This is a general shout out and blogger rant to all the people in Tobago who work in the tourist industry or what purports to be a tourist industry.

I don’t live in Trinidad anymore – some days I’m sad about this, but all it takes to remind me that I’m glad to visit but not stay in Trinidad is a two week refresher in Trinidad itself. However, the frustration I feel at Trinidad, is nothing compared to the contempt I generally feel to those in the Tobagonian tourist industry.

A couple points about why tourism in Tobago cannot and will not ever grow or be significant

1. Tobago needs the tourism but the tourists do not necessarily need Tobago yet the powers that be that control tourism cannot see that the problem is the people themselves.
2. Customer feedback is a waste of time. Abject, absolute waste of time. Tourist “people” in Tobago ask for an exit survey when you leave. You can make the most wonderful suggestions – do not bother – it is a colossal “make work” project, so a politician can say that they are trying to improve things.
3. Tourists need efficiency and facilities. The airport is neither efficient or has facilities. Until some money is spent to upgrade Crown Point – it will just be the same unconcerned staff with their nonchalant attitude about you, your time or your business. I always fly to Tobago from Trinidad, either very early or very late – since I don’t want to have a problem with these people – they couldn’t shit in a swimming pool.
4. Have you all heard that computers have revolutionized the world – “we can use them to make things go faster”. Customs and immigration use a considerable amount of time going through papers and documents and using stamps but never seem concerned about getting the people through as soon as possible.
5. Smiles are free, even if your people seem to be broke all the time.  When I have to beg for a coffee or almost slap someone in a grocery to give me a bottle of rum, while she dusts the aforementioned bottle of rum and people are behind cussing, will make tourists homicidal.
6. I’ve never had to pay a bill or use a bank, but I have heard of waits of two hours at a bank for service. Which tourist in their god damn mind would come back?
7. Hustlers made people hate Jamaica, and unless you’re a German woman looking for a black Tobagonian penis (Germans are especially unwelcome in Tobago for the way they behave); hustlers are not welcome. I hate people grabbing at me and trying to hustle me for anything.
8. Why should Sugarlips, Tight Chest, Dimples  (actual names on the beach… seriously) be hustling to rent  chairs and umbrellas on the beaches (at Store Bay for example). Having these hustlers is just terrible and gives tourists the impression that Trinis and Tobagonians are some hungry, starving people who can’t find jobs. These guys can’t hustle me, since I’m hard with them and don’t even talk to them until I am ready …
9. Everything is so expensive. Food is brutally expensive, when compared to other islands. I have no issue with being charged US prices, but then give me US or Canadian service with the same portion size.

   You all claim it is expensive to import things into Tobago … what about other islands, don’t they have the same issues? Tobago still has a long way to go in order to meet the standards of the other islands and tourists are having to pay too much for what they get in return. When the tourists go to other islands, they realise this and never return to Tobago.

10. Spend money on “Tourist” police, like other tourist destinations. Police who specially trained to deal with tourist and civilian matters.  Spend money on presence also – as a Trini, I can handle myself in Tobago, but other people have issues with this.  Trinis like value for their money, don’t you think that tourists also like get value for their money.

Fix all of this and maybe then one old British couple won’t be able to wreak havoc on perception of Tobago and then they will want to come and spend money in Tobago.

=============

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: beautiful place, poor tourism in tobago, terrible people, tobago, why tobago sucks

When you’re from Trinidad, you think that the world has things that are better, prettier and more well known. I can safely say that driving along the Leeward Coast of Tobago has to rank amongst the prettiest drives with some of the beach vantage points in the world. Many Trinis/Tobagonians take these things for granted, as most do not have a basis of comparison to other more celebrated places.

