TOBAGO CAYS
Aurelia
Shirley and Michael Webb-Speight
Fri 19 Jan 2007 13:03
this will appear out of order - somehow it didnt post on the day
located about 5 miles NE of Union Island this is a collection of tiny
tropical islands set on a large horseshoe reef.
the Tobago Cays are truly lovely. We anchored out amongst the coral reefs
to the west of Mayreau island. There is nothing but the reef between us and
Africa. Glad the weather stayed settled as I would hate to have to find my
way out of here in the dark!
We spent the afternoon snorkeling and swimming - the second day we spent
mainly in the water snorkeling on the reef and then a picnic on the nearest
island under the coconut palms. the kids were making sandcastles whilst
Shirley and I chatted idly. noticed a wooden box floating in the water near
the kids and saw a mark on it that made me think it was poison. went to
investigate and found it was a skull and cross-bones - and in the water
around it - REAL PIRATE TREASURE. We spent about 2 hours gathering gold
doubloons (390 of them) dozens of gold and silver necklaces, pearl strings,
and even a skull with a glass eye!
shame it was all made of plastic - but an unforgettable experience.
we imagine that it had been buried as part of a charter boat treasure hunt -
and then washed out to sea.
There were numerous turtles in the water swimming with us (or avoiding us
perhaps!), and manta rays. No sharks that we saw. The whole place was like
the brochures of the Caribbean.