Tobago, Day Two
Darryl February 14th, 2008
Buccoo Bay
Buccoo, Tobago… We had arrived by sea in the rain yesterday, and this day was awash in brilliant tropical light, just as though the sun had never stopped shining.
After the usual obligatory Tuesday online work that Nancy does, and a breakfast in the Enchanted Waters dining room shared with Bananaquits, Blue Grey Tanagers and a 14″ roving spotted lizard, our rental car arrived.
I jumped in with Gus, the owner of the family company who was renting us a Nissan Sunny for a few days, and off we drove through south Tobago back roads to his house for the paperwork.
After watching Bahamian rental families for several years do their business on a promise, I was surprised by how professional this family was. Their daughter, seemingly in her early days as a family administrative assistant, did the paperwork and card clearing, coached by her mom.
Driving on the left again after a few months on the Canadian/US roads, the return to our hotel was a refresher for me. With twelve years of driving in the Bahamas, I was fine in about two blocks.
Our first driving destination was Crown Point, a resort and support community about three miles to the south.
The shops were small but we managed to find interesting things in a few - Mighty Sparrow’s first recording done by Verve/Folkways/Smithsonian, plus locally made trinkets and small clothing articles.
Fort Milfort
We stopped at Fort Milfort, a fortification from the late 1700’s at the end of the point.
About five miles down the road from Crown Point lay Scarborough, the island’s capital and largest community.
The port area was a buzz of people. Our survey from the car as we passed showed that the shops were pretty well all the same, geared to quick souvenir sales to tourists in transit looking for the typical stuff.
Then we began to see sign for a historic site we had been wanting to tour, Fort King George.
Winding through the narrow streets, we found ourselves climbing a very steep hill.
Floored, our Sunny crept slower and slower. Winding our way slowly up and up the one-way street, the line of traffic behind us remained polite, apparently used to tourists in under-powered vehicles trying to get to the top of that particular hill.
When we crested, a hospital ambulance entry was all that we could see. Thinking we had lost the trail, I was looking for a way to turn around when we saw a little road at the end of the lane.
Fort King George
It was the entrance to Fort King George, a one-lane road that wound around a precipitous drop-off. Rounding the corner, the fort was in front of us surrounded by beautifully kept gardens and grounds that overlooked two harbours and 40 miles of open ocean.
The barracks of the fort, a late addition in 1814, had been restored in 2004 as the Tobago Museum.
We were certainly not prepared for what we were to see in this building.
A range of artifacts from Pre-Columbian times to modern mid-twentieth century was on display in five rooms.
The Funerary contained a pair of early skeletons in burial position, dating from before Columbus, excellently displayed.
Early ceramics from ancient civilizations depicted their creation myth, fertility beliefs and cosmology.
One room told the story of migration, forced and voluntary, from diverse places in Latvia, Africa, Holland, and Germany, along with the usual Caribbean influences of Britain, Spain, and France.
The halls were lined with douhos from Africa, wonderful carvings showing the importance of family life, and many masks and costumes.
Cannon Stamp
The museum at Fort King George in Scarborough, Tobago is a gem, one of the better community museums we have seen.
One the way back, we found the location the Tobago Botanical Gardens, a note for tomorrow’s more naturally-oriented tour.