lovely constant patter – a background rhythm, slightly military, but with a smile nevertheless.
But he spots me filming.
“US Dollars. 1 and 2, 3 and 4,
There’s a man, over there,
Taking pictures, with his phone…”
Sgt Maj Red Turban
I put the phone down swiftly in case he produces a swagger stick.
I’ve probably got 15 or maybe 20 years on him. But I don’t fancy my chances in a sprint up the beach.
So I turn my attention to the action 10 metres away.
There’s another group behind me, under the shade of the casuarina trees. Younger than the Sgt Major’s group, doing a punishing set of circuits.
Two men are playing paddle tennis. In between rallies, they help the less able into the water. Lovely. Others are having a swimming lesson, with fluorescent tubes as floating aids.
Around the corner in a quieter cove, an older group of Bajans and returning nationals take their morning sea bath. There’s a constant stream of them flowing into the shallow, cool sea. Marilyn from Tooting, South London, strikes up a conversation. Joan wanders over to say hi.
As the sun rises further and the day begins to heat up, the boot camp crew sip their tea and melt away. Perhaps to work, perhaps home for a snooze.
Hot enough to fry an egg…
It’s now 3pm on Miami Beach Barbados and “hot as ass”.
There’s still plenty of shade beneath the casuarina trees but the sun worshippers are out on the hot sand.
Two ladies from Upper State New York are turning a deep red as they soak up the radiation and ultra violet light.
I swear you could fry an egg on their decolletage. I watch the slow roasting tourists from the shade.
That looks pretty hard work too, I think, as I sip my ice cold beer.
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