Country #128 Everything happens for a reason

You know the saying "Everything happens for a reason"? It's one of those things you hear all the time but if you notice, it is usually said when all has turned to shit. It is not when anything good has happened. It's never "What? You hooked up with Pedro Pascal?! It's ok. Everything happens for a reason." I bring this up in the context of my first attempt to visit country #129 aka Trinidad and Tobago. 

Once upon a time, I had booked a flight to Trinidad, a ferry to Tobago and five nights at a hostel. An itinerary had been typed up, because yes, I am that person and packing was underway. That time was March 2020. The debut of Covid.  As my trip approached, the world was quickly shutting down. Two days before departure, I contacted both American Airlines and my hostel to make sure everything was ok. Both gave me the thumbs up. The next day, not even 24 hrs before my flight, I got the message that T&T had officially shut down to all visitors.

I was pissed even though the reason for this particular thing happening was kind of obvious. Had the shutdown come one day later, I would have been stuck in Tobago for who knows how long awaiting an evacuation flight. As beautiful as the island is, at that time of global uncertainty, there truly was no place like home.

Fast forward to June 2024. It was my birthday month and I decided to gift myself with a visit to a new country. I pulled out the old itinerary, rebooked flights and ferries and prepared for take two.

I'm not going to lie, I was a bit apprehensive. Search any top ten list of world's highest crime rates and Trinidad and Tobago makes an appearance. A friend reached out to a Trini pal for advice on what I should do. Her response was something along the lines of 'She's coming by herself? Is she crazy? Tell her to stay home!' Yet, from the moment I landed, I immediately knew I had made the right decision.

Prior to landing, I had pre-booked a ride to the ferry terminal on DropRide, the local ride sharing app. It really should have been called the Dwane app, as in the 3 times I requested a ride in Trinidad, Dwane was my driver. Nothing stresses me out more than getting off a plane in a foreign country, often tired and disoriented, and getting accosted by taxi drivers who I just know are trying to rip me off. Having Dwane, with his chill demeanor and fixed pricing waiting for me really helped to set the mood. 

The ferry from Port of Spain to Scarborough was equally easy. Although crowded, the boarding is pretty straight forward. On board, there are two concession stands selling all kinds of food and drinks. However, they face some stiff competition from the passengers themselves.  I can totally understand the desire to pack some snacks for the three hour journey but these families were pulling out all manners of Pyrex containers and setting up entire lunch buffets. People had put in serious kitchen time preparing for this crossing. Every table had multiple serving spoons involved!  It was a thing to behold. I was woefully underprepared with nothing but a half-eaten bag of mixed nuts in my bag. I figured I could at least purchase a beer to tide me over until I reached Tobago. Problem was the ferry would not accept credit cards and I had not yet exchanged any currency. I grabbed a US $20 bill and got in line, hoping for the best. This was the first of many times that St Debra , patron saint of Trinidadian tourists, appeared to me. Also known as my seatmate and the person whom I had entrusted to watch my bags, she came up to me in line and stated unequivocally that the concession stand was not going to give me the correct exchange rate. She took my $20 and gave me a handful of TT dollars. I got my beer, checked the XE app and saw she had actually given me too much money. No way was I making a profit of St Debra, so I had to insist to get her to take back some of the cash. 

Once we arrived in Tobago, she informed me that she and her husband would be giving me a ride to my hostel. We had already talked about where we were staying- they were taking their visiting granddaughter to a nearby beachtown while I was going to Buccoo. I didn't want them going out of their way but this one was not a battle I could win. Her husband knew this as well. St Debra had picked up a stray tourist and he knew he had no choice but to take me to the Fish Tobago Guesthouse.

Life is all about timing and this day was no different. No sooner had St Debra and fam dropped me off than Brandon, the owner and all around cool guy, announced that we had plans.  There were two other guests at the hostel, a lovely aunt/ niece duo from Venezuela who were now living in Trinidad and he was taking us all out to hit some local nightlife, Tobago style. 

It's not often that the path to a bar leads to a slow drive along the beach but this is island life. Brandon was clearly looking for something and he quickly found it.  He pulled the car over and pointed to a rock between us and the water. I was less than an hour into my stay, so who was I to question his favorite rock. It wasn't until we were maybe a few feet away that I realized the rock was moving. This was no rock. It was a massive leatherback turtle laying eggs in the sand!! She grunted softly as she worked to safely bury her future offsprings. It was so freaking amazing. Eventually someone showed up with a red flashlight and we were able to get some photos as we followed her journey back into the ocean. 