The stretch of four large beaches after Moriah that are easily accessible by road … there are a couple other more remote beaches, but for a long day trip (8am - 6pm) from Crown Point, if you take a swim at these 4 beaches

1. Castara Bay : The home village of T&T’s 3rd Prime Minister is in a small friendly village with a decent beach facility and villagers who actually welcome a tourist or two, unlike places in Trinidad. The village itself is known for the fish and there is a fishing facility in the middle of the beach. While you’ll always see some fishing activity, please ask before you run over and volunteer your muscles in the search of a great story to tell your friends at home. There is another smaller beach, known as Heavenly Bay, just around the headland on the northern end of the main beach, but I personally have never made it over there.

   

   

2. Parlatuvier : This beach is surrounded by the village itself. There is a school that is practically on the beach – how cool would it be to go swimming instead of playing cricket or football at recess and lunch time as a young boy. The bay is quite the photographed princess with her rugged rocks closing in from the sea. The water does get deep rather quickly though but this is good since there is excellent jumping and diving from the long pier.

   

3. Englishman’s  Bay :  This is probably my favorite beach in Tobago. It’s definitely not touristy like Store Bay or Pigeon Point, since you have to drive down a dirt track to get there (if it rains, the track can be muddy) - there is good snorkeling and generally calm seas – depending on the day of course.  Although it’s gotten a bit more developed in recent years, it still feels like the complete deserted beach you could imagine if you were shipwrecked on a Caribbean island.

   It’s a lovely green-blue sea surrounded by a wall of shady almond and coconut trees. When it rains, the Rockly River that runs at the back seems filled with energy and sandflies *lol*. The beach slopes steeply down to the sea which has short but often large breakers, which is challenging for the new sea bather but if you’re a good swimmer and adventurous, this is definitely Da’Beach.

   

   

   

   

   By the way, Eula’s is the only restaurant around these parts, but remember you’re only 45 mins away from fresh food in Pigeon Point or Store Bay. Is convenience worth the risk of no running water around your food? Just my thoughts!

4. Bloody Bay : This beach for all its natural beauty is set a little way from the main village, unlike most other beaches, hence it seems always deserted, except for yachties and fishermen. The beach facility here is almost brand new with a “tourist” office … that never seems to be open.

   

   

   

   

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: castara bay tobago travel log, englishman's bay tobago travel log, parlatuvier tobago travel log, tobago travel log

The drive from Crown Point to Little Tobago or Bird of Paradise Island, involves going down the Windward Road through Roxborough into the sleepy village town of Speyside. Once you’re there, there are two ways you can get to the Little Tobago island reserve.

• Hire a fishing charter that will cost about $350 ($58USD) each. They will offer a nice guided tour around the island and information you can download from the internet
• Hire a local fisherman to take you in one of the little pirogues for an adventure filled, bumpy ride across the channel to the private beach and nature reserve. You can negotiate a price with the fishermen for the tour also, in the little pirogue between 150 and 200 TT ($25 and $32 USD) for two people. On a slow day, you can surely bargain harder but do you want to piss off the fisherman who is going to ferry you over rocky waters?

Guess which one, I preferred?

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: bird of paradise island, how to get to, how to get to little tobago, is little tobago expensive, Little Tobago, little tobago bird sanctuary, Little Tobago Island, Speyside and Little Tobago travel guide, Speyside Reef

Getting from Trinidad to Tobago is an easy plan; no hassle, short flight, no crazy drivers that one has to worry about in Trinidad. If you’re in Tobago, after taking the 14 minute flight from Trinidad, your next steps should go something like this …

1. Call pre-arranged taxi rental company to pick you up from airport and head straight to the rental company. Fill out paper work and take car out.
2. Depending on what time you get in, there are two logical options
   1. If you come in anytime BEFORE sunset, go directly to the beach – Store Bay or Pigeon Point. They’re close (2 min drive in either direction) and proceed to eat and get your water or tan on.
   2. If you come in anytime AFTER sunset, go directly to the hotel, check in and go for dinner and check back to hotel for drinks. If you’re new, you won’t know any places to go for drinks. (MyTobago.info maintains an excellent listing of places to eat in Tobago – updated every three months and has pertinent info.)

