GoMad Nomad Travel

By Avery Sumner

Down the way where the nights are gay and the sun shines daily on the mountaintop, I took a trip on a sailing ship and when I reached Jamaica I made a stop…

A Goniolithon Garden by nashworld

Somewhere in the depths of the Gulf Stream I woke to the sounds of ocean splashing against hull and Harry Belafonte’s Jamaica Farewell wearily playing on my boyfriend’s vintage tape player in the cockpit. I groggily followed the music up through the companionway into the warm Caribbean night and wondered if I was still dreaming. The wake of our 24-foot sailboat was sparkling like a path of fairy dust in the water. The song gently played as the blue green lights of the ocean phosphorescence trailed behind us into the night.

Far from firm ground, this was my first ocean-going sailing trip. We’d set out from the Florida Keys at sunset hoping to reach the outer Bahamian Islands by day break. Andros, the largest and least visited of the Bahamian chain would be our mooring ground.

We reached Gun Cay just before sunrise and under the light of day continued on across the Great Bahama Bank, a submerged carbonate platform of limestone that pretty much is the Bahamian archipelago. This large and wide shoal is often less than 10 meters in depth. It stretches out from Andros’ west shoreline creating pristine fishing flats known the world over by fly fisherman in search of bonefish and tarpon. My turn at the helm, I sat perched in the cockpit, eyes shifting from compass to horizon to sea. The shallow bank spread out across forever with Caribbean aqua water so clear I could see starfish resting on the bottom as if they were only an arm’s length away.

The land mass of Andros rose higher on the horizon as we approached its northern tip. And then the nose of our boat dangled over bottomless indigo-blue waters while the boat’s aft seemingly teetered over the shallow shelf of the Great Bahama Bank. My eyes played tricks on me and my stomach felt the slight effects of vertigo as we floated over an abrupt 6000 foot drop-off. Known as the Tongue of the Ocean, this dramatic cliff plunges to depths as low as 4000 meters. That’s about 2.5 miles!

The Tongue of the Ocean, rimmed by the third largest barrier reef in the world, makes Andros a haven for serious divers. The Andros Barrier Reef stretches 140 miles along the eastern side of the island beckoning scuba adventurers to one of the least explored reefs in the western hemisphere. Even more intriguing to divers are the mysterious blue holes or underwater sink holes of Andros. The Great Bahama Bank was dry land in previous ice ages, when the exposed limestone underwent chemical weathering creating caves and sinkholes. Now submarine terrain, when seen from above, the deep round caves look like dark blue holes in the clear aquamarine waters. The blue holes of Andros have provided some of the deepest underwater cave explorations in the world.

But I’m not a diver and I suffer from claustrophobia so underwater caves were not the attraction for me. What left a deeper impression on me then, and what later attracted me back to Andros for several other Caribbean holidays, was the unadulterated authenticity of life and nature on the island. Despite the natural beauty of the place, there are no large resorts to speak of, only a slim number of fishing and eco-lodges catering to travelers. This fact, along with the pristine subtropical forests that are home to some 40 odd species of wild orchids, is what made Andros most alluring to me.

The expansive wilderness of Andros is also alluring to scientists and conservationists. The Nature Conservancy describes just a portion of the biodiversity to be found on the island:

Hardwood forests abutting expanses of freshwater marshes and globally imperiled pine rockland are prime habitat for migratory songbirds such as the Kirtland’s warbler, one of North America’s rarest birds. Giant land crabs, the Bahamian woodstar hummingbird, the West Indian whistling-duck and the Northern Bahamian rock iguana, listed as threatened with extinction, can all be found on the island.

High school and university students study the rich environment of Andros at the Forefar Field Station in Stafford Creek. With an intern program, the educational station is a good place to stay for extended exploration and study of the island’s resources.

Economically speaking, fishing and farming remain the staple activities for this great provider island. Perhaps one of my favorite visits was to the resident Mennonite farm famous for its fresh honey. Not only do they keep bees, orchards and vegetable fields, but they run a carpentry and automobile shop where every islander in the know takes their car in for repairs.

The abundance of fresh ground water has also made Andros an important part of the Bahamian economy. The fresh water of Andros reaches the main Bahamian Island of New Providence and its capital of Nassau not only by way of the produce grown on Andros, but directly from barges that haul five million gallons of potable water there daily. Watching the water barges leaving and returning from Morgan’s Bluff on North Andros makes you feel blessed to be far from the crowds drinking it all up.

But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Andros is its strong tradition of fine craft. The remote Red Bays community on the Western side of the isle is famous for its straw basketry and woodcarving. The Androsia Batik Factory near Fresh Creek in Central Andros is where the typically bright Caribbean colored fabrics with batiked motifs are made.

But what personally captured my reverence is the long tradition of wooden boat building on the island. I spoke with some of the last living keepers of the craft and I came away with a deep respect for the art, function and way of life these slender wooden boats represent. Sailing homeward I imagined a life driven by a Bahamian Smack, the name for these brightly painted sailboats. Moving toward the hustle of South Florida, I longed for a life at that pace.

