The taxi from downtown Georgetown to the airport took around 35 minutes and it was US$25. On the way, we passed a bunch of small towns full of 2nd and 3rd generation Indians (I’m referring to Indians from the country India). I could see how Guyana could be close to 50% Indian origin. In case you want to avoid the taxi, the other option was to take the shared bus from Starbroek Market, but it only left when the bus was full. If you have plenty of time, that can be an option and it costs only a few dollars. Plan ahead, since it may take up to one hour and a quarter to get to the airport.

From Guyana, it was a short one-hour plus plane ride to my next country, Trinidad and Tobago. I had a layover at Trinidad Airport on Trinidad island, since I was on my way to Tobago first. The plane ride from Trinidad to Tobago was roughly 20 minutes and I arrived in no time.

My first connection to Trinidad and Tobago

I first heard of T&T during the Olympic games. Their athletes in athletics were really good at the short distance running. My first encounter with a Trinidadian was in Medan, Indonesia. I was on a work trip to meet my fellow colleagues and there was one guy by the name of Chris Singh, who was from T&T. Visually, he looked Indian but he spoke in a funny Caribbean accent. At that time, he was working out of Brisbane, Australia and he told me that T&T had a good amount of oil and gas activity. Chris started off in T&T, but was eventually moved around the world through the company we worked for.

Landing in Tobago

Anyhow, I decided to go to both islands since Chris told me that Tobago was the real beauty of the two. I landed in ANR Robinson International Airport and walked out of the airport to look for the shared taxis. I booked a guesthouse at Buccoo (about 10 km away) and in order to get there, I had to take two shared taxis. The shared taxi location was not a taxi stand, but was literally in front of a take-out restaurant. There were no signs and I just stood there waiting with my backpack. In less than five minutes, a taxi came by. Looking at my GPS, it did not look like a far journey to get to Buccoo.
There was one main road from the airport, which was called Milford Road. I got off at the corner of Shirvan Road and took another taxi towards Buccoo. Believe me, it was not that difficult to get out to Buccoo and the taxi ride was between $1.5 – $2 per ride and they had a set route. I told the first driver where I was going and he dropped me off at the junction and told me to catch another taxi going east. The taxi driver was really friendly and I enjoyed listening to his soka and reggae music. About twenty minutes later, I was at my guesthouse.

 

 

Fish Tobago Guesthouse

I read some bad reviews on TripAdvisor about the owner of Fish Tobago Guesthouse acting weirdly to female visitors, but that did not deter me from staying there. It was one of the most cost effective places to stay. I paid US$25 for my private room, which was nothing special, but I had my own bed, bathroom, and privacy. They had dorm beds that can range from US$15+ and for that price, it was a great deal. The location was about a 5-minute walk to Buccoo Beach and there were two small supermarkets close by.

 

 

Local Boat Party

On the first night, I met a Belgian traveler Max that was there for one month and a friendly English couple that was there for a week. I ended up hanging out most of my time with them. I also got in touch with some local Couchsurfing people and befriended Krystal and Vanessa. On one evening, Max and I tagged along to a local boat party event with Krystal and Vanessa. The boat left from Pigeon Point and it was a private boat where we were allowed to bring your own alcohol and there were around 100 people crammed in there. The boat was supposed to leave at 8pm, but when we got there at 7:50pm, there was no one on the boat and it eventually left at 9pm (people did not show up until 8:30pm!). Welcome to Caribbean time!

 

 

 

We were on the boat and it was packed by the time it was leaving shore. The boat had two floors and we started off on the top floor and we could barely move. The DJ blasted soka music and people were dancing like crazy. Can you imagine 50 people dancing and dry humping? I looked to the left and to the right and our friend Vanessa was bent over as well with her friend. Wow! I looked at Max and we were just utterly surprised. FYI, we were definitely the ONLY two foreigners on that boat. We drank our rum mix (yup, it was the Caribbean and rum was the go to drink) and went with the tune. We hung out upstairs for a while and when it started raining, we went right downstairs. The party continued and it was awfully hot downstairs with all the guests crammed into one location, but nevertheless, it was an unusual experience… let’s say. 

 

 

Pigeon Point Beach

On a separate day, I took two shared taxis to get to Pigeon Point Beach. The beach was close to the airport and it was easy for me to navigate there. It was known as one of the best beaches in Tobago with white powdery sands, fringed by palm trees with turquoise blue waters. I met up with Crystal and Vanessa and their friends and had an awesome time at the beach. The beach was relatively crowded and there were two bars that served fast food and drinks. After lunch, I went on a snorkeling trip alone to the Nylon Pool.

 

 

There were various companies there and a couple of guys hustling, but stay calm and negotiate and I’m sure you will be able to get the local price. The trip was roughly two hours and I think I paid around $US15. The boat took us snorkeling in a few places, which were only a few minutes away from shore. The main event was the Nylon Pool, which was a natural, meter deep crystal clear swimming pool with a sandy bottom about one meter in height in the middle of the ocean. I was able to stand on the sandy bottom and there was no real need for swimming and kids can hang out there as well. Supposedly, all the corals broke off and created this sandy bottom in a still lagoon. It was a pretty unique experience and I recommend everyone to try the snorkeling trip.

 

 

Sunday Night Buccoo Party

Every Sunday evening, there was a party right near the guesthouse where I stayed. It was the famous Sunday party and everyone from all over Tobago showed up. It was a five-minute walk to the party and I went with Alex and Susan that were staying at the guesthouse. It was basically an outdoor party with yummy food stands with live soka music by the pier. We arrived around 8pm and the place was full and half the people were tourists. I did not know that many tourists were on Tobago. We tried the local cuisine like the doubles and chicken dishes and had a few drinks, listening to loud soka music. Alex’s parents and their friends were there as well, so we mingled with them for a few hours, having a good laugh and watching foreigners dancing to soka music. I definitely recommend going to this event, but probably a good idea to leave before midnight, since after that, it turns into more of a local event and was a bit shady. A good idea not to walk along the beach at that time of the night. There were some shady transactions going on. I will leave it up to your imagination.

 

 

I stayed in Tobago for four nights in total, but it would have been nice to stay for a few more days. There were several trips out to the eastern part of the island, which was more remote than the western. Next time, I definitely want to venture out to the remote side and hopefully, visit during Carnival time. T&T goes crazy during Carnival.

General Information
• Currency – Trinidad and Tobago Dollars
• Money Exchange – There were plenty of money exchanges all over the island
• Internet was widely available everywhere and sometimes free at public spaces
• Language – English was the official language (they had a Caribbean accent)
• Population – Tobago only has 60,000 people

Where to stay
I stayed at the Fish Tobago Guesthouse as written above, but there were plenty of other guesthouses and big hotels near the airport. Whatever suits you, just book through the internet or call ahead.

Where to eat
There were plenty of restaurants all around town and little joints selling all kinds of Indian and Caribbean dishes. There were plenty of road side vendors selling fruits and coconuts!

Yummy! I will go over more of them in the Trinidad section.

Tips
• Safety can be an issue in T&T but Tobago felt much safer than Trinidad. In either case, you should take caution when walking around after the sun goes down.
• Make sure to try all the lovely food available in T&T.
• When booking tours, make sure that the price in in T&T Dollars and check out several places to figure out the market price. Some places may over charge tourists. You don’t want to be one of them.

I visited in April of 2016