Following in the footsteps of David Attenborough
It’s not often you get the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of David Attenborough, but that is exactly what we did on the island of Little Tobago. A trip across Tyrell’s Bay to Little Tobago is said to be one of the highlights of any visit to Tobago and the jetty for the boats […]…
A day out in Scarborough (but not the Yorkshire one)
Having spent many happy days out in Scarborough on the Yorkshire coastline, I was keen to visit another Scarborough, this one on the slightly more exotic southern coast of Tobago. BOTANICAL GARDENS The Botanical Gardens, founded in the 19th century on a former sugar plantation, were relatively small and more akin to a park, with […]…
Exploring Tobago
At just 25 miles by 6 miles, Tobago is tiny and as we stayed in three locations, the drives between them, enabled us to see most of the island. Both the northern leeward coast facing the Caribbean Sea, and the southern windward coast overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, are dotted with small villages and bays. Tobago […]…
Possibly the eighth wonder of the world – I don’t think so
Whilst staying in Port of Spain, we visited the Pitch Lake, often touted by Trinidadians as the eighth wonder of the world. There are only three natural asphalt lakes, with the other two being in Venezuela and Los Angeles. Although advance research had told me that the lake covered 100 acres and was 250 feet […]…
A fort in Trinidad with West African links
Whilst staying in Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, we were keen to visit Fort George for what we were told was fabulous city views. Whilst in theory it is possible to walk up to the fort, our guide drove us up the long winding steep road, passing through the area known as St James. The […]…
Steel bands, pig’s tails and White Oak rum
As well as exploring Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, by day, our itinerary also included ‘An After Dark Tour’. We began in the area of Belmont at the panyard of the Phoenix Steel Orchestra. The day before we’d heard them practicing for the carnival’s national Panorama competition and having been entranced by their music and […]…
A warm welcome at the Queen’s Park Oval
As my husband loves cricket, I bought him an unauthorised biography of the Trinidadian cricketer Brian Lara which he chose to read whilst in the country. Therefore it’s my own fault that during our trip I was constantly regaled with cricketing statistics, which included the fact that in 1990, at the age of 20, Lara […]…
A leaning lighthouse and Angostura Bitters
All our sightseeing in the Woodbrook area of Port of Spain was done by car with Andrew our guide. The area was originally a 367-acre sugar cane estate owned by W F Burnley of Scotland. In 1899 it was sold for £50,000 to the Seigert family, who invented Angostura aromatic bitters, a medicinal tincture that […]…
Exploring downtown by car and on foot
The Downtown area of Port of Spain, Trinidad’s capital, is nestled between the Queen’s Park Savannah and Gulf of Paria. Following a whirlwind sightseeing tour by car, we explored at a more leisurely pace on foot, after checking it was safe for us to wander solo. We explored several parks and squares. Woodford Square, built […]…
A naughty calypso song from the Mighty Sparrow
Queen’s Park Savannah in Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, is a vast green open space often described as the largest roundabout in the world as traffic circles it for 3km in a clockwise direction. Until the early 20th century it was used as an airstrip, and then a horse racing track until the early 1990s. […]…
African roots in the district of Belmont
Six nights in Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, provided time for day trips out and local sightseeing. The city is divided into distinct districts, and as the area known as Belmont has a more dubious reputation, we explored with our guide, Andrew. It was the city’s first suburb and settled by Africans rescued by the […]…
From chocolate making to fishing
The small village of Lopinot, located deep in Trinidad’s Northern Range, is named after the fabulously named French count, Charles Joseph de Loppinot de la Fresilliere. Having been granted land by the King of England in 1806, he developed a cacao estate and when others followed suit, it turned Trinidad chocolate into some of the […]…