Talk about a perfect welcome to Tobago. The next morning I was awakened by a text from Brandon that it was Doubles time. I had no clue what that meant but after the turtle thing, I was happy to follow his lead. I then went with his friend to a street truck to pick up breakfast for the gang. This is how I learned that doubles, which are fried flatbread with curried chickpeas, absolutely rock. If I had a doubles food truck parked near my home, I might actually become a breakfast person. 

After filling up on doubles, the plan for the day was to take a tour on Brandon's boat. Joined by the Carmen and her niece (aka the Venezuelans) and a native Trini turned New Yorker, we packed a cooler and hit the day running. 

I was the only one on the boat who wanted to snorkel so I only jumped in for a few quick dips but the visibility was spectacular and the marine life plentiful.

The crowd was definitely more enthused about the Nylon Pool, a sandbar with impossibly turquoise waters just off of Buccoo reef. It got its name from Princess Margaret who likened the transparency to her nylon stockings and while I can't speak for the woman's pantyhose, this water was like an instagram filter come to life. It was perfection.

It was also the happening place to be this Saturday afternoon. It was the aquatic equivalent of Bourbon Street, with no less than four party boats competing to see who had the loudest sound system. The winner was no one, as it was just one loud Soca-fueled cacophony. Had they just taken turns on the 1's and 2's, it really would have been way more effective for everyone but that's a pretty small quibble in the middle of all this beauty. 

While there were plenty of floating food vendors at the Nylon Pool, we continued on to No Man's Land, a boat-only accessible beach which fills up with plenty more vendors. .

This was to be my next lesson in TT cuisine. I quickly became hooked on pholouries, fried split pea and flour dough balls, served with several dipping sauces. I particularly liked the ones make with beetroot. 

 

We continued on to a couple more beaches, all of them picture perfect. 

We finished it off with a perfect sunset. Seriously, who knew Tobago was this nice? The fact that it has not been inundated with tourists, Princess Margaret and her pantyhose aside, is pretty shocking. 

The next day, I got a chance to explore the rest of the island, this time by land. I hired a driver to take me around tiny Tobago. We began at Fort James, a 1760's British fort that was attacked by slaves in 1770 and later occupied by the French in 1781. 

There was a famed silk cotton tree along the way, which may or may not have magical powers.

But mainly, there were beaches and coves around every bend. 

I had hoped to try some bread from the famed dirt oven but this Sunday afternoon, the entire town was hung over and no one seemed to be in a hurry to light this thing. 

I fared much better at Pirate's Bay, where getting a fantastic vegetarian lunch was surprisingly easy.

We finished off the day with a stop at Argyle Falls, the island's tallest waterfall. The pathway to get to the falls was almost nicer than the falls themselves which become slippery and difficult to access after a rainy morning. 

My guide on this day was a bit problematic- among other things, a lot of his information was incorrect and when I returned from the beach, he told me wanted to sleep for 10 more minutes so I should come back later- therefore I won't link to his information but I still highly recommend a drive around the island.

Day three was spent exploring Buccoo beach and chilling at the guesthouse while Brandon finished a fishing charter (or a murder boat, as I called it). 

What exactly is on this menu?

When Brandon returned, we went to Pigeon Point, a popular beach with a number of bars and restaurants. 

The plan was to get some drinks, watch the sunset and find a place to watch the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

We managed two out of three of those things. The beers were cold, the sunset impressive but if I have one complaint about Tobago is that shockingly, ice hockey is not a thing. We could not find a single place showing the game and without cable, we couldn't get it at the guesthouse. I listened to the Panthers win their first Stanley Cup on internet radio. 

But hockey aside, on the drive back, Brandon once again pulled over along the beach, this time pointing  to a tree branch. I had already read this book so I followed along. The branch turned to be an adorable green horsewhip snake.

Sadly the next morning, I had a ferry back to Trinidad.  The days in Tobago had flown by due in large part to the natural unspoiled beauty of the island but primarily thanks to the kind generous people I had met  during my short stay. They made me feel welcome and very safe.  Had I come in 2020, I most likely would never have met Brandon, Carmen or even St Debra. I’m sure I would have had a good time but nowhere near this good. If there was a reason that things had to happen as they did, this was a pretty darned good one.