Hiya W
I have juts got home ( a few hours ago) from Tobago. This site is great, it is always good to be on your guard but don't even think about changing your plans. We popped to Castara the other day, it was quiet and laid back, The only danger is that you may not want to leave OR you may end up being taught to play the pan. It was Castara where we (stupidly) left a load of film kit in an open top 4WD - it was fine.
Go and enjoy yourself, we are going to get back as soon as we get the chance.
Sex, crime and dogs
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Sam Deeks
Let's be realistic about this...
Just got back myself from Tobago. Pretty peaceful time, no personal experience of anything worse than a bushman out in the twisties somewhere up the Atlantic side spitting at us as we drove by.
That kind of hurt.. but then again, let's be realistic about this. There's this guy, with nothing to his name except a pair of wellington boots, a cutlass and a ratty old sack - and not even the slightest chance of earning even the minimum wage of $10TT an hour. Yes, folks, the grand sum of £1.00 per hour is so far out of his reach it's unfunny. And there's him, and there's us passing with our white skins, our Jeep at $300TT PER DAY, our English money in our pockets, bellies full of nice restaurant food. Us with all our big horizons, education and world full of international travel and possibilities.
Oh - and to make things worse, our bush rasta might be forgiven for being a trifle peeved at the niggling memory that it was our ancestors who put him into the slavery he's still practically chained to. And it's not as if much has changed in those 200 or so years; after all, who's really benefitting from the tourist money in Tobago? People like him or the white folks at the end of the chain in each famous hotel; the Hilton, The Rex resorts... and so on.
Two years ago, I went to Tobago on my own. I took nothing but pencils and paper. No camera, no DV cam, no walkman, no laptop, no nothing. I had one glorious week on a tiny budget. Then my brother came down for the second week with his Breitling diamond and platinum watch, his iPod, his £1000 Sony DV cam and his Nokia communicator - all of which he flashed around gratuitously in the back of route taxis here and there.
Surprise (NOT) we got burgled on our last night of his week in Tobago, the day we flew. Lost everything.
We have to remember that in Tobago the divide between our lifestyle and that of the average man in the countryside is bigger than our western brains can imagine. If you want to understand why there is any crime at all against tourists - especially those of you who've been to Tobago before - try to look at life through the eyes of that scrawny little man who glares at you as you're cornering through the villages up towards Charlotteville, towards yet another Carib and yet another delicious restaurant dinner with your friends.
It ain't easy. In fact, I'm astonished there's as little crime as there actually is.
BTW, I'm not a Tobago rookie. I was born in Trinidad and have been to Tobago many many times.
That kind of hurt.. but then again, let's be realistic about this. There's this guy, with nothing to his name except a pair of wellington boots, a cutlass and a ratty old sack - and not even the slightest chance of earning even the minimum wage of $10TT an hour. Yes, folks, the grand sum of £1.00 per hour is so far out of his reach it's unfunny. And there's him, and there's us passing with our white skins, our Jeep at $300TT PER DAY, our English money in our pockets, bellies full of nice restaurant food. Us with all our big horizons, education and world full of international travel and possibilities.
Oh - and to make things worse, our bush rasta might be forgiven for being a trifle peeved at the niggling memory that it was our ancestors who put him into the slavery he's still practically chained to. And it's not as if much has changed in those 200 or so years; after all, who's really benefitting from the tourist money in Tobago? People like him or the white folks at the end of the chain in each famous hotel; the Hilton, The Rex resorts... and so on.
Two years ago, I went to Tobago on my own. I took nothing but pencils and paper. No camera, no DV cam, no walkman, no laptop, no nothing. I had one glorious week on a tiny budget. Then my brother came down for the second week with his Breitling diamond and platinum watch, his iPod, his £1000 Sony DV cam and his Nokia communicator - all of which he flashed around gratuitously in the back of route taxis here and there.
Surprise (NOT) we got burgled on our last night of his week in Tobago, the day we flew. Lost everything.
We have to remember that in Tobago the divide between our lifestyle and that of the average man in the countryside is bigger than our western brains can imagine. If you want to understand why there is any crime at all against tourists - especially those of you who've been to Tobago before - try to look at life through the eyes of that scrawny little man who glares at you as you're cornering through the villages up towards Charlotteville, towards yet another Carib and yet another delicious restaurant dinner with your friends.
It ain't easy. In fact, I'm astonished there's as little crime as there actually is.
BTW, I'm not a Tobago rookie. I was born in Trinidad and have been to Tobago many many times.
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Kylie
Have to agree with you 100%.
Even where I live here in the UK there is massive resentment towards people that come here and earn big bucks. Multiply that divide a zillion times and that is teh situation out there.
If we show off and act wealthy we are gonna become targets.
Luckily we don't have anything so it isn't a prob for us!!
Even where I live here in the UK there is massive resentment towards people that come here and earn big bucks. Multiply that divide a zillion times and that is teh situation out there.
If we show off and act wealthy we are gonna become targets.
Luckily we don't have anything so it isn't a prob for us!!