Well… All good things must come to an end. Today was our last full day in Tobago. Nothing was booked so we spent time relaxing by the pool, started packing our bags and just generally lazed about. We went out for breakfast at the Colours restaurant. While we were out Ben bought a mini steel drum. (Let’s just say – More practice required)

Our last evening meal was in Dillon’s Seafood restaurant. Cocktails all round, and plenty of good food. Nicki treated herself to some lobster, Dan went for the fried red snapper, while Bruce and Ben had catch of the day which was kingfish and barracuda in a light curry sauce – delicious. The two lovely ladies in the picture made sure our evening was relaxed, and they also made sure that the drink was flowing. Not shown in the photo is the manageress who was an absolute angel.

Dillon’s seafood restaurant is definitely a restaurant we will travel to visit again.

The day had potential for disaster when we were picked up in a wreck of a car that couldn’t make it over the speed bumps, without leaving some of its transmission behind. We were then taken to a Mangrove swamp on the edge of Ban Accord Lagoon. We met our fellow passengers, a German Couple, a newly wed couple from UK and Australia, a couple from London and two blokes from Canada.

Setting off from the jetty we had a few security rules explained, I.E. No drinking alcohol until after 2 snorkel swims. So, off down the coast with a talk about many of the bays and beaches and where they got their name from. The first snorkel stop was at Arnos Vale bay. Loads of fish and coral. The second stop was at a beach only accessible from the sea – Cotton Bay. Here we could either snorkel or walk down the beach and just enjoy the view. Beer and rum punch was now flowing, and the music was playing some good local Soca music. We had our last swim and snorkel around the corner from the village of Castara.

From Castara we headed back down the coast to a beach called “No Mans Land” for a beach BBQ and more beer and rum punch. I have to say the chicken was the best tasting I have ever tasted, and one of the Dorrian-Clarks managed to eat 6 large pieces of chicken, a record for the tour…. Some time was spent relaxing (Liming) on the beach before we headed out to the Nylon pool. The nylon pool is about waist deep warm water where we spent about an hour and a half drinking beer and rum punch before the trip back to the jetty.

Verdict – A great day out.

Today was supposed to be a split event day. Bruce and Ben were booked on a days diving, with Nicki and Dan off for a glass bottom boat tour. However Ben woke up with aching ears, which meant he couldn’t go diving. Change of plan – we all went on the glass bottom boat tour. The boat was a reasonable size, and there were only six people onboard not including the captain (Ringo).

We looked at two reefs, and then had 20 minutes to snorkel. The snorkelling was awesome. Dan had a great time flooding his mask and just generally lowering the level of the Caribbean by an inch or two; And giving Nicki heart failure. We saw loads of angel fish, parrot fish and various sorts of coral including brain coral.

After the snorkelling we went to Nylon Pool. A very shallow part of the reef where we just generally chilled out for about 20 minutes. See photo above.

A very quiet day for everybody today. Ben was feeling a bit bunged up, and stayed in the Villa while everybody else went to the House of Pancakes for breakfast. After a big feed we wandered around Crown Point trying to find the Cafe Coco to book out evening meal. Although we found Cafe Coco they were booked our for an evening function, so we had to book for tomorrow night.

The rest of the day was spent lazing by the pool, and just generally chilling out.

Well…. This was the rescheduled Rain Forest Walk. As it turned out we didn’t do the rain forest walk we did the eco tour which involved trekking up a very rocky and occasionally very slippery river. The halfway point was a waterfall with pool as shown above.

The guide was very good, pointing out various native plants and animals. We walked through an old Cocoa Plantation which had pineapple plants growing between the trees. We didn’t realise how big a pineapple bush is, seeing as each plant produces only one pineapple. See the tobago albums for pictures.

The tour was quite tiring, so we had kebabs from the local takeaway and an early night.

Another rest day… Not to bad, a big fat breakfast in the House of Pancakes. Really good pancakes with bacon, eggs and fruit, washed down with a very nice coffee. That breakfast saw us through until well after lunch.

After the House of Pancakes we went to Store Bay, which is a local bay for local people and tourists. After an hour of hefty souvenir shopping we returned to the villa with our own body weights in Tobago tat and tee shirts.

This was followed by a few hours drinking cold drinks in the pool, and just generally chilling out.

The evening meal was in a local pizzeria, preceded with cocktails in Dillons bar. The pizzas we were all served were family sized pizzas. Nicki thought the waiters aftershave was very nice, and told Bruce to buy the aftershave if he could find it.

Due to heavy rain our trip to the rain forest was postponed until Saturday. So, we spent the day chilling in the pool, eating and drinking. Highlight of the day was a trip to Trinbago’s Curry House for Rotis.  Nicki had shrimp, Dan had beef. Bruce and Ben played safe by having goat.

We are now sat in the middle of a massive tropical thunderstorm with thunder that is shaking the villa…..

Very quiet day. Bruce and Ben did a bank run to cash some travellers cheques. Some relaxing by the pool, and cocktails in Dillon’s.

Well, a whole day out of the villa touring the Island of Tobago with Neil the tour guide and a couple from Jamaica.

The journey started from the villa, via Scarborough and up to Mount Dillon where there were spectacular views of the Caribbean coast line. From there to Castara where Bruce purchased a high quality local souvenir. We then went to Englishman’s Bay which was a beautiful beach (see photo in album). We then went to Parlatuvier where the waterfall was. We all climbed up to find the source of the waterfall. There we saw Crayfish and freshwater shrimp. We went from there to Charlotteville, which was were out tour guide lived when he was younger. We went from there to Speyside where we had lunch in Jemma’s Seaview Kitchen Treehouse. We had a fantastic meal. Dan had fried fish with sweet and sour sauce, Nicki had grilled fish in Creole sauce. Bruce and Ben played safe with chicken. The meal was served home style with Breadfruit pie, Tanya Fritters, Vegetable rice, steamed vegetables and a salad. The Journey back was uneventful, following the coast round to Scarborough via Roxborough, Glamorgan, Pembroke, Goodwood and Mount St George, going past the Dwight York Stadium.

Well, a rest day today. Bruce and Daniel went and did another big shop with Geewan the taxi driver.

Plenty of time for the pool and no visitors as it is a public holiday (Emancipation Day).

The highlight of the day was a meal in Dillon’s Fish Restaurant. Nicki had the Seafood platter which was lobster, shrimp and catch of the day which was Kingfish. Ben had the fish platter wish was flying fish, kingfish and red snapper. Bruce and Daniel played safe with chicken