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 was at the Blue Waters Inn where we were staying. Our trip had been postponed for a few days due to rough waters: this was in January when it was meant to be the dry season, although it was anything but dry. Eventually, when the weather calmed a little, ten of us boarded the boat, with our guide Zee, ensuring everyone got safely aboard as it was still a little choppy.
We first came to Goat Island with a dilapidated house which some sources
say was the former home and retreat of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. However, others say that this is disputed by his family, who maintain he never even visited Tobago.
45-minutes later we moored up at Little Tobago and were carefully walking along the jetty to avoid getting caught by splashing waves. A flight of stone steps led to a fairly large, newly built house, constructed on the site of a hut used by Sir William Ingram, a British politician and businessman who purchased the island in 1898. He turned the place into a bird sanctuary and introduced the greater bird of paradise, to save it from overhunting, as it’s plumage was sought after for ladies hats. After his death in 1924, the island was deeded to the Government. It is now accessible from 7am to 5pm and whilst it is not inhabited, custodians visit daily to maintain the paths and top up bird feeders.
We began climbing with Zee pointing out flora and fauna and the nest of a pelagic bird who live on the sea but nest in holes on the ground. Eventually we reached the top where we had fabulous views of the ocean, crashing waves and the red-billed Tropicbird, which were soaring all around. This is the species David Attenborough featured in episode 3 of the TV series The Trials of Life with the frigate feeding on them.
Zee enthusiastically pointed out other birds, but as we’re not particularly keen birders, found it difficult to spot the difference between a brown boobie and a brown noddie. Instead, we took in the scene through our binoculars having realised it would be extremely difficult to get a great shot of a moving bird.
After 20 minutes we headed back down and onto the boat. It was then a short trip to Angel Reef where there was the option of snorkelling to see the largest brain coral in the world and the Japanese Gardens coral reef. As the water was still not exactly ‘Caribbean calm’, we chose what Zee described as ‘dry snorkelling’ – observing through the glass bottomed boat. However, despite a guide calling out names of fish and coral at a fast and furious pace, we found it a little underwhelming. The diesel fumes whilst sitting downstairs were also a little overpowering and the lapping motion of the boat created uneasy tums, and we were all glad when we were back on land three hours later.
Tips: there are no facilities on the island and sturdy shoes, water and mosquito repellent are all useful.
