Your guide to Tobago
WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT TOBAGO?
So much more than simply another Caribbean island in the sun, Tobago offers a wealth of reasons to escape winter in Britain. Little sister to Trinidad and, thankfully, still relatively untouched by developers’ claws, the island is home to picture-perfect beaches, pristine coral reefs, and an abundance of flora and fauna — as well as the oldest protected rainforest in the western hemisphere.
Tobago, which takes its name from the Carib word tavaco (originally meaning a pipe, then tobacco) also has shack-loads of charm.
The ease and pace of Tobagonian life hits you the minute you step off the plane and snake slowly towards immigration — a tiny, scruffy two-roomed affair, utterly unprepared for the arrival of a jumbo jet. Yet, sedately, officials rubber-stamp 400 passports, endearingly greeting each traveller with a grin.
The dimensions of Tobago, 41 km long and 12 km wide, are uncannily close to those of the Isle of Wight. But Tobago has the advantage of lying just 11 degrees north of the equator. The island has the Caribbean Sea on its leeward (western) side and the Atlantic Ocean on its windward (eastern) shores. And very different they are, too.
HOW SO?
The limestone plateau of the south-west tip is the most heavily developed part of Tobago. It is home to the larger resort hotels, with spas and golf courses. One reason for this is that it is significantly warmer and less windy than the north-east. It also has beaches that go on forever.
Far less populated, remote and barely touched by time, the north-east end features a series of secluded bays that are constantly buffeted by trade winds. Many birds lay claim not just to the sandy shores, but to a hinterland of dense, dripping rainforest, and so ornithologists converge here, and many catch the first boat to Little Tobago — a sea-bird sanctuary since 1924. The island is 2.5 km north-east of Speyside, with an area of just one square kilometre, and is the playground of the red-billed tropic bird, the magnificent frigate bird, and boobies and terns.
NEED A BEACH
Tobago has more than just golden beaches — its sand can be either ochre or honey-coloured or white. Relaxing on a beach — or elsewhere in Tobago — is called “liming” and is a national preoccupation most foreign visitors manage to emulate.
You could begin your initiation at Pirate’s Bay, a yellow horseshoe lapped by emerald waters, against a backdrop of ferns and trees. Or, on the windward side, Batteaux Bay, where you can swim beneath pelicans diving dramatically for their supper. There is some movie interest, too. On the horizon and below the rocky hills of tiny Goat Island sits one solitary building: the hurricane retreat of Ian Fleming.
The creator of James Bond would go there (Tobago is just outside the hurricane belt) when he desired to be neither shaken nor stirred.
belfasttelegraph.co.uk
©2003-2004 Trinidad Publishing Company Limited
Designed by: Randall Rajkumar-Maharaj · Updated daily by: Sheahan Farrell
