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Charlotteville, TobagoLearning to LimeBy Deborah LewisLooking for a place far from the madding crowd?
Lucky for me, I heard about Charlotteville from a reply to a message I left on the www.lonelyplanet.com website - someone had recommended this magical fishing village and so I thought I’d give it a go. I was looking for a diving holiday, somewhere hot but with a constant trade wind to keep the temperature down, clear seas, friendly and welcoming people, few tourists, sunshine, and local life to immerse myself in. Too much to ask? Well maybe there is a God because as it turned out, I found my little corner of paradise. Charlotteville, located on the northeastern tip of Tobago is a little fishing village with a wide bay facing the delights of the Caribbean Sea. As you approach over the hills, your first glimpse is a spectacular view of the bay, the village itself and, out to sea, the “Sisters”, 3 large rock formations jutting out of the sea, where the sea shelf drops to over 600 metres – an excellent dive site as it happens, where the hammerheads and other larger fish live. Village life centres around the pier and “playing field” – I’m reluctant to call it a football pitch but actually, that’s what it was – Seems even in paradise, you can’t get away from football! I’d arrived at the beginning of the village league and there was a match almost every day at 4! The whole village would be out to watch it, rain or shine, cheering on their team. And it did rain. Occasionally. But don’t let that put you off - This is rain like you’ve never seen before. A pretty dramatic experience. Enjoying the sensual delights of taking a shower in warm torrential rain is not to be missed! But there was also plenty of sunshine – the Caribbean sun is hot and I was grateful for the factor 30 I brought with me to get me through the first few days without burning myself to a crisp. For serious sunbathing and snorkelling, you have to take a 10 minute stroll up the hill along a coastal track, enjoying fantastic views over Man’O’War bay until you reach a series of steps (165 in total if I remember correctly!) which lead you onto Pirates Bay, a fantastically beautiful and unspoilt cove with a sandy beach. You won’t be lonely. There’s loads of life, in the form of birds, lizards and trees, and an abundance of fish and marine life in the water. I’m a diver but since I was saving my diving budget for later in the holiday, I decided to sample some of the snorkelling around Pirates Bay. I can only describe it as awesome! Some of my favourite encounters included huge angelfish, parrot fish, scorpionfish, porcupine fish, red-lipped blennies, squid, not to mention a resident barracuda who took a liking to my silver bracelets and necklace and rings – It followed me around everytime I went in – the “whales tale” necklace I was wearing, which obviously also looked remarkably like a fish tale, must have looked tasty. This became a bit too unnerving as he was quite a big fella, so I took the jewellery off and he stopped bothering me! The highlight though was the resident turtle, only a baby but it was pretty awesome to be able to free dive almost every day with this special little creature. Just me and him. I named him Trevor the turtle. How original! If you want to dive you’re spoilt for choice. There are 2 dive operators in Chalotteville, Man Friday and Ron’s Diving and Watersports. Charlotteville diving is on the Caribbean side but with Speyside and the Atlantic dive sites only a short (15min) boat ride away there’s a huge choice of dive sites to choose from. I dived with Ron and found him to be professional, fun and safety conscious. – I contacted him through the www.divewise.com website and got a good deal on a package. I must admit I was so besotted with the place above water that I didn’t do as many dives as I’d planned –Viz was not always good (although “good” is relative as it averaged 15-20 metres on most dives). Having said that, my last dive had to be one of the best dives I’ve ever done. Viz was a spectacular 30 — 40 metres - I felt like I was floating in air! Majestic green swimming morays, huge turpin, barracuda, massive porcupine fish, lobster – We kept our eyes peeled for the mantas but no luck – Maybe next time! Another highlight was the dolphins swimming alongside the boat on the way back from the dive. The diving was perfect for beginners and experienced divers alike. You want a diving rush? Go to Tobago and experience some of the most spectacular drift diving you’ll ever do. And there's a dive site to suit everyone. Hammerheads at the Sisters off Charlottville or the world’s largest brain coral