Stunning little Tobago

If Barbados hides her beauty well, Tobago positively shows her’s off and it was love at first sight! This little island near the bottom of the Caribbean chain has dramatic rainforest right down to it’s edges. The people are so warm and friendly and we had whole anchorages to ourselves with only diving pelicans for neighbours.

Apparently Trinidad and Tobago were once part of the South American continent and so have around 210 species of nesting birds – we saw motmots, parrots, pelicans, cormorants, boobies, tropic birds, frigates, gannets, hummingbirds and the brilliantly named yellow breasted bananaquit! We also had many dolphin visits and caught a rather scary looking Barracuda!

We were in Tobago for New Year’s Eve – unfortunately due to a little bit of miscommunication we ended up motor sailing into a huge sea against the tide and wind to get to a little bay on the east coast with both P & I thinking the other person was desperate to go there. Oh well we had a lovely bay all to ourselves and celebrated on Blue Zulu with fizz, fresh lobster and a family dance party! Although in bed before the required time, we even enjoyed some local hotel fireworks from our cabin hatch.

With the exception of the busy and touristy Store Bay, the rest of Tobago had a very laid-back feel – we bought fresh fruit from local’s gardens and ate coconuts from the trees, the kids made dens from palm fronds on the beach and jewellery out of bamboo. We explored the wonders of the spectacular rainforest and even swam in waterfalls.

It was a difficult place to leave.

Top Tips:

• we anchored in Englishman’s Bay and had the whole place to ourselves (except for a bride & groom having photos on the beach!) – you may need a stern anchor for the swell
• Hire a car and drive down the middle road across the island through the rainforest – breathtaking!
• Argyle Waterfalls are well worth an explore – go under the waterfall!