In the Spotlight – Barbados

[Hazukashii]

In the Spotlight – Barbados
By Ed “Hazukashii” Howell
6 May 2022

Looking at the map, Barbados is the most easternly island in the Caribbean. According to Wikipedia, the “original name for Barbados . . . was Ichirouganaim . . . with possible translations including ‘Red land with white teeth’." Archeology studies have found evidence of various human presence on the island as early as 1600 BC, and others around 400 AD, 800 AD, and 1200 AD. Spanish explorers first arrived in the late 15th Century and claimed it as a possession. Portugal then claimed the island around 1532, but later abandoned it in 1620. England eventually claimed the island in 1625, bringing in the first permanent settlers in 1627. It remained part of the British Empire until 30 Nov 1966 when it became an independent state within the British Realm. Barbados completely severed ties, when on 30 November 2021, recently elected President Sandra Mason became Head of State replacing Queen Elizabeth II.

The exotic sport of hashing has a similarly eclectic history on Barbados. There are three active Hash House Harrier clubs, with the first being the Barbados H3 founded by David Craig. David came to the islands from the Mainland H3 in United Arab Emirates, and was assisted by Chris Harvey from Lagos, Nigeria and Nigel Minette. They set their first trail on 16 Nov 1985, and although they were dormant for a period of time due to COVID, they are fully active again on Saturday afternoons, and have run nearly 2100 trails.

After nearly two decades, it was determined that one hash club was not enough. Enter Trinidad born Francie “China Brush” Ammon, who on 1 May 2001 founded the Moons Over Barbados H3. She was assisted by Carlos 'Bandana' Freitas, and this club can be found running monthly nearest the Full Moon.

It would be nearly two more decades before China Brush founded yet another hash club on Barbados. The Barbados Bike H3 was founded on 27 Mar 2016 and rides monthly on the last Sunday of the month. China Brush, as a travel agent, also organizes various hash cruises primarily in the Caribbean, but also adjacent to various other large regional hash events and INTERHASH.

I have been fortunate to join China Brush on several of her Caribbean hash cruises, with the most recent being the pre-lube to OUTERHASH 2022. Sailing out of Barbados in April, our first trail was with the Barbados H3 where we had a lively pack of about 75 hashers including the 30+ members of the cruise. Trail was an amazing 13 Kms of varying terrain including goat pastures, back alleyways, sidewalks and city streets, parks, and other dirt tracks, with the final 2 kms through a maze of sugarcane fields. We paid 2 Barbados dollars ($1 US) for the joy of the trail, and then at the end beer and other soft drinks were available for purchase from the Beer Meister. In circle, there was no singing, and they recently replaced beer down downs with a shot (1/2 ounce) of a blue liquor . . . that has had a Scotch Bonnet pepper soaked in, making it VERY spicy. You do your shot on your knees, and all first-time visitors are simply . . . virgins. Hashing on Barbados was a most excellent experience, and we followed up trail with a night on the town for more fun. If you ever get the chance to visit Barbados, make sure to take in a hash trail or two, you won’t regret it. See the links to all the hash clubs on Barbados at https://thehashhouse.org/index.php?r=chapters/list&country=Barbados On On.

For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html