In High Season (Christmas time [Dec 15- Jan 3rd] or the two weeks after Carnival) Always prearrange your accomodations and rentals from Trinidad … if you don’t, you will probably not have availability or you will be charged a king’s ransom – either way, not a great start to a trip.

We couldn’t find a taxi, so I went up to a guard, asked him where to find a taxi, he directed me to another guard booth. She said there was none, but then asked a friend who with her liming to give us a lift to our homestay. Of course, he couldn’t do it immediately as he was looking in the parking lot for his keys to his house (seriously!) … so now it is the three of us (female guard, her friend, and me) looking through an empty parking lot for a bunch of keys. After we found the keys, the friend gave us a lift to the hotel … no cash, compliments of the car keys

After getting to the hotel, it was late – hence dinner and drinks – however trying to find an open bar on Christmas night is next to impossible – but we were quite lucky to find a local bar that was serving.

In the morning, we collected our car and went off to Store Bay for a couple hours in the water. The other thing about Store Bay is that it is the collection point for tours to the Buccoo Reef, Nylon Pool and Coral Gardens. Driving into Store Bay, many guys will wave at you trying to sell you tours at different prices – there are only 4-6 boats that do the tours on any given day – twice daily (leaving between 11 and 11.30am or 2 and 2.30pm).

The tours consist of the following sequence of events:

• Journey to the Buccoo Reef
• Snorkel in the Coral Gardens
• Swim in Nylon Pool – use the coral sand to exfoliate your skin
• Stop off at No Mans’ Land for some BBQ and Rum Punch (optional and usually on a weekend, depends on weather, and depends on nice you are to the tour guides)

If you want to get a decent price – talk to a couple guys. They’ll give a piece of paper with their names and phone numbers and ask them their price (a good price is something between $50 and $70 TT ($8 – $11 USD)). All the boats are fairly do the same route, all have glass bottom sections and they all leave around the same time.

Once you’re set, then you’re off for breakfast at the Store Bay food sheds and then hit the beach and go on your tour. BTW – if you’re in Tobago, you have to do the tour – it’s completely worth it, just to bathe in the Nylon Pool.

Store Bay

Nylon Pool

No Mans’ Land

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: buccoo reef tour, how to get to coral gardens, how to get to nylon pool, is nylon pool expensive, no mans land, nylon pool

This is the reaction I got tonight from the folks at home (note Trini English)…

• <Dad> Where are you out to tonight?
• <Me> Hosay
• <Dad> Huh? Yuh mean in St. James? But it not safe down there … it have so much crime there
• <Me> I’ll be fine …
• <Dad> Who yuh meeting?
• <Me> People ….

Anyway for years I’ve heard about Hosay in St. James, but it was one of those things you learnt about in your Social Studies class, but no one I knew ever went to Hosay, especially as it was in “North”.

In a nutshell, Hosay is observed with a parade full of colorful tadjahs in commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussain (Hussein), the grandson of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the year 680 AD. There are 5 families in St. James that each make their own tadjah in their own idiosyncratic style.

Hosay parades take place in two Shiite communities in Trinidad: St. James, in the western section of Port-of-Spain, and Cedros, in the South. The colorful procession in St. James is the largest (five tadjahs) and draws thousands of spectators of all religions every year. The Shiites of St. James spend a considerable amount of time and money in the building of miniature temples (tadjahs, taziyas, hosays, mausoleums) with bamboo, wood, paper, and tinsel to depict the tomb of Hussain.

