• Charlotteville appears indeed as “Pearl-of-Tobago”, embedded in tropical rainforest with beautiful beaches
• The local rain forest reserve is the oldest forest reserve in the western hemisphere!
• The village of Charlotteville has a charming rural atmosphere, with about 1000 inhabitants. We stayed there for two weeks in October 2006.
• You can reach Charlotteville by public bus from Scarborough (8 TT$ one way, i.e. 1.5 US$) or by taxi (one way ca. 300-350 TT$, i.e. 40-50 US$). Riding a public bus is fascinating - the drivers go as fast as possible with their “vehicles” even in unclear situation
. Get tickets at the central bus station (Scarborough) or in the small super market (Charlotteville). Be prepared that buses run more or less in time, some of them had 1h delay (by means of “relax’an’take’teasyyy”).• Take a look at the local fishing company of Charlotteville (dissection, preparing and packing of fish). You can see the important economic value of fresh sea fruit on Tobago. Before you make photos of this busy place one should ask the workers.
• In Charlotteville, one can easily go for snorkeling to a coral reef (e.g. get to the beach of Pirate’s Bay just a 20min walk from the village “centre” along the coast).
• For having a good dinner, enjoy Kingfish, Red Snapper or Chicken with a honey-coconut sauce for 130 TT$/two persons in Jane’s beach restaurant (bring your own beer!). Do not expect a menu card or drinking glasses – take a seat and rely on the big boss (we got the impression that Jane, the cook, is the real boss and not her husband...)
• Try “Golden Apple” from the small shops near the peer (we haven’t seen this peach-like fruit in central Europe before). Very tasty!
Where did we stay:
We stayed 12 nights in the Top River Pearl, just 3min by foot up hill in Charlotteville. Excellent apartment (bedroom with cooking facility and shower/toilette) including a private balcony. One apartment costs 50-60 US$ per night. We enjoyed the kind service (managed by Lisa; cheers hereby again to Lisa & the Top-River-Pearl staff!). Top River Pearl has also a Cappuccino Bar, where Italian coffee is served (yeah, made with the typical Italian aluminum steam “volcano” machines!). Also available is freshly prepared fruit juice and breakfast/light lunch (however, the Cappu Bar is not opened on Sundays).
For us as Europeans, it was also spectacular to see fruit bats hanging at the roof of Top River Pearl. We observed the flight behavior of the bats during sunset (they show a perfect ultra-wave echo orientation!). They are not (NOT) aggressive, hence, one mustn’t be afraid of them: we did several digital-photos of them while hanging above us!
Nature tours:
During our holidays, we have done two guided tours:
• Tropical Rainforest Tour. Ask manager Lisa of Top River Pearl for Shedrach (“Shaddy”). He is a good guide to learn about diversity of flora and fauna of Tobago (he takes ca. 100 TT$ per person per tour). We have done a 5h (five hours) tour from 6.30 in the morning to noon by foot up to the forest. Bring appropriate walking boots, binocular, at least 2L of water/person and good health condition (i.e. one should already be adapted to tropical climate). Hence, you shouldn’t have a “hang-over” from the last night
. On that tour, we have observed hummingbirds, parrots, calling tree frogs, fantastic tropical vegetation & diverse bromeliad plants hanging from trees (“epiphytes”) and – we have eaten freshly cut sugar cane. On another tour, we saw an unbelievable large butterfly (about 30cm wing span; no joke!) near the steps going down to Pirate’s Bay.• Snorkeling Tour with a boat. Ask Courtis from the Internet hut opposed to the gasoline station. He took us for 3h to Man-O-War-Bay and next to Pirate’s Bay (about 20-30 US$ per person, depending on the number of people in the boat). Get photos of “London-Bridge” (a bizarre rock cliff) and enjoy the feeding behavior of boobies & fregatte birds, the swimming sea turtles, the jumping dolphins, and the colorful fish fauna in the reefs. Moreover, at London-Bridge we saw a big eagle among the other sea birds (the bird’s silhouette appeared as typical raptor and had at least 2m wing span, presumably this species breeds on London Bridge). All in all, it was an unforgettable tour! Some people told us that one may even see the 2-3m big Manta rays (table-big relatives of very flat sharks) gliding through the reef. We missed these animals, unfortunately ;-(
Some further infos:
• Buy some Caribbean rum or Stag beer in the liquor bar of Madame Tanti and have a rest in her bar (everybody knows Tanti in the village). Her shop is situated just behind the gasoline station, and it is really worth a visit. She is doing her job since more than 20 years, each day being surrounded by local fishing men. This might explain why Madame Tanti is a highly respected person in Charlotteville
. Just take a look!• As expected, the only two public telephone cabins in Charlotteville were broken. Locals prefer cell phone. Home contact of international visitors can be made by email from the Internet hut of Courtis (or by international operating cell phones).
• Some travel books report that there is no cash machine in Charlotteville. However, there is a functioning ATM near the public library (it was not opened on Sundays).
• Visit Charlotteville’s public library and have a look at the book “The Birds of the West Indies”. This is a fantastic document, because the author of the book is JAMES BOND (no joke!). The name of this scientist inspired Sir Fleming to entitle his 007 gentlemen also as “James Bond” (as far as we know Sir Fleming was also interested in bird-watching).
• We enjoyed the contrasting music culture in Charlotteville: the hours-long Methodist church singing, the drum-and-steal blast of private houses, and reggae music mixed with perfect guitar percussion. We got all these impressions on “our” balcony at Top River Pearl. Nevertheless, at night Top River Pearl was a quite and calm place except some mossis in the room (you can ask the service staff for a mosquito net).
• Whereto with all of the glass bottles and water containers we have bought? Poverty seems high on Tobago – hence, we put all empty glass bottles & 5L water containers BESIDE the garbage bin (we got this hint by staff of the Top River Pearl). People collect these items to get a bit of money.
• Motorcycling on Tobago: In fact, we were surprised that there is nearly no motorcycle traffic on the island. The actual reason why Tobagonians do not use motorcycles remains open.
• For Europeans it could be reasonable to bring some pharmaceutical (electrolytic) salt powder (for dilution in drinking water, in scientific terms something like “Ringer” ingredients with lactic acid). Be aware of the tropical climate and circulation disturbances if the body gets “over-heated” (particularly when going on nature tours during noon/afternoon).
I said Tobago---I meant C'ville
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