We move up the coast

Friday 08 Jan 2016

Tobago Buccoo-Castara

Today is moving day, we leave our small apartment in Buccoo and switch to another apartment about 20km up the coast. We had originally wanted to stay for two weeks in Castara, but could only get 10 days in the property that we wanted.

After breakfast we repacked our bags and tidied up the apartment. It has been nice here, but we didn't really have anywhere to sit outside. By 1100, we had packed the car and said our goodbyes to our hostess. I discovered earlier in the morning that a pair of mockingbirds were nesting in the bush outside our apartment. On closer examination, I could see there were at least two chicks in the nest.

We headed east up the north coast on roads we'd travelled on Wednesday as far as Moriah. He we turned left heading for Castara. The roads on the northern side of the island are narrow and are very twisty. They also climb up through the mountainous rainforest so there are some spectacular hills. The views down to the coast are spectacular. We stopped off at a viewpoint high in the hills and took a few photos looking down to Castara. We also saw some yellow-winged parrots.

We headed on down to Castara and identified the entrance to our new home and then continued further north to find somewhere to eat our sandwiches. Englishmans Bay was pretty but we continued a bit further north and found a spot overlooking the coast. After lunch, we returned to Englishmans Bay and stopped for a beer at Eulas on the beach.

We decided that we'd return to Castara to get some cash from the ATM. Things went downhill from here! The cash machine refused point blank to give us any money and we realised that the only other machine we'd seen and used successfully was back down near Buccoo. As you can guess, we were thrilled by the idea of driving back there, but that's what we did, this time negotiating Scarbirough without any mishaps.

Back at the bank, we stocked up on cash and also refuelled the car. Petrol costs about 35p a litre. From here, we retraced our route all the way back to Castara. By now it was time to move in. The only access to the apartment is up a set of stairs that climbs above the road.

There was no sign of Doris who was supposed to be meeting us, but fortunately a Canadian family was in the process of moving out from the next door apartment and they suggested that we try the door to our apartment. It was open, so we moved in. Doris still hasn't appeared!

The view from here is spectacular, we can see way down the coast and can hear the waves on the beach. The bird life is prolific too, but more about that tomorrow. We walked into the village for dinner and had grilled spiced tuna with salad, vegetables and lentils, simple but tasty.

Now, I'm sitting on the balcony and can hear reggae from one of the bars below us mixed in with the sounds of the sea. Earlier, I found a hummingbird feeder and filled it with sugar water to attract hummingbirds in the morning. Within seconds of hanging it up, the feeder was besieged by bats, they are queueing up to feed from it! I hope they are eating any stray mosquitoes at the same time.

This apartment has no a/c, it has louvred doors and floor standing fans and a mosquito net around the bed. Hopefully, we will be lulled to sleep by the sound of the sea.