These tadjahs range in height from 10 to 30 feet and are hauled through the streets on parade days accompanied by the beating of drums (tassas) and two standards in the shape of half-moons, each carried separately on the shoulder of one man at a time. The half-moons (one red and one green) symbolize the deaths of both Hussain and his brother Hassan; red for the blood of Hussain that was shed at Karbala and green for the poisoning of Hassan, 11 years earlier. The drums and flags are symbolic of those used in wars in the 7^th century. (I’ve lifted the history and account can read from Best of Trinidad)

So back to the hunt, so armed with knowledge for our local expert Anisa, we went walking through St. James for all the other Tadjahs. Some tadjahs were already locked up behind bars, but with Anisa’s help, we were able to stroll around and walk into people’s yards to take pictures.

Anisa also explained the family history and the order of the tadjahs in the parades. It’s based on longevity as follows:

1. Panchayatee (Bay Road) Hosay – belonging to the entire Shiite community and located on Mathura Street (previously on Bay Road)
2. Ghulam Hussein Hosay – named after one of the local icons of Hosay and located on Western Main Road
3. Cocorite Hosay – belonging to the community of Cocorite at the western end of St. James
4. Balma Hosay – belonging to the Emamali family and located on Clarence Street;
5. Bisnath Hosay – belonging to the Bisnath family and located on Bournes Road.

Definitely enlightening to find out the process, the number of volunteers and the overall cost to upkeep this tradition. Each family raises money to build their particular Hosay – which is no mean feat in itself.

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: hosay, night, st james, tadjahs, trinidad

What do I do in Trinidad? Every post on Lonely Planet, Couchsurfing seems to ask this, when it comes to Trinidad. Aside from the ridiculously obvious ones … there is actually tons of things to do in Trinidad … but it would take the full year to do this list in Trinidad, since many festivals coincide with religious holidays.

This is my personal list of 100 things to do in Trinidad … building over time.

1. Have a piece of Trini KFC at the world’s busiest KFC restaurant in Independence Square, Port of Spain. (Beijing doesn’t compare …)
2. Go to South Trinidad to a little town called Debe (pronounced Day-bay) … and have one each of the following - ”doubles”, “aloo pie”, “saheena”, “baiganie”, all with slight pepper and wash it down with a freshly cut cold coconut.
3. Get video at night from Lady Young Lookout
4. Tour the Carib Brewery in Champ Fleurs
5. Go drinking in a traditional Trinidadian rumshop …
6. Have a cold coconut outside the Queens Park Savannah at 1am
7. Order Char Sue Kai Fan in a Chinese restaurant with tons of pepper.
8. Go to a traditional Parang Lime
9. ………………………………………….in Paramin
10. Attend a traditional Hindu wedding and eat your food off a washed Banana leaf
11. Driving through the Coconut trees on the Mayaro – Manzanilla stretch
12. Go see the view from Fort George
13. Then drive and see the view from Mount St. Benedict
14. Go birdwatching at the Wild Fowl Trust in Point-a-Pierre 
15. Then do some birdwatching at the Caroni Swamp & Bird Sanctuary
16. Turtle Watching in Grande Rivière (Mar-Aug)
17. More birdwatching at the Asa Wright Nature Centre
18. Take a trip “Down the islands”
19. Go bat watching at the Gasparee Caves
20. Have a “Bake and Shark” at Maracas Beach 
21. Play All Fours in a rumshop lime – note… Trinis do not play Dominoes
22. Go surfing at Toco
23. Make a footprint in the Pitch Lake
24. See the Sunset from the Temple in the Sea 
25. Hike to the two highest points in Trinidad : El Tuchuche and El Cerro del Aripo
26. Have a lunch picnic in Galera Point, Toco
27. Attend the Panorama Steel Pan finals (Carnival Season only)
28. Play Mud Mas
29. Tour the Angostura Distillery and learn about Angostura Bitters
30. Watch the West Indies cricket team play at the Queens Park Oval 
31. Have dinner with the Yachties
32. See the sunset from Naparima College 
33. Have a Christmas dinner with Ponche a Crème, Pastelles, Black Cake and Sorrel
34. Walk the entire length of the Brian Lara Promenade
35. Have breakfast at the Breakfast Shed
36. Take a picture at the Maracas Lookout and have some preserved Mango.
37. Cross the stage for Carnival
38. Play mas in Carnival Band
39. Go to a cooler fete
40. Go to an all inclusive fete , then another, and another
41. See Machel Montano perform
42. See David Rudder perform at the Normandie Hotel
43. Learn to wine!
44. Go see the Nylon Pool
45. Hike to the Paria Waterfalls
46. See the mud volcanoes in the Devil’s Woodyard in Hindustan
47. Learn to make deyas in Edinburgh Village, Chaguanas.
48. Go to a Chutney fete in Rienzi Complex, Couva
49. Attend a political rally – PNM, UNC, NAR,COP – doesn’t matter – same bullshit anyway – but entertaining nonsense.
50. Go to a Calypso tent.
51. Have drinks at Smokeys & Buntys
52. Go to Argyle Falls in Tobago 
53. Hosay in St James. There are 5 Hosay yards connected to the St. James observance, the Cocorite Hosay Yard, Bis (Bisnath) Yard, Balma Yard, Panchaiti Yard and the Ghulam Hussein-Ali Hosay Yard.
54. Phagwa in Saith Park, Chaguanas or Felicity.
55. Divali Nagar (City of Lights)
56. Midnight Doubles at the Doubles Factory in Aranguez
57. Visit the Dattatreya Mandir in Carapichaima.
58. Visit the Treveni Mandir in Hardbargain
59. Take picture in front Hardbargain village sign
60. Touch all four corners of Trinidad
    1. Toco (North East)
    2. Icacos Village (South West)
    3. Amoco Jetty – Guayaguayare (South-East)
    4. Tetron Base – Chaguaramas (North West)
61. Visit all the islands, “Down de Islands”
62. Go reef swimming off Little Tobago
63. Go “shopping” in the malls : Gulf City, West Mall, Valpark, Long Circular – note not made for North American, European or Arabic standards.
64. Go see the view at day and night from San Fernando Hill
65. Go to a Curry Duck lime and play some Windball Cricket
66. Head down to Manzanilla Bay for Ash Wednesday
67. Have dasheen parata roti at the Tobago Blue Food festival in Bloody Bay

