Now This is Paradise: Tobago Cays

Before the mayhem of the end of the year I was able to take a very relaxing trip to the Tobago Cays (pronounced Keys).  The trip was organization by one of my peace corps friend’s host father.  It was an all inclusive day trip that included tons of delicious Vincy food, drinks, and a day at a private island.  There were about 15 PCVs who went so we had our own boat.  It was a relatively tiny boat, something you might take on a lake (in my opinion).  The ride to the islands was a bit nauseating.  The waves seemed to toss the tiny boat every which way, which made me a bit sea sick.  Not to mention I clearly was sitting on the wrong side of the boat, because by the time we reached the Cays, I was soaked!  It was a perfectly clear day though, hot and sunny, so I dried pretty quickly.  

When we arrived at the island we anchored just a few feet from the shore.  We had to take a ladder down from the Catamaran and “swim” to shore. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.  The beach has sand white as snow and waters the color of turquois. I really thought that it only looked like that on calendars and post cards, due to photoshop or something.  Shortly after anchoring, Liz and Kiersten and I went exploring to the other side of the island, which was all of 50 yards wide.  When we reached the other side we got caught in a brief rain storm that passing by.  Fortunately, we ran into some fellow PCVs who brought a snorkel and mask so we got to go snorkeling in the reef.  We didn’t see much, but as you can see we still had a lot of fun playing with my underwater camera. ;-)

One of the Tobago Cays islands that we anchored at.

 Union Island (one of the Grenadine islands) in the distance.

 Liz and Kiersten ready to get off the boat!

50 yards to the other side of the island.

 Rain storm in the distance.  The tiny island towards the right of the frame was used to film scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean.

 Snorkeling. 

 Underwater camera fun!

After our snorkeling adventure it was lunch time, where we gorged on fish, meat (for the meat eaters), corn pie, macaroni pie, fruit, you name it, we ate it, etc. It was all cooked by my friends host father and it was absolutely delicious.  After lunch and some more swimming in the crystal clear waters, we took a water taxi to one of the other Cays to swim with the sea turtles.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.  Thank god for this underwater camera.  It finally paid off after 4 years!

The catamaran.

 Paradise.

 Sting ray, NBD.

 Baby sea turtle!!!

 Poisonous fish.

 Looks like Kiersten was on the wrong side of the boat this time!  Those goggles came in handy though!

Thats all for now!