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The last three days on Tobago

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

The last few days we relaxed:

Day 1:

The second day there was a bit more action. At 4:30 a.m. we left for a rainforest tour with Chris. In the evening we enjoyed some grilled lobster at the Sunday School in Buccoo.

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The third day we left for home. But there was a little bit of action on the flight back home:

First the departure was delayed. The pilot told us that a Chinese woman was stopped at the immigration. She is supposedly married to a Trini but she didn’t have her marriage certificate with her plus her husband was somewhere on Trinidad, not on Tobago. So they didn’t let her in the country and she had to be brought back on the plane. Finally we could start. Shortly before landing our plane turned around and we circled over Barbados twice. A plane that was starting got a bird impact in its engine and now they had to clean the runway. Finally we landed on Barbados. We had to go through the scanners even though we were just on transfer. The scanners were broken – so first we had to wait 15 minutes, then we were guided to some other scanners. Some people just left for some shops… Back in the plain we had the next delay – there were some double seatings and the flight security was longer on board discussing with the people who was allowed to sit where. Only one thing worked out fine – even though there were strikes in Frankfurt, we didn’t face any problems there and got our flight to Vienna!

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Island Man Tour

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

Today we made a snorkeling and swimming tour. After some delay we’ve been picked up at 11. The motor boat took us out on the ocean along the northern coast. Today the wind was very strong making high waves.

Dexter, our guide, had to change the tour because the water was too choppy. Instead of following the north coast we went straight to a coral reef to go snorkeling. The waves made it quite strenuous. When I touched some corals with my feet it was over – I only wanted to get back out. That was too close!

After snorkeling we went to No Man’s Land. Together with 100 other tourists we got some BBQ and enjoyed the sun. Next stop was the Nylon Pool were we bathed and drank some beer.

The day ended with a wonderful sunset.

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Buccoo

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

Back on Tobago we walked through our little village. Our apartment (Reefview Apartments) is on a little reef with a beautiful view over Buccoo Bay.

We spent the day at the beach then dining at El Pescador fish restaurant. We had lobster, squid and shrimps.

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Pitch Lake

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

Tonight we will fly back to Tobago. We organised a driver to bring us to the southern part of the island – to the pitch lake. They ripped us off our money but still it was highly impressive and interesting. I read in my Trinidad guide that the asphalt of pitch lake is partly used even in asphalt for Austrian and German roads! The pitch lake is a natural bitumen deposit. It is quite funny to walk on it, because everything is quite soft and you leave tracks. Interesting is the form as well – the pitch lake has lots of little hills with splittings, the way the asphalt is being pressed upwards. In these splittings there is water and you can dig out tar with a stick.

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Carnival!

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

Colorful, loud and absolutely cool!

Things that have to be mentioned as really positive: It was totally peaceful, almost no alcohol, really great organisation, many many securities and lots of cleaning up personnel in between the bands!

Highlights for me were the Native American bands, the sailors and MacFarlane.

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J’Ouvert and Carnival Monday

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

After an early rising at 3 a.m. the shuttle brought us to town. After a short walk we reached our band. Unfortunately they were totally chaotic and in panic. Their bandwagon had an accident on the highway and was lying on its side. After half an hour with free beer and rum-coke (yes! RUM-coke, not COKE-rum!) we decided to search for another band. First we followed a band with loudspeakers up to the max and then we luckily found the steel band I was following the last time three years ago. Stephan immediately made friends with the bathtub full of mud they provided and dunked in as a whole – including his mobile. The rest of us stayed with the colors.

At dawn we were quite drunk and took the shuttle back to the hotel. After a loooong shower and some hours of sleep we went back to town. Carnival Monday is quite okay but most of the masqueraders don’t go with the full costumes. Still we could see a lot.

Finally we had some Phoulouri with mango and pepper sauce. These are little fried balls with sauce. They were really good – only the pepper sauce was terribly hot!

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Botanical Garden and Port of Spain

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

We were a bit more relaxed today since tomorrow the carnival will start at 4 a.m. After a late breakfast we took the shuttle to Port of Spain. First we went to the botanical gardens.

Then we crossed Queens Park Savannah and went through town in search of the kiddie’s carnival but we came too late. Until sunset we walked through the town.

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Asa Wright Vogelreservat and Caroni Sümpfe

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

Today we spent almost all day at the Asa Wright Bird Sanctuary. We had a really nice tour guide who showed us lots of birds and plants. After a really delicious meal we spent one-and-a-half hours on the terrace watching birds – fantastic!

On the way back home we succeeded in convincing the driver to drop us at the Caroni Swamps. With a boat we went into the mangroves to see the scarlet ibis, the great egret and the cattle heron.