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 10 fun things to do in trinidad, 10 must see items in trinidad, 100 things to do in Tobago, 100 things to do in Trinidad, at night, best 10 things to do in trinidad, best things to do in trinidad and tobago, day, day trips, fun things to do in trinidad, night, Ten-Essential-Things-to-Do-When-You-Visit-Trinidad-and-Tobago, things to do in trinidad, things to see in trindad, top 10 things to do in trinidad, what to do at night, what to do at night in Trinidad, what to do in Tobago, what to do in trinidad

In the newest and latest version of the Roti Ranking Scale … I’ve applied it to two restaurants that D and I ate at this weekend. Danforth Roti Shop and ACR Doubles and Roti in Toronto.

The first calibration of the scale was done based on factors described in the scale. BTW for those who think I have waaayyy too much time on my hands … my thinking was before I actually put out my critical thoughts on BlogTO and get absolutely slaughtered by a bunch of yee-haws and white people who never ate a good roti in their lives not too mention, those Trini refugees who want to support their “fam-a-lees” business and reputation.

My logic was that by creating a relatively objective scale, it would diffuse the hate mail I would get from the community when I posted a bad ranking, since Toronto is full of absolutely garbage roti and Guyanese/Jamaican/Bajans who buy Trinidadian made roti skins and use their own “Jerk Chicken”, “Island curry” etc. I mean Toronto is a place, where some joker actually tried to put “Thai Coconut Curry” into a roti … like WDMC?

Now how does this apply to Travel? Well, if one is going to Trinidad to eat real Roti … then one should have an objective travel tool to make your experience an optimal one, never mind the fact that 93.4% of all statistics and figures are 69.12% fallacious and 4.56% buffoonery.

