Grenada - Back Again

Well we had a nice final week in Tobago. From Plymouth we went to Castara Bay where we were able to hike with Linda & Steve (Seaman's Elixir) to a beautiful waterfall and freshwater pool. We then spent some time in Englishman's Bay snorkeling one of the nicest reefs we've ever seen. We were glad we snorkeled it because the next day we got a bunch of rain that murkied up the water. Our final stop in Tobago was Charlotteville which is a small fishing village that is out of the way for most tourists. We were hoping to fill up with cheap diesel while we were there (cost was about US$0.95/gallon), but unfortunately the local gas station was out of diesel and gasoline and didn't get a new shipment while we were in town. We now know we should've filled up our jerry jugs when we were over in Store Bay with easy access to fuel. We have really enjoyed Tobago and we hope to come back next year. Our only complaint had to do with the procedure for clearing out of immigration. There is only one office, so we had to take a taxi from Charlotteville to Scarborough and it took an hour and a half each way, plus an hour wait. We were sad that we had to spend our last afternoon in paradise trying to get our paperwork arranged instead of taking a hike or going snorkeling. But other than that, Tobago was an amazing island and we were glad to have the chance to see it.

We arrived back in Grenada yesterday after an interesting crossing. They are putting a new oil rig in the ocean north of Tobago and of course it's new home just happened to be right on our course line and we just happened to be there as they were installing it. We could see it miles away on the horizon (it was a huge structure like you'd see in the Gulf of Mexico). It was being towed by a tug --quite a sight, this tiny boat pulling this massive thing along at about 1 knot. So we had to go around and give him a two-mile berth. Then an enormous motor tanker comes whizzing by (well, "whizzing" in boat terms -- going 14 knots) and wants to pass by both us and the tanker, so it was a little nerve-wracking being within 1 nautical mile of this huge ship. Normally we prefer to keep our distance from those guys. But both the tanker and the tug/rig knew we were there and we were in VHF contact with them, so we weren't too worried about getting run over! Shortly after that we joined up with a rain cloud going exactly our speed and direction, so we were soaked by the time we made it to the marina at Clarkes Court Bay. It was definitely Miller Time, which translates to "Carib Time" in Grenada. We headed up to the bar and met back up with some old friends, Barb & Chris (Moonsail) who are going to be managing the marina for a month while Bob takes a vacation. We plan to leave the boat (and our cat, Boris) here under their expert care when we come home for a visit next week. Looking forward to seeing everyone back home!

Where we are:
Location=Clarkes Court Bay Marina, Grenada
Lat=12 00.628
Lon=61 44.349

Plymouth, Tobago -- Plymouth Rocks!

Well we've had a busy week. We haven't posted in a while, so fasten your seat belts this is going to be a long (possibly boring) post. On Saturday, we hit the PennySaver grocery store and loaded up on all the bargains we could find. Our cart was full of granola bars, cereal, snack food, and fruit juices (which constitute the "healthy" part of our rum drinks -- bottoms up!). Our cart spilled over and we got a few stares from the locals but we were pleased when the bill came to a little under $200 US. The dollar may be swiftly plummeting against the Pound and the Euro, but at least we are still making out like bandits in TT dollars. We freely admit to being cheapskates. We then had a nice night out with Barb and Chuck (Tusen Takk II) and Anne and John (Living the Dream). Unlike burgers, you can pretty much get a decent pizza anywhere in the Caribbean. Mmmm, pizza.

On Sunday, we bought a second SCUBA tank (hooray, now we can BOTH breathe underwater!) and explored the beautiful Pigeon Point beach. This is a fabulous soft sand beach protected on all sides by a coral reef. The beach wasn't super crowded and the few tourists we saw were mostly European or from Trinidad. Tobago is one of those islands that epitomizes what most people want in a Caribbean vacation -- beaches, a rainforest, great diving, nice restaurants and friendly people. What is surprising is that this destination is pretty much flying under the radar for most American tourists, while Europeans and Trinis know this is the place for a great getaway. Okay, the Tobago tourism commercial is over, back to the post...

