Little Tobago

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 5 Nov 2010 23:03
Day Out to Little Tobago
 
 
 
   
 
 

We introduced the Moth's to the concept of 'the Berger House'

 

Wayne, owner operator of Kennedy Tours, picked us up bright and early for our day trip out to Little Tobago. We passed through his home village en route north and saw the mudslide damage. Tobago is good at the 'clear up' after disasters and events, such as this current damage done by the passing of Hurricane Tomas. Everyone in a village puts to work with their own shovels and wheelbarrows, signing a worksheet that is passed to the Authorities for payment, everyone gets stuck in to the task and within days most was back to normal, fallen trees were left to the council to clear with heavy machinery.

 

 

 

We got on a tour boat and soon passed Ian Fleming's house (the 007 author). From a distance didn't look too bad, but up close was in a poor, deserted state. 

 

   

 

We saw birds and butterflies and some locals let their chickens roam Little Tobago

 

Little Tobago (or Bird of Paradise Island) is a small island off the northeastern coast of Tobago, one square kilometre in area and is located at 11° 18' north latitude and 60° 31' west longitude. The highest point on the island is approximately four hundred feet above sea level. The island supports dry forest. It is an important breeding site for seabirds such as Red-billed Tropicbird, Audubon's Shearwater, Brown Booby, Brown Noddy, Sooty and Bridled Terns. A few pairs of White-tailed Tropicbirds have also recently started nesting here. Little Tobago is also a good site from which to see birds which breed on neighbouring small islands, including Red-footed Booby and Magnificent Frigatebird. The latter species is frequently seen harassing the tropicbirds, boobies and terns.

 

 

History: In 1909 Sir William Ingram introduced the Greater Bird of Paradise, Paradisaea apoda to the island in an attempt to save the species from overhunting for the plume trade in its native New Guinea. About forty five juvenile birds were introduced to the island. After Ingram's death in 1924 his heirs deeded the island to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago as a wildlife sanctuary. The birds survived on the island until at least 1958 when they were filmed by a National Geographic crew. There are no reliable records after 1963 when Hurricane Flora hit the island and the population is presumed to be extinct.
 
 
 
 
View from Little Tobago of the mainland
 
 
 
 
A huge draw to Little Tobago - to see the world's largest brain coral in the Kelleston Drain, sadly Tomas had swirled up too much sand so
 
 
 
 
I borrowed this picture from an advertisement for the area
 
 
The sea between Tobago and Little Tobago is shallow and glass-bottomed boats such as the one we were on, normally see the brain coral, other corals and brightly-coloured tropical fish very easily, but due to the effects on the water of the passing of Hurricane Tomas it was like looking down into pea soup. This area is a popular area for snorkeling and diving, especially on Angel Reef in front of Goat Island, we were none to happy to actually pass over some divers, seeing their bubbles - this just to pass some cigarettes from our  skipper to the dive boat skipper........
 
 
 
 
 
 
Back ashore we had a wonderful local lunch in the famous Treehouse Restaurant, with hungry locals watching for tit-bits
 
 
 
 
 
Wayne led us to a waterfall en route back to Coasting
 
 
 
 
A little kingfisher was there to watch
 
 
 
 
Then we stopped for an ice cream and got a great shot of the house up the road - drying wellies
 
 
 
 
 
ALL IN ALL A FUN DAY OUT
 
 
 
 
 
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