Here are screenshots of the 77% roti ranking, I am going to confer on Danforth Roti Shop. Now to find some time over the weekend to write a proper review. Who said food writing was easy?

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: pepper, roti in toronto, roti review, Toronto, Toronto Roti Shop review, Toronto Roti Shop reviews, toronto roti shops, toronto’s best roti

This is such a common question, whether it be on Lonely Planet, Couchsurfing or any other of the travel forums and travel sites I know. Personally, I would always take the plane instead of the ferry, even for the cost conscious backpacker, you will find that it is a better experience. The waters between Trinidad and Tobago are fairly rocky and depending on the weather conditions, you could be in for a fairly rocky ride…. have your Imodium on hand!! You could also be lucky and have calm seas…. the point is that you should keep abreast of the local weather conditions.

1. Plane :

This is the much faster way of getting from one island to the other. Booking tickets can be done online at http://www.caribbean-airlines.com/

Tobago Express was a scheduled passenger airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. It operated as a sister airline of Caribbean Airlines. Caribbean Airlines is now the main airline which operates the essential “air-bridge” between the Crown Point International Airport located in Tobago and Piarco International Airport located in Trinidad
One way flights as of June 2009 range from 24$USD to 50$USD for a one way flight. Booking online is the easiest way to get this and you get an e-ticket for boarding.

You should book your flights one day in advance, and there is very little chance of a sellout, unless it is a holiday weekend in Trinidad. Then you should book a couple days in advance. There is no standby fare that I know of, but then again those rules could change in the future.

2. Ferry:

The duration of the voyage between Trinidad and Tobago is approximately 2½ hrs (fast ferry) to 5½ hours (conventional ferry). The ferry schedule is here http://www.patnt.com/ferry_schedule.shtml

Tickets are sold:

• GSS Terminal Office, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Trinidad
• Tobago Terminal Office, Scarborough, Tobago
• TTPost Outlets (City Gate, Tunapuna, Trincity Mall, Carlton Centre, Chaguanas, Siparia, Princess Town, Sangre Grande, Bon Accord – Tobago)

Important Guidelines
• All motor vehicles must be delivered three (3) hours before sailing.
• All foot passengers must check in two (2) hours before sailing.
• Check-in will be closed off 30 minutes prior to the sailing to ensure that the vessel departs on time.
• Photo ID must be presented prior to boarding vessel.
• Passengers will not be allowed to disembark the vessel after boarding.
• Flammable items such as liquid petroleum tanks, cooking gas tanks and oxygen tanks will not be allowed on board the vessel.
• The use of radios or tapes is prohibited on the vessel.
• Sailing schedules are subject to change without prior notice.
• Vessels assigned to the ferry service are interchangeable without notice at the authority’s discretion.

The Domestic Ferry Service is operated by the T&T Port Authority, providing transport for passengers, vehicles and cargo. Services include dining and bars.

The prices along with rules and regulations for the ferry can change without notice when this page was compiled.

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 20-05-2009, air caribbean shuttle service, blogsherpa, ferry tickets to Tobago, ferry Trinidad to Tobago, How to get from Trinidad to Tobago, How to get to Tobgo from Trinidad, How To Travel Between Tobago and Trinidad, How To Travel Between Trinidad and Tobago, plane tickets to Tobago, plane Trinidad to Tobago, Tobago ferry, Trinidad and Tobago ferry, Trinidad and Tobago ferry service, Trinidad and Tobago inter island ferry, Trinidad and Tobago inter island planes, Trinidad and Tobago plane service, Trinidad and Tobago planes

As the third and final day started up, we had decided that at the Hilton (the previous night, where we paid about 700.00$ TT for a pretty crappy dinner, considering the price, although it must be said that we decided to hit the Hilton very very late on Sunday night.), we would rise very early in the morning and start our day from about 7.30am.To even my surprise, Tara and I woke up pretty early and went straight to the beach. The plan for today was that we would get to the beach early, have breakfast, buy tickets for the Buccoo Reef tour and head to Pigeon Point again. So we went straight from the guest house to Store Bay and hit the water early. Of course, the usual scene, jump in the car, hit the beach. Nothing to different there!At about 9am or so (since one tends to lose track of time in the islands, although Tara was quite curious about my ability to tell time by the sun, or how bright it looked. I was usually within 15 mins of the actual time, just by sight of the sun), we headed for breakfast. At Store Bay, there are quite a couple of breakfast sheds, and the usual beach breakfast consists of “Fried Bake and Something”.

