Galdalf Murphy at the 100 Club

Or to give them their full name: Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams.

Dublin

Tobago - last day

From Tobago

Our last full day in Tobago started with a breakfast of fresh fruit.  Nothing unusual in that, but this time the fruit was picked from trees growing int he wild rather than bought from the market. First a paw paw picked from the forest surrounding the bird sanctuary next to our villa development.  This was followed by mangoes from a tree growing in the villa development itself.  All very ripe and especially tasty.

The end of the day was again spent drinking cocktails and watching the sunset from the Pavilion Bar.

Tobago, Dives 5-6

From Tobago Diving

Yesterday we headed to Speyside on the North East tip of Tobago for another day's diving.  This is reputed to be one of the best diving spots in the whole Caribbean, so I was keen to experience it for myself.  We were diving with the same dive shop that we had used for our earlier dives in Tobago.

The first dive was over a wonderful coral garden, jutting out from an island called Little Tobago, and was teaming with many different types of fish.  We were particularly lucky to spot several larger creatures including a reef shark, giant turtle, green moray (over 3 m long and swimming along out of its cave, which is unusual), nurse shark, barracuda, and the (supposedly) second largest brain coral in the world.  Unfortunately my camera was not working on this dive, so I'm afraid you will just have to take my word for this!

The second dive was not quite so exciting but still interesting enough.  Unfortunately no larger creatures this time.

Sunday School

We paid a visit to Sunday School at Buccoo. This is a weekly gathering of locals and tourists to watch and dance to a couple of the local pan bands (see video). Also lots of food and gift stalls, plus one or two do-it-yourself betting games.

Tobago, Dives 3-4

From Tobago Diving

From Tobago Diving

Yesterday was another diving day.  We went with the same dive shop as before, this time to the reefs off Mount Irvine beach.  I managed to spot a lobster, moray, blowfish and small turtle.  Well, actually the divemaster saw most of these before I did  - it takes some experience to know what to look for.  Unfortunatley I failed to catch most of these on camera.  Luckily for me the coral does not move too fast and is easier to snap!

In the evening, we ate out at a very pleasant restaurant at Buccoo, which served excellent Spanish style food and did a good line in rum punches.

Tobago - Day 6

From Tobago

From Tobago

Today's highlight was tea and birdwatching at the Arnos Vale Hotel.  The tea included sandwiches and cakes that have not been seen in the UK for the past 40 years, including fish paste and sandwich spread fillings.  Great!  The Mot Mot (colourful local bird in picture) had a neat party trick: swooping in while you are eating your sandwich ( they seemed particularly keen on the sandwich spread) and grabbing it from your hands just before you get it into your mouth!

Other birds spotted included banana tits, woodpeckers and various types of humming bird.  These are fiendishly difficult to capture on camera.

Tonbago Diving

Today we went for a couple of dives with a dive shop based at Pigeon Point.  The dive sites were only a 10 minute boat ride from the beach, on one of the coral reefs that extend from the South West tip of the island.  Some interesting coral to be seen, as well as sightings of sting rays, nurse sharks, morays and various other small and large fish.  

In the evening we went up to a posh local bar for cocktails to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately not a good nigh for a spectacular display due to too much haze.  Cocktails were good value though, even if made  to a rather unconventional recipe!

More diving photos

Tobago, Day 2-3

Yesterday was mostly spent down at the local Grafton Beach, where the main entertainment was the Tobago International Triathlon competition.  It was exhausting just watching.  I hate to think what it was like actually competing in that heat.

Today we did a round-the-island trip. This included a snorkeling stop at Englishman's Bay, and a lunch stop at Charlotteville.  Unfortunately this being Sunday, the locals also decided to stop for the day, so no lunch.  Our final stop of the day was Speyside where we checked out a dive shop for possible future scuba expeditions, and managed to find somewhere open for food.  Then a long and winding journey back to Grafton via Scarborough on the Atlantic cost road.

Travelling around Tobago is a strange experience, not least because all the place names seem to have been chosen by pulling a random selection of Scottish and English names out of a hat.  So for example, we are in Grafton, which is near to Plymouth, but only a short drive on to Scarborough!