off Speyside, a 15min boat ride away. Beginners can dive around Pirates Bay (where I experienced that fantastic snorkelling) and take it nice and easy in the shelter of the bay. If you’re a party animal – don’t go to Charlotteville – This is a peaceful, mellow place and it’s nothing like your usual holiday destination. A handful of bars provide the necessary cold beer after a day in the sun (Favourite local beer includes Stag – a man’s beer (!) and Carib - although if you’re missing a bottle of Guinness or Heineken – fear not – you can get that too. Evenings are as quiet as you want them to be. Being a single white female, travelling alone, I got a lot of attention to start with, but it wasn’t in your face – The young local lads will try it on but as long as you’re polite but firm, people are generally respectful of your personal space. I met some really wonderful, colourful people and think I made some good friends in my time there. As always in such a small town, where everyone knows everyone else’s business, people love to gossip and slate each other, and Charlotteville is no exception - My advice is to make your own judgements and choose your own friends – you’re instinct will tell you if there’s a hidden agenda going on – Go with the flow. So, evenings were spent “liming” (hanging out) on the pier, which is everyone’s favourite past time – a beer in hand, chatting to everyone and anyone walking past, gazing at the stars and the ocean, listening to reggae (they love reggae!) and lots and lots of laughter. Tobagoans have a great sense of humour. Friday night is a highlight when the younger generation walks down the other end of the beach to the “Banana Boat” – a bar, where they put on the latest reggae hits and dance the night away. This is liming at is most intense and you may find yourself being “wined” by the local lads. Wining consists of getting as close as possible to your dancing partner and grinding together to the beat of the music! Saturday night is apparently “Beach Bar” night, but the place was closed while I was there, being refurbished. Eating out is a culinary delight although I didn’t see many menus and it was usually a case of eat whatever the special was that night. Fish, chicken, beef with a side order of callalou – wonderful spinach like soup and breadfruit salad – Breadfruit is delicious – a bit like potato but better! Lentils are a big favourite too. Restaurants to notes are Gails, just next to the Green Corner Villa where I stayed, Sharon and Phebe’s just opposite Man Friday Diving on the left of the bay as you face the sea, Jane’s where you can buy a cheap roti for lunch (a kind of pancake filled with beef, chicken or veg) - but get there on time as they sell out by around 1400, G’s, also opposite Sharon and Phebes, and Eastman’s, just opposite the pier. You can also get a great cappuccino and order pizza from the Cappuccino bar, which is up the street past the church on your right. Ask around for it. Charlotteville is so small – you wont miss it.
If you tire of diving and snorkelling (is that possible?), fear not, there are plenty of ways to spend the day. I mainly spent my days diving, snorkelling and sunbathing though there were plenty of other things to do like fishing (tuna and kingfish are the main catches of the day). If you do go fishing, I recommend taking a cushion as the waves are pretty big out to sea (these are SMALL waves, I was told) – Well – maybe so – all I know is my bum was raw by the end of the morning! The fishing was full of action though and it was a real buzz to catch 5 kingfish and 7 tuna – a good catch I later found out – sometimes you come back with nothing – I kept 1 tuna and took it home to cook – Delicious, and I had enough tuna steaks to last for days! For the bird watchers among you, Tobago is bird-watching heaven…. Waking up to, and shouting at the cockerels at 0500 most mornings was about as much bird watching as I did (I know, shame on me) but I’ve been told by many that if you make the short journey by boat to Little Tobago – you have some of the best bird watching in the world. Not a past-time of mine but since even David Attenborough raves about it, it must be pretty special. There are plenty of great walks around the bay and you can walk all the way (about 2 hours) to Hermitage – a sleepy village along the coast, far from anything - or if that’s too far, take the 30 minute walk to Campbleton beach – a lovely private cove with a little waterfall behind it – perfect for a fresh water shower, au naturelle, after a day on the beach. And it was almost always deserted. There’s also lovers beach. I was lucky enough to find a friend with a boat who dropped me off there