Fried Bake for anyone, who hasnt had this heart clogging start to a morning, is basically flour fried in oil,there is no simpler definition of this. It is meant to be eaten like bread. Hence the “Something” is usually SaltFish (Buljol) /Smoked Herring/Tomatoes Choka or some “Choka” derivative (Meaning tons of chopped onions, garlic, cilantro, salt are tossed in).

Buljol derived from the French words “Brule” which means burnt and refers to the pepper in this recipe (since the dish is served at room temperature or cold), and “geule” which is the slang for mouth.

So my breakfast was Bake and Buljol, while Tara had Bake and Smoked Herring, of course with some fresh OJ. I had to douse my Bake with tons of Pepper sauce though, since this was food made for Tourists (!)

After Breakfast, we headed back to the beach for another dip and really to wait for the Glass Bottomed Boat and the Buccoo Reef and Nylon Pool tour. So once we got on the boat, the water is really very, very clear

I cant really describe the tour and what was said, since our tour guide wasnt really much a tour guide, besides a couple corny jokes, and some basic facts about the types of coral that there were in the reef. It is startling to know though that from the last couple times, I have been to the reef, it looks like the reef is really dying, but that is just to my eye!

This is one time, where blogging or anything else, cannot begin to capture how clear the water was. It was clearer than a pool,IMHO. Just a great day to see the water.

Teh tour itself took about 2 hours in total, and of course by the time we came off the boat, it was close to 1.30pm. So we didnt have time to really hit Pigeon Point again, which was kinda sad in a way. So instead, we did the next best thing.

We left the beach, and headed for lunch. Of course, it was the usual Baked Chicken and Pork for me, with rice, salad and a Peardrax. Tara had something similar. Then it was back to the guest house. Shower and then headed back to the Car Rental agency.

Upon dropping the car off, (which BTW was now 2 hours late and dirty with Sand – but of course, there was no charge), the agency guy offered to drive us to the airport. This would be a normal request, except when the airport is literally 300 metres away from the agency, it seemed quite dumb to take up his request.

So we walked to the airport, checked in, at the one gate and then headed back to Trinidad – which takes 15 mins via plane.

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2006. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: buccoo reef, coral reef in tobago, nylon pool, nylon pool in tobago, nylon pool tobago

It was such a long day that I had to actually break up the blog into two separate parts. After the waterfalls, our guide told us to go on side road to get to the Roxborough-Parlatuvier Road. This road goes through the Tobago Forest Reserve and is definitely a very scenic drive. Tobago’s well preserved forested central mountain range is the oldest protected nature reserve in the western hemisphere. It was declared a reserve in 1764 shortly after the island fell under British rule. It is the only forest protected specifically to preserve the watershed.

After a long drive through the protected reserve, where we go out for a pic at the Bloody Bay lookout and then we were persuaded by a vendor there to give a ride home to Bloody Bay, she was quite nice and gave us some history of the area while we were driving her. The drive going down that road was pretty, not amazing due to the lack of light from the mountains and tree canopy. We stopped off at Bloody Bay for a dip. IT was getting to be late evening but the water was great as usual. The tide was coming in and the water was getting a little rougher but we didn’t really care.

The sunlight in the pictures tends to give a bit more substance, but for me, it just felt like home 

Travel tip: When driving down by the beaches, always have snacks with you. The sea air makes you hungry almost all the time and have some moisturizing cream since the air tends to dry your skin out.

