Colour and calypso
Trinidad and Tobago might be linked politically, but brace yourselves for two very different holiday experiences.
Come February every year, thousands of revellers disappear in a riot of colour and calypso. Welcome to Trinidad, home of the greatest carnival in the Caribbean, birthplace of the steelpan and the noisy big sister to Tobago, a 15-minute fast-ferry ride away.
The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are in the Lesser Antilles, just off the coast of Venezuela – 10,000 years ago Trinidad was connected to the South American mainland and is now separated by a channel just 12 miles wide – and they have been a pair since 1889, when the British decided to run them collectively to save money. But in many ways, they could not be more different.
Tobago is small and quiet, in complete contrast to its lively, chaotic sister. It has beautiful beaches, rainforest and a mountainous interior, but lacks the ecological diversity of Trinidad, which has mountains, rivers and swamps to go with its palm-fringed beaches. Above all, when it comes to holiday time, Tobago is the place where the British go.
In 1498 Columbus named Trinidad after the three mountain peaks (Trinity) he saw, while Tobago became Bellaforma, meaning beautiful shape. Although the Spanish were there first visitors, the islands fell into the hands of the British in 1797. They were given independence in 1962 and became the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1976, with the former as the dominant partner.
Oil was discovered off the east coast in the early 1970s, leading to a time of relative prosperity and less dependence on tourism than other Caribbean countries, but that all changed a decade later, when a drop in oil prices led to recession, rising unemployment and high inflation.
Tobago is just 26 miles long and three miles wide, and is the picture-perfect Caribbean island, with pristine beaches lapped by blue water and shaded by swaying palm trees. If Robinson Crusoe had existed, it’s no doubt where he would have wanted to be washed up.
Tobago’s capital is Scarborough, more village than town, despite this being the administrative centre of the island. From here, the road runs around the island, or you can head inland, through the rainforest and into the mountains. The resorts are on the north-eastern coast, on the other side of the island from the capital.
Trinidad, by comparison, is about 50 miles long and 37 miles across at its widest point. Its capital is bustling Port of Spain, not a particularly attractive place with modern skyscrapers and crumbling wooden huts, but it’s the life and soul of the island, especially during the February Carnival, when wild street parties, outrageous colourful costumes and a pulsating rhythms takes over from the business of running the country.
There are steel band competitions, Mudders – revellers covered in mud who hug anyone dressed in white – and everyone is out partying in the streets. During carnival all ethnic and social barriers disappear.
Port of Spain is on the north-east coast, not far from the best beaches and small inviting coves on the north coast. Maracas Bay is popular with the locals, who head out of the city on Sundays for a day away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
East of the city is the Asa Wright Nature Reserve, a favourite spot for birdwatchers and home to the Scarlet Ibis, the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago, with plumage that is so scarlet even amateur twitchers cannot help but spot it as it glides through the sky. To the south are the Caroni Plains – the Caroni Swamp and Bird Sanctuary is another birdwatchers’ paradise.
On the Atlantic Coast is the internationally recognised wetland, the Nariva Swamp and Bush Wildlife Sanctuary, while in the centre of the island the landscape changes dramatically, as the northern range soars upwards to its highest peak the 941-metre “El Cerro del Aripo”.
