Wednesday, Day 123 - May 9 - 8 to 6, Scarborough, Trinidad & Tobago

These Islands in the beautiful Caribbean have many interesting sites. Explore the wonderful Buccoo Reef by glass bottom boat and gasp at its colorful fish and coral. Enjoy the thrill of sailing on a catamaran to the sounds of calypso music then snorkel in a beautiful bay. The country is made up of two islands Trinidad, the hub of the modern commercial part of the country and Tobago it much more laid back neighboring island.

Visit Scarborough, a city in Trinidad and Tobago, on the southern coast of the island of Tobago. This city has been the main commercial city of the island of Tobago for over 200 years and retains much of it colonial feel with bits from the Dutch, French and English conquerors still in evidence.  he Lower Scarborough area is anchored by Scarborough Market, with vendors selling fresh produce and clothing. Close by are the indigenous trees and shrubs of Scarborough Botanical Gardens. On a hill overlooking the city, the ruins of 18th-century Fort King George, one of several forts scattered around the island. This fort now house the Tobago Museum, with local art and artifacts. Or take a walk through the island’s tropical rain forest and see the breathtaking cascading Gold and Silver Falls. There is also lazy beaches and two 18 hole golf courses to enjoy.  

This is a new port for us. We are doing a 3 hour tour, Scenic Tobago which is a Basic bus tour.

We are up a little earlier than usual, at 7, in time to watch the ship dock, as we have a tour for which we need to get our tickets at 8:50AM. It is over cast and looks very much like rain. Since a nice breakfast has become a pleasant habit, we need to be in the dining room when they open at 8AM. That accomplished, we proceed to the Seven Seas Lounge for our bus tickets. 

There are at least three buses doing this same tour this morning and Dick is no more than third in line and is given tickets for bus #15. There are also buses #16 and #17. Question is, why are we always given tickets for the smallest, oldest, most crowded bus? Inquiring minds want to know. Of course, at this point we are fat, dumb and happy and proceed off the ship and walk the pier to the gathering spot.

Now, most Caribbean ports have less than wonderful buses. Today is no exception. Number 15 supposedly sits 20 persons and that is how many they have assigned to it.  Of course, the total capacity assumes that the fold down jump seats that completely block the aisle are going to be used too! 

It also seems that this bus has drawn a goodly share of the halt, the lame and the otherwise infirm. We have a bulky walker/seat, a wheel chair and at least four sets of walking sticks/canes including Carolyn’s. In fact she is on the single seat side and is holding some other people's sticks because it is so crowded!

The other side that is set for two people on each row is so small only one large person can get in as the only arm rest, on the aisle side, is a solid piece so the second large person can not hang off the edge!  Some people are having to use the fold up seats in the aisle.

By the way, there is no exterior storage so they are putting the equipment in that portion of the aisle that is not blocked by the jump seats. It becomes clear that a shoe spoon and a jar of Vaseline is going to be necessary to get all this in! How long it will take to unload and load the bus again at all the multiple stops boggles the mind.

Dick reads the tea leaves, hands his camera to Carolyn and pushes his way off of the bus. By the way, while all this is going on, it has started to rain rather heavily! Ricardo, the Destination Services Manager, asks Dick what is wrong and Dick tells him; ridiculously crowded bus, dangerous if there is an accident or fire as it will be impossible to get people off quickly with the aisles blocked with wheelchairs and walkers, etc. As they start folding down the jump sets, Carolyn sees a disaster waiting to happen and also leaves the bus. Meanwhile Ricardo takes it up with the local head man and is told the bus holds 20 without being full! After four months of our bitching about the poor quality of the tours, Ricardo says he will find alternate transportation.

After a few minutes of waiting, a fairly new taxi pulls up with a lady driver, Sandra, and we are told it is ours, all ours and the ship is paying!  As the overcrowded bus pulls out we drop in behind them. By the way, the other two buses were larger than #15 and did not appear to be full!

Sandra knows the tour and is quite chatty and fun. We visit three forts from the British Colonial era (1770-1810) where we view the traditional fortifications and old canon. Fort James is in quite good condition and has a commanding view of the sea. Its main building is now a nice little history museum. Fort King George was smaller and is more run down and the other one, Fort Bennett, is pretty well gone and incorporated into a park area that is a popular wedding venue.

 Fort King George

Sandra is proud of her home island and we get much more of a tour than advertised. She is very helpful by answering questions and taking short detours to show us things she thinks we might like to see. The best of these is the large, fairly new facility in Bucco Town where they hold goat and crab races twice a year, Easter Week and a National Holiday in mid-July. There is a tiny visitor center open and we are shown a video of a recent three-day Goat Race. The goats are tethered to their owners by a rope and both the goat and the owner run the race. There is much betting and strutting and funny to watch. This takes place like a county fair and is very popular. It is Tobago’s answer to the Kentucky Derby!!

There are double elimination heats over the three days until a champion is determined. Sandra tells us you will see the goats and their owners out training for several months before each semi-annual goat race. We did not see nor did we get a good explanation of the crab race and our leg may have been pulled about that portion of the story. We also visit several of the nicest beaches, drive past some nice beach scenes and colorful homes , drive through two very nice resort areas and golf courses as we make a slow circle of the southern part of the island.

After a pleasant four hour tour we are back on the ship by 1PM and go to lunch where we both have a cheeseburger and fries. The rest of the afternoon is taken up with bloging, napping and some computer work. Dinner is at 6:30PM and we both eat just enough to hold us over. The cheeseburgers took up a lot of room! 

The heat really takes it toll on both of us any more and we are in bed with the lights out by a little after 9PM.