Tobago in English

Well! Gaston has hidden my books so that I would start writing on the blog again! I can’t help it... it’s hard to put down a good thriller! So if you remember my last text (which I doubt since I don’t remember it myself!) the last time I wrote we were in Trinidad. I think I had pretty much said all there was to say about our stay there except mention that the dentists we visited to take care of Gaston’s painful tooth, Dr Pembrook from the Seven day Adventist hospital and Dr. Scipio, surgeon, and their teams were very professional and welcoming. When Gaston woke up from the surgery without the tooth, he thought it hadn’t started yet.

So we are now in Tobago. Well not really since I’m writing from Carriacou. I mean as far as the text is concern. Let me refresh your memory again by saying that we first arrived in Tobago after leaving the French Guyana. Then we went to Trinidad, and back to Tobago. On the first visit from August 13th to the 20th, we stopped at Scarborough to take care of the entry paperwork. We didn’t quite enjoy this stop because there is very little space to anchor and it’s very easy to end up in the way of the very big ferry which travels between both islands. The town is also strangely organized and there wasn’t much happening there. So after one short night, we left and headed to Store bay. Quite a few boats that were with us in Brazil and in the French Guyana showed up on the horizon a couple of days later. Some of these were: Grainedo, Ercolausa, Eileen of Avocat and Tinga. It was an absolute delight to find ourselves in clear water again. The anchor had barely touched the sand, the position report had not yet been sent and I was already underwater. A remora had chosen to reside under our boat. After a few days of playing hide a seek whit it, I named it Rex. What? I get my fun however I can! We spend a lot of time snorkeling on either side of the bay. Many many different types of fishes including some French Angels where swimming around the coral. Too bad we don’t have an underwater camera or we would have many pictures to share. The rest of the time was spent with the crews from the other boats with our butts in the sand and a beer in our hand at the beach or enjoying a roti in a restaurant. In fact, after ordering this Indian dish in many different places on both islands, we have to say that the best we found was

at «Colors» close to the beach. Even if there is a lot of tourist in this bay, it is relatively quiet. Except for Sunday were a DJ screams over his already loud music at the beach bar. We also saw a motor boat race. The night before big cursers (which I call wedding cakes) started appearing on the horizon in the direction of Trinidad and took over the bay. Some anchors ended

up mingled together. The party lasted all weekend but again, except for one boat, the music was kept at a reasonable level. Maybe they were keeping quiet because the country had declared a state of emergency. We had a bit of difficulty sizing the people here. They didn’t smile much, didn’t speak much and did so very quietly. We spent most of our time saying: «Sorry?». After wondering if it was a dislike of tourist and observing them for a few days, we realized that they act the same among themselves. They are polite and helpful but not very friendly. Another interesting fact is that it’s easier to get food or other necessities here than in Scarborough or in Charlotteville which are supposed to be the two biggest towns. Probably because of its tourist vocation.

When we came back from Trinidad, we landed in Charlotteville on November 10th. I feel like I shouldn’t speak too much of this place because if I had to choose my paradise, it would look something like this bay and one of the reasons is the lack of tourists, boats and pollution. We don’t all have the same definition of paradise; mine is a big quiet bay where

you can go snorkeling only a few breast strokes away from the boat and you can scuba dive from the dinghy. In the small fisherman’s town, the local bar serves ice cold beer even on the hottest day. The fishermen come to the boat to offer fresh fish and lobster. In the forest around the bay I can see flying over head Amazon parrots. There is a public library for books and Wi-fi but no malls or movie theaters. It’s peace and quiet! If action is needed, there is always the tourist beach south of the island. But shuuttt! All of this is our secret! We did a few dives with our new friends from Trinidad; Nathalie and Eric from the boat «E pur si muove» before they headed for Martinique. They are French, not Italian. The phrase is the last one Galileo pronounced before going to jail: «and yet it turns». Then we went to Batteaux bay where we hired the service of the local diving center to do a couple of dives around Little Tobago. We couldn’t do those on our own since they are drift dives and require that someone follow us with the boat. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of different fishes and corals we saw while diving in Tobago. However, the first nurse shark I saw was while snorkeling close to the boat. My first reaction was to swim away but when I saw it wasn’t moving, I went for a closer look. I tend to be scared of all shark, like everybody who saw “Jaws” as a kid but these are quite inoffensive and interesting to observe (even if they don’t move much). This bay although it is beautiful, it is not very well protected since it is on the east side of the Island. So after a change in weather, we headed back to Charlotteville. We then went back to Store bay to buy some food while stopping in other smaller bays on the way. We didn’t find them to be very interesting so we were in Store bay the next day. After having filled up on food, gone back to Charlotteville and found the customs and immigration officers (They are not often at their desk. Home or the football field is a good place to find them), we left Tobago to head for Grenada on December 7th with a bit of a heavy heart.

Now go check out the pictures at: http://bidule.micro.org/Bidule/TT.html.