Trip Report

[Bill B]

Finally got my act together, got our pictures organized and online, and found time to do a trip report.

LODGING

Mary Lou and I spent four days in Castara at Alibabas Seabreeze and one week at Sandy Point Beach Club in Crown Point. As I posted in reviews earlier both of these places were clean, comfortable and lived up to the expectations we had. Both are charming in a true Caribbean sense, are not fancy or glitzy and offer an opportunity to have a truly enjoyable vacation.

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RESTAURANTS

In Castara we ate all four of our dinners at the Boathouse. The food was excellent, the prices reasonable, and the hospitality from Sharon & Breton exceptional. With all this going for it we felt that since they were at our doorstep there was no need to make the long trek up to the main road and then back down to the other restaurants in the main bay (and then in reverse to return) in the dark. We had lunch at Cas Creole (good food but a little pricey for what you got), D’Almond (very good and reasonably priced) and L&H which was as basic as it gets (over the small food shop) but in our opinion the tastiest lunch and friendliest service at a very reasonable price. We tried to have lunch at The Café Delight located at The Naturalist Resort but were waited on by a women with a very negative attitude and found that as we asked for various items on the menu that they were not available. Finally we just finished our peanut punch (a very good tasting smoothie) and left. It’s a real shame as the location right on the beach and the beautiful décor should make them one of the better places to eat but in talking to a lot of other people it appears that this is the norm for this establishment.

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At Sandy Point we ate three dinners at the resort and as I previously reported the food was good, and although the price a little high, the convenience and the setting overlooking the beach and water made it worthwhile. Two dinners at Bonkers (located in The Toucan Inn) were exceptional. The food was excellent, the service friendly and professional and the ambience was great. The pricing was very reasonable for the overall quality. Two dinners (fresh tuna and mahi-mahi), two Caribs and a double strength rum punch (no way Mary Lou could have handled a second), one cheesecake for desert, tax and service included $249TT ($42US).

One afternoon we took the bus into Scarborough and went to the Salsa Kitchen for dinner and enjoyed the best meal we had on the island. They serve tapas and everything is made to order. We had met the owners Paula & Iain and their charming daughter Ivana at the beach in Castara the previous week and when they told us about their establishment we decided that we would visit them while in Crown Point.

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Lunches were at various beach bars and Roti stands at Store Bay and Mt. Irvine and all quite reasonable and tasty.

TOURS

We did an off road tour with Brian “Alibaba” Taylor accompanied by the infamous David Watkins. In a previous posting that David made, and I replied to, we all concurred that the trip was extraordinary; one of the real highlights of our vacation. We would highly recommend Alibaba for a great time.

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We also took a day sail on Island Girl owned by Scott Clarke and feel that of the 8 or 9 trips we have taken over the years that this was the best. The boat is immaculate, the crew friendly and helpful and the fresh grilled lunch fantastic. Again, we would highly recommend this trip.

PEOPLE

Met a lot of great people, both islanders and visitors. A special hello to David Watkins, Brian “Alibaba” and Steph Taylor, Sharon and Breton Taylor, Johanna and Pasi from Finland and to anyone else we may have met who reads these pages.

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The last time we were in Tobago Mary Lou had a pair of sandals custom made by a gentleman in one of the kiosks at Store Bay and eventually, due to the fact that she wore them constantly, they wore out. She hoped that he was still in business and sure enough he was. She now has a new pair and when she wears through these I guess a return trip will be in order.

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PICTURES

Purchased a digital camera for this vacation and had a lot of fun learning it on the fly. My efforts are online at http://billbrunner.myphotoalbum.com/ for anybody who’s interested.

Bill B

[CaroleW]

Beautiful pictures Bill, brought back many happy memories from last May, hopefully i'll be going back again this year

[Roland Siebenhorn]

Thanks for sharing your pictures with us, Bill! (And another thanks for getting an inkling of Mr. Watkins.... )

[Johanna Y.]

Bill,

Beautiful pictures you've got there...and funny too. I had almost forgotten how David tried to seduce your wife . Thank you for brightening my Monday (I hate Mondays, who doesn't?)in this dark freezing country. I miss the sun, people and the nature so much. That's the heart of Tobago.

Johanna

[David Watkins]

Me, a seducer! It must have been my double!!!!!!!!
David

[Tony G]

Hi Bill

We arrived back in cold, colour-washed Uk on Feb 8 after two wonderful weeks in Castara. Staying in Toad Hall, ( or Steve and Rita's place as it is known locally ) we alternated between the restaurants.

We didn't keep a close check on the difference in prices as all dinners came in at less than TT$100 each. We ate fish most evenings, the best being served up at Cascreole, ( we had a wedding supper there of kingfish cooked by Lawrence Williams , who came in especially on request, which was terrific). Debbie who usually cooks in the evenings was always friendly and made us feel very welcome.

At Vera's we ate fish of the day or vegetarian, usually followed by chocolate cake, home-made ice-cream and coffee and then had great trouble hauling our overstuffed bodies up the hill to sit on our verandah and chill out to the sound of toads and tree frogs and to watch the bats.

I agree about Cafe Delight. We had the same experience. What a shame that a place in such a lovely location should have such a negative attitude to it's customers.

We ate at Marguerites once and though we had nothing to complain about ( the home-made lemonade was delicious ) and the food was a little cheaper than in other establishments, we found it a bit bland.

At the Boathouse we also had good food and were made to feel very welcome by Sharon and Brenton. The first meal we had there was curried Bonito and this almost put off our party of three from returning. It was not good. But we gave the Boathouse the benefit of the doubt and returned. Apart from that one occasion we enjoyed everything that we ordered.

Anyone planning on staying in Castara will realise pretty quickly that that the resaurants serve good basic meals, the choices usually being fish, goat, chicken or veggie ( some times also pork and beef ). What more could a person need?

I wish I was there now.

Tony ( + Janette and Paul )

[Bill B]

Thank you all for your comments.

I have to agree with Tony, "I wish I was there now." And no snide remarks now from you, Mister Watkins we all know you are there and soaking up all that sunshine and Carib.

Bill

[Marc Jones]

Certainly helped get me even more excited about my forthcoming stay at Alibaba's!

Many thanks for the reports and pix!