On Monday (yesterday) we took the boat up to the northerly coast to Mt. Irvine Bay. We had just finished anchoring when three dive boats came and dropped off their divers about 100 feet off our port side. Score! We were within swimming distance of the Dutchman Reef, which is a very popular dive site. One of the skiffs tied up to a mooring nearby and when the divers were in the water, the boat driver gave us a huge smile and a wave and yelled "Hey -- I'm comin' over!" and dove into the water and swam right up to our back steps. He came aboard and introduced himself as Dion. He was timing the divers and I think he just wanted to hang out with someone while he waited for them to surface so we chatted a bit. He's been diving for 14 years and had a lot to tell us about the various dive sites around the island. After his time was up he told us to give him a call if we wanted to go out diving, and then he was back in the water swimming back to his boat so he could go pick up his clients. After the dive boats left we snorkeled a bit but visibility wasn't great so instead of diving we spent the rest of the afternoon watching surfers catch some of the waves crashing towards shore. There's a northerly swell right now which makes all our anchorages a little rolly, but it's great for the surfers since they get nice rollers coming in some of the beaches.

Today (Tuesday) we motored over to Plymouth, where our friends Linda and Steve (Seaman's Elixir) and Tusen Takk were already anchored. The six of us took a walk to the Adventure Farm park. It's not really much of an adventure nor much of a farm, but the guide books say it is a great place to go birdwatching. Now, none of us are very serious bird watchers; I can't tell a red crested mot-mot from a great horned booby, but even I could tell that the only birds around were some small hummingbirds and some bananaquits. There were a few other serious birders already there with their cameras out. We could tell they were "serious" because their telephoto lenses were the size of large cannons. I am not making this up. Ironically they all had these tripods set up so that they could shoot close-up photos of the birds "in the wild" (feeding from bright red hummingbird feeders). Ha! After our bird "adventure" we walked up the road to the Waterwheel Restaurant which is a converted sugar/rum mill. The restaurant wasn't really open for lunch but we decided to have a drink anyway. As the lady was guiding us to our table, Kevin motioned frantically for me to come over to a small room. I peeked in the window and saw dozens of -- get this -- large bats hanging from the ceiling fan. Cree. Pee. We sat at our table and watched as the occasional bat flitted through the open-air restaurant to find a new perch near the kitchen. Eeek. Maybe it's better that the restaurant wasn't serving food when we got there, so we just had one round of drinks before hightailing it out of there. Alcohol kills germs like rabies, right?

Where we are:
Location=Plymouth, Tobago
Lat=11 13.037
Lon=60 46.824

Tobago - Rainforest Walk

[Kevin's Post]We have been in Tobago for about a week now and have been constantly amazed at how cheap everything is here. The cost of most grocery items is about half what it is in Grenada. Diesel is less than $1 US per gallon. Eating out at restaurants is pretty cheap too and there are tons of choices, especially in the resort area where we are right now. We are definitely going to stock up before we leave, good thing we raised the waterline!

Yesterday Susan and Hale on Cayuga had arranged a rainforest tour with a retired ranger and invited us along. Steve and Linda from 'Seaman's Elixir' and John and Ann from 'Living the Dream' also joined us. We piled into a rented minivan and drove across the island toward our arranged meeting spot. The retired ranger, Renson Jack, told us that if we get lost on our drive to just stop and ask for him. I'm not sure if that shows how small the island is, or how well known he is, but in any case that's what we did and we found him. He had planned to take us on a walk through the Louis D'or river valley, but with the recent rains the river was flowing a bit too high and he advised against it. Instead we spent a few hours walking around the rainforest surrounding his 'project', an eco-resort in the making which he has spent the past 25 years building. It was a beautiful area with lots of potential, but you had to really use your imagination as he pointed out the locations of the different amenities of his 'resort'. However, Renson was very knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna, and had no end of stories about his life on Tobago. In the afternoon we drove with Renson farther into the rainforest and walked part of the Gilpin Trace which is part of a trail that used to be the only route North to South across the island. Renson told us that when he was younger, he would walk the entire trail every other Tuesday with the local priest to give mass on the North coast. The rainforest in Tobago is supposedly the oldest nature preserve in the new world, established in the 1780's. Walking through the rainforest was like being in another world with all the ferns and vines and bamboo everywhere. We saw several colorful birds from a distance and even saw an army of leaf cutter ants making short work of a palm tree. The trail was extremely muddy and we were all a mess by the time we got back to the car. We stopped for beers at a bar not far from the Gilpin Trace and ate the lunches we had all packed for the trip. It was getting late in the afternoon, and Renson drove with us back to the Store Bay area pointing out several scenic vistas along the way turning our rainforest tour into an island tour. Back at Store Bay we all collapsed at Bago's for more beers while we watched the sun go down.