Back to the blog!

I need to catch up on this blog....about 4 months worth.

I could jump ahead to what's going on today but since this blog is a record of our time here in Trinidad but I will fast forward through those 4 months.

Mid-December: Preparing for Christmas in Trinidad when it is 35 C outside - always a treat. The staff decorated a great Xmas tree and this was the picture that was part of our Trini corporate online Christmas card. B.

Just another commute to work

This morning there was another fender bender.

Here is the first car.... Here is the first truck..... There three more cars involved.

Just another Thursday commute to Marabella.

B.

Justice on Time

Here in Trinidad, there is a shuttle service that is very efficient. It has a police escort, runs all traffic lights and those that sit in the back get to where they are going on schedule. Nope, it's not for the local politicians. It would for be the prisoners on their way to and from court.

B.

Ants

Mimi is concerned that we could have an ant infestation in the apartment. I am not allowed to drop crumbs when I eat (so I dont eat). It is a fact, I have hole in my mouth and I do seem to leave a trail (or pile) of crumbs around but I dont think that's the reason we have ants. Its because it is easy to buy or rent them here in Trinidad.

B.

Back to Tobago

Boys weekend (Ok, free pass for 18 hours).

Booked a tee time, booked a flight (it is only a 15 minute flight) and booked a rental car.

Flew over on the 10:30 flight. Had a 11:30 tee time. Pretty much had the course to ourselves. It was a classy course - a silver ice bucket for the beer.The Tobago Plantations course has a sugar mill in the logo. They really were windmills that they used to crush the sugar cane. Those days are long gone but there are a couple of remnants of the sugar mills on the course.Nice rental properties on the course too.

Brought a couple of Flat Stanleys (here on business from Canada).....There were still remnants of what Tropical Storm Tomas pushed up on the beach on the Atlantic coast.

Tobago has a bit of a goat story to it - they recently built a brand new goat racing track. But to get there, the goats have to take the bus.

And this would be the last photo I took that day because I dropped my camera in the ocean two minutes later.

I was able to salvage the card but the camera is a bit iffy at the moment. it might dry out, it might not.

Great day trip away from Trinidad

B.

Sunday afternoon at Maracas Bay

Note: the beer bottle is only there to provide perspective to the size of the beach.

I am permitted a couple of 'small bottle' beers and one Bake & Shrimp from Vilma's on the Sundays we go to the beach. I am getting a bit too sedentary (ie chunkier) for more than that these days. The famous local fare is Bake & Shark from Richard's but I enjoy the shrimp from Vilma's - its good, its closer and the line up is shorter!

B.

Tomas touches Tobago

Ten days ago Tropical Storm Tomas was heading towards Trinidad and Tobago. The day before it was to hit, I sent the staff home early to prepare for some significant flooding and damage. Within hours of being forecasted to hit here, it veered north and made a big mess in St Lucia and other Caribbean islands.
Before it headed north it just 'touched' the island of Tobago. We had scheduled a couple of days in Tobago this past weekend. We called and they said there wasn't really any problem so we flew over.
The island is not that big so we rented a car with the intention of driving around the whole island. The car rental folks didn't say a word. The first 40 km were very nice. Beautiful vistas looking down on great beaches....including Bloody Bay. We then saw signs that Tomas was not so kind to Tobago. It has been a particularly wet season so a Tropical Storm can smack an already saturated island quite easily.. As we drove further north, the signs of Tomas' touch got nastier.

A slump here, a collapse there, a downed tree.

Then there was a 'bit' of a wash out of a road. We figured if we got past that we would be ok....nope. Just 300 meters past this tricky bit of four wheeling, we came upon a landslide that had completely wiped out the road. No signs, no barriers - nothing. The only evidence of a problem was the complete lack of traffic coming the other way....and the slumps, the collapses, the downed trees and the washed out road we had already driven by.

I am not very observant, am I?

We turned around and retraced our steps and stopped at the Glasgow Bar overlooking the Parlatuvier Bay and as Mimi said 'enjoyed an ice cold one'.

We cut across the middle of the island and caught a part of the Atlantic Coast, Scarborough and a great little spot called the Shore Things Cafe near Lambeau - we highly recommend it.

B.