Tobago Cays
How many different colors of blue can you imagine? How many different colors of Turquoise can you put in the color palette of your mind? I can see them all as I sit here on my boat in the Tobago Cays. The dark indigo blue slowly changing to the deep turquoise. The deep turquoise blending into the crystal clear light sea blue green. This panorama of blues extending as far as the eye can see. It is interrupted by a sea turtle popping it’s head out of the water. Then there is another turtle and soon there are six sea turtles popping there heads above the water.
The Tobago Cays are a small group of uninhabited islands that are part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. This national park is protected from the Atlantic ocean by a horseshoe reef that extends for miles in both directions. Small white sand beaches blend into the kaleidoscope of blues.
There is no protection from the wind so the last two nights have been very rocky to say the least. Last week when I was here with my sister and other friends, it was so windy and stirred up that we gave up and went somewhere else to spend the night after spending our first sleepless night here. This week it is much better and the sunshine makes it a picture perfect place to be.
When we arrived, we are greeted by people on boats. One helps us with hooking up to the mooring ball. In exchange for his help he tells us about a lobster bbq on the beach that he does every night. We had planned on doing this so we readily agree and make plans to be picked up at 6:00.
We put on our swimsuits, grab our fins and dive off the boat. This is our second swim and snorkel of the day and I have found my skin to be a little red from too much sun. I have made it for over 5 months without getting a sunburn and today it finally happened. That is what happens when you get too complacent with mother nature. The water feels great. There is an enormous amount of current and swells so we decide flippers will be mandatory or we might never get back to the boat.
Taffa, our boat person and bbq man for the night picks us up and takes us to a sandy beach on a nearby island. We watch as live fresh lobsters are pulled out of the water and cut in half to get ready for the grill. Soon there are five other tables full of sailors. Only the table behind us speaks english and it is with a very British accent.
Our plates arrive with local vegetables, rice, stuffed potatoes, and plantains . OOPS, we forgot to bring silverware. We both look at each other start laughing and dig in with our fingers. It is absolutely delicious. Taffa brings us over the huge split lobster and see us eating with our fingers. He asked “ Did you forget your silverware that I asked you to bring.”
“Yes we did” we reply.
Soon he comes back with some silverware for us. We thank him profusely but we were having pretty good luck with using our fingers. The rice was the biggest problems. Trying to get more than a few kernels between your fingers and safely to your mouth was going to make for a long, slow dinner. The food was wonderful and we are both stuffed just like you feel after having finished thanksgiving dinner. A large beautiful women comes over to the table to ask how our meals were. Her name is Patricia. We ask her if she is the one that prepared this scrumptious feast. She answers that she was and we compliment her on here skills. We ask where she learned how to cook so well.
“My mother was chef and the skills were handed down to me” Patricia answered.
“Well you certainly have done her proud” I reply.
The wind is still blowing the next morning. I had a pretty sleepless night with the lines from the mooring ball banging on the boat and the waves pitching us side to side. I finally move to the galley where I can get away from the noise and feel a little more secure on the couch. I ask my crew mate how she slept and she replies ”Just fine. I can pretty much sleep anywhere”
“Well an afternoon nap is definitely in my schedule for today.
After fighting a lot of current yesterday, we hop in the dingy and go over to the protected area in front of the beach where the turtles are suppose to be. I had remembered some very good snorkeling on the north side of the island so we started heading in that direction. Soon we are swimming with two sea turtles. They just flow through the water. So graceful, gentle, and peaceful. A ray soon catches our attention and we start following it. When we pop our heads above water we discover that the strong current and waves have pushed much farther than we intended to be. While just looking around we are being pushed further and further away. We start swimming against the current.
“Holy crap this is a lot of work. ‘ I say to myself. Unless I am going all out I go backwards. if I even stop to clear my mask I get pushed further back. It is really good that she is a strong swimmer and has been spending time in the pool. Soon she is ahead of me but she keeps checking back to make sure I am doing ok. Slow but sure we finally make it back to the dingy.
“That was a whole lot more work than I had planned on” I say.
Arriving back at the boat, we fix some lunch and then I take my well deserved nap.
I wake up and head outside. She has taken a nap also and as she slowly awakens, I see a sea turtle next to the boat. For the next hour we just watch the sea turtles swimming near the boat. At one time there are six grabbing gulps of air before heading back down to feed. It is great fun and soon we both have many photos of the turtles.
Just another day in paradise.