One can either travel there by small plane or by ferry. We took the ferry which takes about 2 1/2 hours. We were told that we should all take sea sickness medicine before we went which we did. The sea can get pretty rough, but we were all fine. On the way home the trip was much smoother because we traveled with the wind.
The two islands are quite different. Trinidad is very industrial. We learned recently, for instance that it is one of the top greenhouse gas producers per capita in the world. Tobago, on the other hand, is much more of the stereotype of a Caribbean island. It is laid back, quiet and absolutely picturesque. We took the ferry over on Monday evening and returned Thursday evening. It was a glorious several days and our big excursion for the year.
~Barbara
On our first full day in Tobago (Tuesday) we got to go out in the ocean in a glass-bottom boat! You see, we were on our way to the beach (we could walk to it) when we got confused and wanted to double-check that we were headed in the right direction. So we asked somebody, but he said that he didn't know because he was from Trinidad, not Tobago. But just then another man came up and told us that we were going the right way, and also that he had a glass-bottom boat! He was part of the crew of a boat called Miss Jo. There are a lot of different glass-bottom boats that you can get tickets for, and I guess people just own them and sell tickets. So an hour later our family all piled in the back of a pickup truck and headed from one beach to a dock where the boat picked us up. From there we rode out into the ocean a ways, then stopped a while and everyone assembled on the bottom floor of the boat. (We had been on the top deck of the boat.) There was a sort of well at the bottom where there was glass and we could look through. Then the captain explained about some of the "plants and fishes". Then we continued on until we got to Buccoo Reef. (When Trinis or Tobagonians say Buccoo it sounds more like boca or boco.) There they anchored the boat and threw out a rope with a floating ring at the end of it. Then they handed out snorkeling gear and sometimes life jackets to those who wanted to go snorkeling (which included all of our family). Then we got to go snorkeling!! We could follow along the rope and stick our heads under and see all the coral and everything! After everyone got back in the boat we proceeded to 'The Famous Nylon Pool'. This is a place that is out in the middle of the ocean, but shallow enough to easily stand in and warmer than some of the other water. All the sand there was made of coral that had been crushed up by the ocean. It was not very fine or soft, but apparently it was good for your skin if you rubbed it on (which was slightly painful, actually). Then we got back in the boat (on the top again) and rode back to the beach.
~Roxy
Most of Wednesday and a smaller part of Tuesday we spent at a beach near our hotel called Store Bay. It was really beautiful. If you looked out on the ocean, the water was a really pretty bright color of blue. I've never seen water so blue. It looked completely picturesque with the palm trees and the sand and the water and the waves crashing on the beach. The water was pretty rough while we were there, so we couldn't go very far out. Mostly we just stayed at the edge. One of my favorite things to do there was to sit down in the area just beyond where the waves crashed. I thought it felt like I was in a dishwasher. We also rented beach chairs with an umbrella, so we could just sit there and watch. And right before we left, we bought fun drinks there. Me and Roxy got a mix of pineapple, cherry and coconut cream. My parents got a punch made of sorrell (a fairly common soft drink here, made from a sorrell flower). For Wednesday lunch, me and my parents got the crab and dumplings which everyone told us we should try. Roxy got some roti with potato since she doesn't like seafood. I thought the taste of the crab and dumplings was very good, but it was very messy and it took a lot of work to actually get to the meat, which there wasn't much of. I got extremely messy eating it. I looked around and saw some other people eating the same thing who weren't nearly as messy as I was. I think some were staring at me. We spent a little time at another beach called Pigeon Point, but there was lots of seaweed and coral in the water. I kept stepping on the coral and it hurt and Roxy got so much seaweed caught in her hair. It was a mess! I preferred Store Bay, since it was so beautiful, even thought the water was kind of rough.
~Olivia
We had the option of taking our car over on the ferry, but decided against it. This was due in part to the cost, but also because I was looking forward to having a few days off of driving. As it turns out, leaving the car in Trinidad also provided an opportunity to get the fender fixed after the little accident we had a couple of weeks ago. Our friends the Jaiminis were kind enough to give us rides to and from the ferry terminal in Port of Spain. In Tobago, we caught taxis to our hotel on Monday, then back to the ferry on Thursday. On Tuesday & Wednesday, we simply walked where we needed to go. The hotel we had booked, on the recommendation of some of our other Trini friends, was easy walking distance to Store Bay beach. It was also close enough to walk to Pigeon Point, although that turned out to be a bit longer of a hike than we had anticipated (about a mile). There were plenty of restaurants and shops within walking distance to take care of what we needed, too. Our room included a small kitchen as well, so we didn't have to eat all of our meals out. There were also two pools where we were able to swim when we didn't feel like getting all sandy, or when the surf was too rough. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Tobago, and are hoping that we might have the chance to go back for another visit sometime while we're here.
~Richard
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