King David Tours
Reviewed in March 2006 by Jill Wooler
King David, a friendly and well-informed local man from Castara, is well-known for his fascinating tours. Whether you desire a boat trip around Tobago’s beautiful coastline and a barbeque on the beach; or whether you prefer to stay on dry land and experience a bird watching and nature tour, King David should be high on your list if you are staying in the Castara or north-Caribbean coast area. He is a knowledgeable guide, highly professional and his local knowledge of the seas and forests of Tobago is very impressive.
Steve and I were delighted to be invited on one of King David’s three-hour nature tours through some of Tobago’s secondary bush. The area we were about to explore is immediately behind Englishman’s Bay, just below Tobago’s Main Ridge Forest. We would be accompanied by two English visitors to Tobago, our friend Sue, and Zell, a delightful and enthusiastic local girl who works for King David and was keen to learn more of his skills in birding and identifying the local flora and fauna.
Steve and I had arranged to meet everyone in Castara at 9.30 am. This was much later than usual for bird-watching tours, but this was a general nature/bird-watching trek and the two of us had had to travel up from the Lowlands where we were staying. In two vehicles, with King David and Zell driving, we soon arrived at the start of the trail behind Englishman’s Bay. After being provided with a set of essential binoculars – extremely thoughtful of King David as we had not brought our own - we set off along the trail at about 10am.
Before we started on our way, I had three pre-conceived ideas about the tour. The first was that it could be hot and tiring, the second was that it would involve scrambling over some extremely challenging terrain, and the third was that we probably wouldn’t see many birds as it was too late in the day. I was WRONG. The trail was shady and cool under the trees with a refreshing breeze, the grassy track was very easy to negotiate, and, almost immediately, we were to hear a series of rising, high-pitched bird calls. King David has a distinct advantage over us in that he can recognise most birds by their calls and knows when to keep silent and start looking out. Listening intently to the calls, he soon spotted the first of many beautiful and colourful birds we would see on that day – the Rufous-tailed Jacamar. Resembling a large humming-bird, the Jacamar has a bright, iridescent plumage, long slim tail and long, penetrating bill. His upper-parts are glowing bronze-green and the under-parts are reddish in colour. The males have white throats; the females, a more muted buff-colour.
Further along the trail, a deep muffled hoot heralded the arrival of the first of several Blue-Crowned Mot-Mots we were to see that day. Known locally as King of the Woods for his largesize and striking plumage, he was perched on a low branch in the deep shadow of the forest undergrowth. With his distinctive long, blue ‘racquet tipped’ tail, bright green and reddish under-parts, black crown surrounded by turquoise, and black bill, he was an unforgettable sight. When he was shortly joined by about three other Mot-Mots, we felt that we had been especially privileged on that day.
We were all quick to realise that it would be a rare thing for King David, leading us along the track, to miss anything – a bird call, a red squirrel, a colourful bird, a hawk hovering in the sky, an unusual tree or plant- but if he did Zell, following behind, would be sure to spot it and make sure that we didn’t miss anything. She was extremely knowledgeable about the plants, herbs and trees that we passed along the trail, explaining which fruits and berries were safe to eat, which were poisonous. She also told us of the herbs and plants known, by the locals, for their medicinal qualities.
As we continued along the trail, we were lucky enough to see a variety of bird called the Palm Tanager which is common on Trinidad but has also been discovered more recently on Tobago. Closely related to the lovely Blue-Gray Tanager, it is olive green with a yellowish crown and wing-tips and forages for food amongst the palm trees. We also saw several species of hummingbirds, from the common Copper-rumped Hummingbird with its bright plumage of iridescent green with coppery bronze on the lower back, to the beautiful Ruby-topaz Hummingbird - a dark reddish-brown colour tinged with green, with the head a brilliant scarlet, and the throat and breast of gleaming gold.
Another interesting species of bird that we were lucky enough to see was the White-bearded Manakin, which usually lives in deep forests but is sometimes found in cultivated areas with thick undergrowth. The male is mainly black and grey with orange legs and has a distinctive white ruff, and the female is, as usual, far more inconspicuous being a dull olive green.
This review is not a bird-watching guide so I have not written in detail about all the different species of bird we saw on that day. The unusual and varied plants, herbs and trees that we saw in abundance are too numerous to mention. What I have tried to describe is how much Steve and I enjoyed our tour with King David and Zell. It was a perfect way to spend a glorious tropical morning, exploring an area of Tobago’s lush and beautiful secondary bush in the company of such friendly people and, at the end of the tour, experiencing the most stunning views of Englishman’s Bay from a high look-out point on the trail.
Contact Information
General questions and reports about this service should be posted in the forum. Please contact the firm direct for information about prices and availability.
King David Tours
Castara
Tobago
West Indies
Telephone: (868) 660-7906
Email: email now
Website: www.kingdavidtobago.com