But from there we went on to Englishman’s Bay, and this was quite a highlight for us. The following pictures in reality are even more amazing than they look and upon leaving the Bay and going up the mountain, the beaches look even more inviting than they were.

Now while leaving the Bays, I thought to myself, why don’t we just to make a quick dip in Castara Bay, since it was on the map and on the way back home. Well, we drove on main road until there was a fork in the road, and of course we took the logical path… THE WRONG ONE!

We ended up almost in someone’s backyard with some madman who had a cutlass, calmly sitting in the middle of the road. This is a quite steep road mind you, and the poor Nissan Almera we had was struggling with the slope. Thankfully, someone pointed out that we indeed on the right path but we had taken a shortcut!

Aha!

My fellow travelers were screaming at me for directing them down the wrong path, but little did they know, I was just testing them…. Right!!!!?

We drove and drove, through Castara, Runnymede, Moriah, Les Coteaux to Plymouth and basically straight down to Scarborough.

But the roads traveled here are beautiful and for me, just watching the winding roads into the mountains filled me with quite a sense of wonder.

Pretty much after all this adventure driving, and a lot of misdirection, we did end getting back to the main highway. The goal was really to hit Pigeon Pt again for us, but due to the timing we couldn’t make the beach.

Of course at this time, Gary still had not checked into his hotel (remember we picked him directly from the airport and then went driving), so we proceeded to drop Gary off at his hotel. Upon arrival at his hotel, Gary was shocked to see the room, and I think these have to be the only Indian people who own a hotel in Tobago who had Satsang (Hindu prayer sessions) on a Sunday evening. The air was permeated by the scents of incense and sandalwood. Quite the shock to Gary though. Anyway he retired for a shower and nap till dinner later.

Tara and I, went back to the guesthotel to eat KFC and pepper sauce by the pool while drinking a couple Sorrel Shandys. If you have never had a Sorrel Shandy, you are soooo missing out, you have to get to Trinidad to have a cold one on the beach, truly one of life’s little pleasures.

After we showered and rested up, we decided to go to the Tobago Hilton for dinner. Of course, we could have had a nice dinner on the road but we decided we would be upscale and try an upscale place in Tobago.

The Tobago Hilton is located on an old Sugar Plantation and it is quite long drive from the main road to the Hotel, which of course has its own private beach mind you.

This is description of the Hotel from the website

The hotel is located on a 20-acre tropical beachfront, 2.5 miles east of Crown Point International Airport. The hotel overlooks Tobago Plantations’ 18-hole PGA-designed golf course. Features include two world-class tennis courts, three outdoor swimming pools, a fitness centre with sauna, a full-service spa facility, a popularly priced restaurant, a fine dining room and three bar/lounges. A ballroom (4,675 square feet) and two small meeting rooms (825 square feet each)

are available.

Pretty much fits the bill, so we went to the Plantation Room for dinner. Well once again, it doesn’t matter where you go in Tobago, the service will be bad. The service was not as horrible as Dillon’s ( then again nothing will be as horrible as Dillon’s) and we were the last diners that night, so I am sure the servers were tired from a long day on a Sunday, so I can excuse some of that, but once again the service reflected the overall nonchalance towards service. I know that Trinis don’t like tourists, but we are generally friendly towards them, in Tobago for an island where tourism is the main industry, it always surprises me how shitty the service in most places can be.

Even in our guest house, the initial service was quite poor, but as the manager explained, the person was new and being trained. The manager at our guesthouse was excellent and indeed made our stay a lot more enjoyable. Arthur’s By The Sea is a small hotel located very close to the airport and within 4 minute walk of both Store Bay and Pigeon Point.

© rishiray for Rishi Sankar: Ah Trini Travelogue / Ah Trini Traveller, 2006. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Arthur's by the Sea, bloody bay, castara, Dillon's in Tobago, englishman's bay, what beaches are in Tobago