Make a friend in Paradise, lose a day in Paradise

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We met a guy who knew a guy…

In Castara’s Coffee Shop I asked a guy about taking us out in a boat. His name was Hilly. He arranged for a guy named Jed to take us out in his boat.

Small boat, rough seas and an exciting trip along the rocky coast to picturesque Englishman’s Bay. On the way Marika and Will fished, but no bites. We put on our masks, snorkels and flippers and flipped out of the boat into the Caribbean Sea. Below us was an amazing coral reef.

We saw more colourful and different sized fish than we could count. Endless groves of fan coral, dotted with brain and branch coral. Needlefish, banded butterfly fish, queen triggerfish, blue tang, blue chromis, sergeant major, scrawled cowfish, blue hamlet, harlequin bass, fairy basslet, indigo hamlet, tiger grouper and more.

“The boat ride I thought was scary ‘cause there was an inch from our bodies from the water in the boat and we went over some huge rough waves. The coral I thought was beautiful and entertaining” said Marika.

Once we got back, Will made friends with some kids from the village on the beach and they played a mix of cricket and baseball with a board and an old tennis ball. “It was really fun. It just started with me and two other guys, then two more people joined in and the game became more like real baseball” said Will. As his blog title suggests, he made a friend here in Tobagan paradise and we passed one more day of our journey.

The afternoon was hanging out at the villa and swimming in the sea. Dad helped local fishers drag a fishing boat from the beach into the surf.

Tomorrow we fly back to Port of Spain and lounge around the Hyatt pool, then early to bed as we wake up Tuesday morning at 1:00 AM Ottawa time to head to the airport, fly to Toronto, collect our van and drive back to Ottawa for the world’s biggest pizza! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

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Comments

[Sylvia Smith]

Love the post! Pics are so great!
Are bromeliads plants? They're really weird! Up on the electrical wires. Interesting....

[Stephen Skoutajan]

Thank You!
A big thank you for taking me along on your adventures. I got a sunburn reading your account of the boat ride and I felt I made a new friend on a tropical beach using the language of baseball. All the memories are no doubt etched in your memories - a shared experience never to be lost - a priceless treasure. Thanks including me.

[Paul Jones]

Wonderful Trip
Thanks for the vicarious vacation!

[Elaine]

bromeliads!
That is crazy about the bromeliads growing up on the wires! Love it! And the snorkelling sounds awesome........