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Pigeon Point and Trinidad

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

As our flight to Trinidad was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. we decided to relax on the beach. Pigeon Point, the most beautiful beach of Tobago, is not far from our hotel. We went swimming a bit and David and Susanne take pictures of the kite surfers. After a cocktail on the beach we left for Trinidad

At the airport in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad, eight traditional carnival costumes were on display. Here’s the description next to the costumes (The 2012 Pictures you will find under the Carnival Folder):

Pierrot Grenade:
Pierrot Grenade was a finely dressed masquerader and deeply supreme scholar / jester proud of his ability to spell any word in his own fashion and quoting Shakespearean characters as Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Othello at length. Pierrot Grenade, is a satire on the richer and more respectable Pierrot.

We didn’t see any of those but this was the closest to a Pierrot Grenade:

Baby Doll:
The baby doll character, which is now extinct, was played up to the 1930s. The masquerader portrays a gaily-dressed doll, decked out in a frilled dress and bonnet. In her arms, she carries a doll, which symbolizes an illegitimate baby. The masquerader portraying the baby doll, stops male passers-by and accuses them of being the baby’s father.

We didn’t see any of these, but MacFarlain did a gruesome version of it:

Clown:
Traditionally clowns were considered “fools” and carried all kind of antics to entertain and interest a crowd. These clowns were dressed in baggy clothing with big red noses, wild hair, big shoes and often, white faces.

Even though we didn’t see any of these either, there were some clowney characters:

Mad Cow:
The Cow Band, which dates back to the days of the Camboulay was traditionally played by abattoir employees. On Carnival Monday it consisted of a small group of men dressed in gowns of sacking made from rice bags.

Here is a version of carnival 2012:

Dame Lorraine:
The Dame Lorraine was a mas character played by the 18th and early 19th century French planters, who would dress up in elegant costumes of the French aristocracy and parade in groups at private homes/yards on Carnival Sunday night.

Another one that was present:

Suck me nose sailor:
This character was introduced during the 1880s when American, French and English naval ships came to Trinidad. Today it is one of the most dominant Carnival characters in Carnival and it has been modified into many different styles.

No “suck me nose” but lots of sailors:

Jab Jab:
The name of this mas is derived from the French patois for “Diable Diable” meaning a pretty devil mas resembling a mediaeval jester’s costume.

One band actually was dressed as Jab Jabs:

Bat:
The bat costume is normally black or brown and fitted tightly over the masquerader’s body. The headpiece covers the head entirely and is made from swansdown and papier mache face, teeth, nose and round eyes. The mouth is used for vision and occasionally the mask is lifted to his forehead for a breath of air.

Auch hiervon eine:

Other traditional carnival characters are:

Fancy Indians:
Among the most spectacular mas costumes, Fancy Indians are based on the indigenous peoples of North America. The wearer decides how expensive or expansive he wants this costume to be. Bands of Indians can comprise a warrior chief and his family, a group of chiefs, or a group of warriors.

Moko Jumbie:

The stilt dancer known throughout the Caribbean, is a traditional folk character that was originally brought from West Africa. The word “Moko” is derived from the name of a West African God and “jumbie” or “ghost” was added by liberated slaves after Emancipation. It was believed that the height of the stilts was associated with the ability to foresee evil faster than ordinary men. The Moko Jumbie was felt to be a protector of the village.

In Trinidad they wanted to sell us iguanas for dinner but we decided to go to Sweet Lime instead.

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Cocricos and Englishmen’s Bay

Urlaub / Vacation - 3 months ago - cheesy

A little bit later than the day before we left in northern direction. First we planned our tours for the second part of our stay in Tobago. Then we circled a bit around in search of a petrol station that actually HAS some petrol. Suddenly it was lunchtime when we passed by Mt. Irvine Bay. So we decided to try the flying fish and the shark with some fries and bread.

With a full belly we just went a few curves to an abandoned farm were Tobago’s National birds, the Cocricos, are being fed. Feeding times were 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. so we decided to feed them ourselves with the skins of our guavas. It was amazing! A whole bunch of these pheasant-like birds came to try our fruits and we could see them from very short distance.

As soon as they finished we decided to follow the hiking trails that were described on a sign as they were supposed to have an amazing view. So up the hill we went – through the bush. But unfortunately the amazing view was overgrown. But still we could see lots of beautiful fauna and flora.

Back at the car we decided upon an evening drive around half of the island to Englishmen’s Bay. Englishmen’s Bay is a very steep beach with always high waves which were lots of fun!

We didn’t get any dinner there and didn’t find anything on our way home. The amazing idea of our travel guide to go to the “Lobster Terminator” was a bad idea in the end – the fish restaurant seemed to be non-existing. Instead we ate very delicious pizza and then we packed our bags because soon we’ll go to Trinidad!

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