…But I’m sad to say, I’m on my way. Won’t be back for many a day. My heart is down my head is turning around, I had to leave a little girl in Kingston town…

So the song goes.

Avery Sumner lives in Southern France where the Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean. When she travels she looks for the natural and simple.

We were eating breakfast in the little beach village of Castara on the island of Tobago and this little girl came up to our table to say hi. She was curious and stayed around for while just watching us eat. After breakfast we said goodbye and continued enjoying the rest of our week on the laid back Caribbean island.

Tobago is the smaller island of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The islands are part of the Lesser Antilles, lying just off the coast of northwestern Venezuela. Castara is a fishing village set in a beautiful bay below jungle-clad hillsides on the west coast of Tobago.

Photos by Sofia Javed and text by Stephen Bugno

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by Stephen Bugno

“When you’ve found heaven on earth, why go anywhere else?” We were standing outside of a small guest house, just steps from the beach, in the village of Castara. It was 10pm and with no reservation we were deciding how many nights to book for. “This is our sixth time here in the last four years,” continued Catherine, a middle-aged English vacationer, promoting this village on the northern coast of Tobago as if she was raised here.

Castara's beach

Respectful of her opinion, I needed to decide for myself if this was the perfect beach. We booked for three nights.

In the morning we saw just what kind of place Castara is—a village where everyone knows each others name and tourists aren’t obnoxious. Castara has no resorts, big hotels, or fancy restaurants. What it does have are small, reasonably-priced guesthouses and locals that rent out extra rooms. It has relaxed cafés on the beach. It’s the kind of place where you can help fishermen haul the seine, or fishing net filled with the day’s catch.

Castara has it all

Relax, play, eat, and practice steel drums. A supremely laid-back place, you can sit on the beach in Castara without getting harassed by touts. The only person to interrupt your sleep in the sun is the man with the portable steel-pan drums who offers a lesson for about $4. My travel companion was playing Amazing Grace within five minutes.

The snorkeling is outstanding. While my newly acquainted South African friend saw rays, I spotted lots of colorful fish, an eel, and stunning brain coral. Don’t have snorkeling equipment? Don’t worry; you can rent some from King David Tours for about $6 per 24-hour period.

For dinner, Margarite’s in the center of the village serves up flavorful Tobagonian fare at honest prices (mains $10-12). Besides the chicken, pork and goat offered, there is always the catch of the day. We had the dolphin-fish with ginger vegetables and the local favorite, macaroni pie. Wash it all down with a ginger beer.

For some, the biggest attraction to Castara is its gorgeous palm-fringed beach. The blue-green waters of the bay and jungle-clad hillside above town make the setting incredible. You can’t go wrong spending a whole day lying on the beach or swimming in the warm water.

A unique feature of Castara’s beach is the Boboshanty. Here Rudi and his wife offer relaxing herbal steam baths and massages (from $40-50) right from their wooden shed on the beach.

A real village

What may surprise you is that Castara is a real village. Its economy is centered on fishing and agriculture and only recently has tourism played a larger role. The tourists seem to be temporary members of Castaran life, rather than hedonistic holidaymakers. Attracting a mix of ages from the UK and the rest of Europe as well as Australia and the U.S., they’ll be lined up next to locals at the fisherman’s co-op to purchase the day’s catch.

Whenever a catch comes in, folks gather around the co-op. It’s located on the edge of the beach where the only road in town dead-ends at the sand. As its real estate suggests, it’s the most significant place in Castara. We looked on as the bare-chested fisherman scaled and cut up the huge kingfish, oblivious to the blood splashing everywhere.

Where are you liming tonight?

This popular local phrase addresses one of the more important aspects of daily life: socializing. To lime is to stand in the street or at a bar simply talking with your friends.

Once a week, a local bar has a live steel-pan band, dinner, and all you can drink rum punch for $25 a head. After the band, some locals informally break out the African drums. And by the time you have finished your Tobagonian shark or Creole shrimp, and many rum punches, everyone is dancing to the current Soca hits. Needless to say, it’s the place to lime on Wednesdays.

It seems unlikely that Castara will develop into a resort area anytime soon and lose its attractive small-town local-life flavor.

We spent the rest of our trip circling the island, enjoying just about everyplace we went. But there is something special about Castara. Its beautiful setting, local hospitality, and decidedly laid-back feel make it the best place to relax for an independent, low-budget week in the Caribbean.

Tobago is one of the most overlooked and best value destinations in the Caribbean. It is cheaper than other Caribbean Islands and is not geared toward package tourism, making it ideal for independent travelers. With a trip to Tobago you are almost guaranteed a travel experience that will have you chatting with dreadlocked fisherman, dancing in the street with a cold beer, and putting your tourist dollars into the local economy.