for a few hours. Lovers beach is so called because the sand is mixed with tiny grains of red coral giving the whole beach a tinge of red - oh and it was completely deserted there too as it’s only accessible by boat. Perfect if you remember to bring your boyfriend with you! Alas, I enjoyed it alone – maybe next time! Charlotteville is surrounded by rain forest and there are plenty of people offering tours and hikes into the rainforest and beyond. It was awesome to see the oldest protected rainforest in the western hemisphere in all its glory although you could see the damage done by hurricane Flora which destroyed most of Tobago in 1963. The forest has rebuilt itself, as nature does, and is still a magical experience, like walking back through time – waterfalls trickling, snakes sliding (a black snake to be precise which I nearly stepped on) birds singing, frogs croaking, insects buzzing – Wow, the sounds and smells of the rainforest! Your guide can arrange tailor made tours and you can take it at your own pace. I chose an easy walk, which lasted a couple of hours, and it was flat almost all the way (I had had visions of an uphill struggle – thankfully I was wrong!) Having said that, if you’re fit and into hiking, there are plenty of uphill hikes in Charlotteville- a spectacular one being the walk to Flagstaff which offers a panoramic view of the bay and which nearly killed me when I tried it! (I’m not that fit!) Communication with the outside world is no problem. If you’re staying a while, go to the library (just behind the football pitch) and become a member for TT$10 – this allows you 30 minutes free internet access every day although you have to get there fairly early to put your name and preferred time down. (You can’t book in advance but if you get there early enough you could be first on). Being a member also entitles you to take out books whenever you like. Alternatively the supermarket opposite the pier has Internet access for around $TT15 per hour or, just opposite the Banana Boat bar, there are 2 computers for Internet access for the same price. For international calls, you need to buy a phone card from the supermarket. The 2 phone boxes are just opposite the petrol station. Accommodation wise, there are plenty of guest houses to stay in, ranging in price from US$20-25 a night in low season for a double room in a guest house to as much as US$100 a night or more in high season, depending on whether you want your own chalet. Personally I was happy to stay at the cheaper end of the accommodation market and found myself at the Greencorner Villa (# 868 660 5991). I was pleasantly surprised to find that for US$20 a night (this was a double room so halve that if you’re a couple sharing), I had a clean room in a 3-bedroom guesthouse with a fan and double bed, wardrobe and desk, 4 metres from the sea!!! I awoke every morning (once the cockrels had shut up) to the sounds of the sea lapping gently at the shore.
Deborah Lewis |
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TM
Look no further. Tobago is the
place and Charlotteville is the town. My dilemma right now is that I’m
itching to tell people about this “best kept secret of the Caribbean” but
then I don’t want to spread the word for fear of it changing too much. The
thought of hordes of tourists, fancy restaurants all inclusive resorts or,
god forbid, a KFC or similar such monstrosity, chills my heart. Thankfully,
a local woman from Trinidad owns most of the land around Charlotteville and
she doesn’t want it to change either so won’t be selling land to the wrong
people… 
Personally, I didn’t eat out much
while I was there – I couldn’t resist buying fish from the little fish
market. (Not exactly a market, but if you get there around midday, the days
catch will have just come in and you can buy your evening meal fresh from
the sea. You can’t miss it but in case you do, it’s just next to the petrol
station that has 2 pumps and a sign saying “no gas” for most of the week!)
So, fish was almost always on my menu and I did make the effort, to my
delight, of trying some vegetables I’ve never tried before. (I found it was
well worth staying somewhere with cooking facilities as eating out, although
delicious, is pretty limited compared to the resort areas in the south of
the island, 90 minutes drive away, not to mention expensive for someone on a
tight budget (about TT$60 for an evening meal.) There’s a small supermarket
just opposite the pier, which has everything, you need and there’s fruit and
veg stalls scattered along the bay.
After 4 weeks there, I was smitten;
in love with the place, the people, the music, the serenity and just the
whole vibe of the place. Heaven.