Tobago 9th October to 23rd October

[Paul Williams]

This was not going to be a journey of discovery as due to the amount of info on mytobago we were able to research most of the factors relating to this holiday and copy many of those things or at least use them for help in organising others.
We arrived at Gatwick early on the morning of Saturday 9th October for our Excel flight to find that the computer system had crashed and I thought for a moment we were going to have the same problems as many Excel travellers had made comments about, however after a queuing for over 2 hours we were able to get rid of our suitcase and go to the bar where we met Lynn and Jeff who we met through their comments on the forum and we celebrated their 20 wedding anniversary together with Lynns 40th birthday.
We boarded our flight about 30 mins late and after a slightly cramped flight via St Kitts we arrived in Tobago (as we only paid £361 each I now know this to be the best value I have ever had for a flight) although having heard the plight of those people on the same flight a week later I realise how lucky we were.
Our host for the first week Ancle George from the Naturalist in Castara was there waiting to meet us and we transferred via Pennysavers and the Northside Road to our guesthouse. (See separate comments on Accomodation forum).
We got up early next morning to find that Castara must be one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to with a beach which is not only superb but also interesting with local action from the fisherman and the children and was great for swimming and snorkelling as well as sitting watching some wonderful sunsets.
We got up very early one morning and walked there and back to Englishmans Bay which whilst being very warm was great for seeing the birds and the other wildlife and meeting people along the way, we also took a trip with Newton George to the Forest Reserve and we were fortunate enough to see nearly all of our target species, we were able this day to spend it in the company of a man who is lucky enough to get paid for doing something he obviously loves and is also a very nice person as well.
I could not believe the coincidence that occurred when I suggested to my wife Leita that we go for a swim at exactly the same time that Lynn and Jeff came ashore from a diving excursion to have some lunch in Castara I know that it is a small island but....
We decided to try all of the restaurants in the village during the week (except the Cascreole which seemed to always be closed) and found the quality to be high although rather limited as this is the quiet season.
I took a fishing trip with "Duck" during the week which lead to a reasonable catch of Bonito and Kingfish but you should have seen the mahe-mahe that got away....honest.
During the week we spent a lot of time chatting to locals and it was very noticeable how they felt very fortunate that Ivan did not hit them directly although you will see some damage around.
After a wonderful first week in Castara we moved up to Charlotteville for our second one which was spent at Top River Pearl in a very nice one bedroom aparment (also see separate posting).
This week was intended to be a little more active but we found ourselves relaxing and reading on the beaches more than planned, we did take a trip sea kayaking with Clark from Tobago Sea Kayak Experience which was really enjoyable but was unfortunately cut short as a really heavy thunderstorm came in (we did watch it over a few beers on Clarks terrace discussing all kinds of issues about Tobago).
One other trip that we during the week was to go over to Little Tobago from Speyside to view the sea birds and to snorkel on the Angel reef which was enjoyable but to be honest rather not great due to Ivan ie the island was quiet and the vis on the reef was rather poor.
We came back from the trip to have an enjoyable lunch at Blue Waters Inn and we met Duane Kenny the manager and I must say that his attitude was a credit both to the hotel and the island, we were unable to join him for his suggested drink on Friday evening but I hope he keeps it cold and we will maybe drink it in the future.
I have to say that I find this difficult but I do have a negative point with regards to Charlotteveille involving noise and my perception of the way the village is going.
We sat one morning listening to the schoolchildren singing in the church next door and found this wonderful however later in the day some young people (the problem group is between 18 and 22 approx) who were on the other side of the valley started playing Jamiacan Dancehall music at a volume that was deafening, this in itself would only be a nuisance but the lyrics of the songs were absolutely disgusting and should not have been heard by children going home from both infant and primary schools.
I would look to point out that as those that met me on this holiday will agree that I cannot be described as a prude.
Another aspect that I did not like is that as TV reception is poor in Charlotteville many people spend time watching violent American movies and I saw this at the shop on the seafront where these were being shown at high levels of volume including again the bad language by children as young as 5 years of age, I really think the US influence is very noticeable amongst the younger people here.

I must say that this is my only negative point and that I would really like to thank the people of this most beautiful island for making our holiday absolutely wonderful.

[Paul Tallet]

What a great review ... also seen your review of the accomodations.

Not sure I have ever experienced the bad language bit though ... I struggle to understand what they are saying ... that's me being so innocent of course

Pleased you had a great holiday though.

Regards