Welcome to Miami?

My flight from Tobago to Trinidad was fine, but the flight to Miami was delayed for several hours.  Let’s just say the Trini airport is small and I’m glad I had a book.  I missed my connecting flight as a result, but was pleased to have a nice hotel to stay at near the Miami airport before a flight early the next day.  Their chocolate chip cookies were just the thing to top off a great holiday, and I arrived in DC just in time for church.

Pirates Cove

I spent the day a local’s beach on the north-facing side that’s really called Pirates Cove.  It’s a small beach and practically disappears during the high tide, but I was still shocked to have it all to myself.  I kept waiting for hoards of tourists or locals to show up, but they never did. 

My private beach!

I spent the day reading (completely in the shade), swimming in the perfectly clear, warm water, exploring the rocky part to see the little crabs, and just frolicking between sunblock applications.

Fun fact:  “Swiss Family Robinson” was filmed on Tobago.  That tree house was one of my dream homes growing up, and apparently they’d built it so well for the film that it lasted for a number of years until a freak storm took it out.  It was easy to pretend I was in the film that day.

That night, we drove back to Scarsborough to stay with Adana’s friends before my flight the next day.  As we drove through the town, I finally saw steel drum players practicing in a small building.  That’s where this instrument is from, and somehow I’d expected to see them everywhere, but it was a great final note to my wonderful trip.

James Bond was a Birder

Today started with a hike through the “woods” (mostly bamboo) with occasional views of the ocean.  After lunch, it was down to the south-facing beach for a birding/snorkeling trip. 

We took a boat to a small island off the coast, past Ian Flemming’s house where he lived when he came up with the idea for the James Bond books.  Fun fact: his title character came from the author of “The Birds of the West Indies”.  Our guide was an expert birder, spotting all sorts of birds and helping us to find them.  One vista overlooked a cliff of nesting shorebirds, and apparently appeared in one of the big David Attenborough nature documentaries.

Even more impressive when you have this scene described with a British accent.

I thought this was the prettiest bird we saw.

 On the ride back, we were given snorkel gear and a chance to swim around.  The water felt great on my sunburn and it was fun to see how close I could get to the fish.

Back on land, I had a chance to explore the ruins of an old sugar mill before heading home.  It totally reminded me of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.

Couldn't you just see a sword fight taking place here?

Tobago Burn

The beach was really this perfect.

I started the day with a visit to a beach that I had almost completely to myself.  The white sand and turquoise water were quintessentially Caribbean, and I had so much fun swimming and reading my book that I lost track of time—a critical error in terms of sunblock re-application.  I was mostly in the shade and was diligent about wearing my hat, but…my legs received the biggest sunburn I can recall.  Welcome to the tropics!  At least the book and the swimming were good.  Sadly, my legs now matched my fuchsia swimsuit and it was only the start of the week, but good times were still ahead.

Around lunchtime I met my hostess for the rest of the week, a friend of my coworker’s who’d graciously agreed to let a stranger stay with them in their cabin on the northern shore of the island.  Adana is a native of Trinidad, and her husband, Keith, is Canadian.  Together, they’re an awesome duo and I couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay.  Granted, it was a bit rustic (the water pump decided to break right before my trip), but their friendliness made up for it.  Plus, I got all the hammock time I wanted for reading.

Paradise.