Wish You Were Here!

Welcome to …… Tobago! Wish you were here …. me too! This is (rather unfortunately) a photo of a photo from a trip to Tobago in 2004 and boy do I wish I was lying there now and because I'm not, time to revisit in my sketchbook.

Here we go, let’s head off to tour the lovely island of Tobago in the Caribbean. 

Tobago is the wee brother of the Island state Trinidad and Tobago (about 300 square kilometres) and its capital Scarborough is a popular port of call for cruise ships. We toured the island with a nice German couple in a hired car, unfortunately when we popped into Scarborough it was half-day closing, so we just strolled around taking in the atmosphere. Street food is just as popular in Tobago as it is all over the Caribbean, here the speciality is Bake and Shark; there were stands everywhere selling this typical flatbread with filleted and battered shark and a million different variations of fillings but for once in our lives we didn’t give it a go … my husband is a big shark fan! The shark is (or was, what with endangered species I think now alternatives are offered) caught in the surf at the edges of the reefs surrounding the island.

Speaking of endangered species, the little red striped cat (we called him Ozeflott) moved into our hotel room on our first day. Ozeflott enjoyed the comforts of a comfy double bed, air conditioning and meals of the local sausages which we (to our shame) smuggled out of breakfast. During the day Ozeflott roamed about the hotel gardens trying to impress with his acrobatics, he liked to zoom up trees peering down at you from above. In the evenings he would be waiting for us at our room door; snuggled on the bed he'd sleep till 4am when he then attacked your feet to be let out. Apparently, he adopted a family for the period of their stay and when it was time to leave he'd find the next comfy room and feeders. Adorable! 

Tobago has some lovely beaches and secluded bays, some of them very off the beaten track like Englishman's bay where we were virtually alone but the one in my sketch is the famous Pigeon Point beach. You have to pay an entry fee to get in but the beach is that typically beautiful Caribbean white sand, palm trees and turquoise water beach, offering water sports, drinks and facilities like loos. There were quite a few tourists there but it still felt quite secluded. 

We pottered around the island, looking at old forts from colonial times and popped in to see the famous ''mystery tombstone'' , the inscription is to Mrs Betty Stiven and her child, Beloved wife of Alex Stiven who died aged 23 in 1783 and now the mystery!

''She was a mother without knowing it

And a wife without letting her husband know it

Except by her kind indulgences to him''

Hmmm, this riddle has inspired many different theories over the last 300 years from both locals and tourists alike. If you think you have an answer, shhhhh! I wouldn’t let on, I'm sure the island is happy to have the mystery tombstone as a tourist attraction and we certainly popped in to see it. Maybe we should have drunk  a couple more Carib beers to help us  solve the mystery!