Drifted into the bay around breakfast time, and shortly after headed off on our 4 hour strenuous walk through the Tobago rainforest. At least, that is what it was billed as, as most of the people on the tour including us had chosen it specifically because they wanted a strenuous hike through the rainforest. Instead we were taken on a bird spotting wander through the rainforest, where we were gently chastised if we wandered on without looking interested enough in the red-throated, rufus-tailed white-bellied juvenile Jacamar bird.
Leaving the ship, the bus took us up and over the hills running down the spine of the island, from the Caribbean side to the Atlantic side, along the coast a bit, then back up the mountains to the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve. The nation is justifiably proud of their Eco heritage with 60% of the island designated as a protected reserve, in addition to other protected wetlands and dive sites. The Forest Reserve was protected by an act of the British Parliament way back in 1776, and has been instrumental in providing sufficient fresh water for Tobago ever since.
The track we walked is part of the old donkey trail cut through the mountains from the Caribbean to the Atlantic so that goods could be hauled from one side of the island to the other. It seems that for part of the year ships have trouble loading and unloading on one side of the island due to the winds and seas, and then have trouble on the other side for the other half of the year, so the trail was necessary to keep commerce flowing.
After wandering about 1.5km into the rainforest to a trickle of a waterfall that had bleached the rocks due to its high Iron Oxide levels, we paused and walked back again to the bus. At the end of the day, we had only done an hour and a half of slow walking, around 3km, taking fewer steps than walking around the lake at home. However, the rainforest was lovely, and it nice to get immersed in nature for a change.
The island of Tobago was named by the French as a corruption of their word for Tobacco, as the island is shaped like an old-fashioned French smoking pipe, complete with islands dotted where the smoke would come out of the end of the pipe.
It seems that Tobago, being a small island, has been governed by the various powers in association with Barbados, Grenada and others over the years, and only became a joint nation with Trinidad as part of the granting of independence from Great Britain in 1962. Colonised by the British in 1628, it was the usual story. Fought over by the British, French and Dutch, its main industries were sugar, rum and cacao supported by slave labour until slavery was abolished and the industries collapsed. Now it’s just tourism and fishing. Over 90% of the islanders are of African descent.
Back on the ship, we enjoyed our last night with a reservation on the back deck at Candles, while the captain was making a mad dash for tomorrow’s destination to get our berthing slot before we were bumped to the middle of the night by earlier arrivals. Five cruise ships are expected to be in port tomorrow.
Tobago Rainforest
The Waterfall
Dinner at Candles
