Changes

[Martin Jay]

We're here in Tobago until Friday - my seventh time since 2002. Seems the pace of change is picking up, since my last visit in November 2010 I've noticed:

The fishermen by Mount Irvine bay are no longer allowed to sell their catch by the road - now only from the purpose built building with stainless steel tables, fresh water and ice to keep fish fresh. I saw an 'official' shouting at the fishermen to keep the fish on ice - I can understand the hygiene improvement but it's a shame nonetheless.

The apparent demise of the wonderful Grafton House bird sanctuary and associated trails, unless I'm mistaken it looks like the money to keep it going has run out?

Another shopping "mall" on the Shirvan Road, incongruous as all malls

Hotels like Turtle Beach and The Grafton emptier and more run down than ever - the tennis courts at Turtle Beach left to rack and ruin.
Pennysavers still incredibly busy, and busy expanding
More traffic, of course..

Some things have happily stayed the same:

The fishermen hauling their nets in at Stonehaven Bay, everybody helping them too
The stunning Villas at Stonehaven, beautiful grounds and stunning views, and their restaurant is finally worth visiting.
The Fish Pot, never a bad meal, always consistently good.
The Seahorse Inn - ate their last night, best meal we've had there, much improved.

Seeing Island Girl, the catamaran sailing almost every day
Castara, unchanged
With the changeable weather recently, the island is as green and lush as ever
The wildlife is still plentiful and amazing, although we still haven't seen a leatherback turtle!

Ultimately, for us, despite the changes Tobago remains unspoilt and exotic. Long may it continue.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Martin

Yes, you'll have seen a lot of changes in the 10 years you've been visiting - in fact more changes in those 10 years than in the previous 50!!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and enjoy your last two days.

[Andy K]

Some of the changes which may seem to be of no value or even a nuissance for the traveller,
are an improvement for the local population.
I remember the times when we had to bring many household items from Trinidad, because they were not
available in Tobago. Shoppers had to go from store to store to shop for standard household items, often with
limited success. Even getting a pair of proper shoes used to be an adventure.
Going to Trinidad to shop was a challenge by itself on the old, dirty, run-down ferry boats.
The increased number of stores and the significantly increased variety of goods available in Tobago
is a true relief for Tobagonians.

The same applies to grocery stores like Penny Savers. Unfortunetely, there is still no proper grocery store in Scarborough,
which forces everybody to drive down to Penny Savers Bon Accord or Carnbee or Morshead Mr. Pleasant.
I personally appreciate that those stores now have a reasonable variety of food stuff and not only canned vegetables
and frozen chicken.

The "policy" behind the lack of maintenance of some hotels will be a secret to me forever.
At least something is going on at Blue Waters Inn / Speyside, so i hear. I haven't see it yet.

Some things really never change.
The fishermen at the beach still pull their nets up on the sand, instead of outside to 2 or 3 boats,
causing sand to get into the gills of the small bait fish, killing many of them instead of being of value for fishing.

The couple of Mot-Mots sitting on my T&TEC wire in the morning, waiting for a donation of ripe paw paw or mango,
fortunately doesn't change either