After 3 days at sea, our first port of call was the tiny town of Scarborough on the island of Tobago. The island of Tobago, population 53,000, lies south of the hurricane belt, just off the coast of South America. At 116 square miles, it is a mass of coral and volcanic rock. Tobago is  surrounded by the Caribbean Sea on the north coast and the Atlantic Ocean on the southern and western sides.   The island has white sandy beaches and dense tropical forests.

Scarborough, population around 1,000, is located on the southeastern side, is the capital of Tobago. Scarborough’s historic roots date back to 1654. It became the capital in 1769, exporting rum, cotton, indigo and sugar. Today its major source of income is tourism.

Rather than taking an excursion, we decided to use the map conveniently provided by the cruise ship and walk around on our own. Interestingly, the cruise director came over the ship’s speakers and said the port authorities in Tobago said no camouflage or military looking clothing was allowed on the island. At the port entrance we were approached by many locals offering us taxis and day tours. They were close to being very annoying with their persistence. Since it was Sunday AND a holiday, many stores were closed. We didn’t mind because we are not shoppers. Unlike many Caribbean towns, we didn’t see bars and restaurants located near the port advertising tropical drinks. We saw a KFC, a Church’s Chicken and a Subway. Rather strange, actually. We noticed two supermarkets and a hardware store listed on the map. We walked about three miles, taking pictures of the town.

A Government Office Building

Frankly there wasn’t much of interest. There are various popular dive spots around the island so perhaps there are more restaurants, stores and things to see at those areas. With no buses running and since we were not interested in diving, it didn’t seem worth it to pay for the high priced excursions to those areas.

We first walked to the Love Tobago sign. Everyone has to go to those signs, right?

We saw two churches. One was St Andrew’s Church, built in 1819.  The church was destroyed in a hurricane in 1964 and rebuilt.

Another church was Saint Joseph Roman Catholic Church.

It was a really hot day and since much of Scarborough is hilly and we were hot and tired, we headed back to the ship. The AC was very welcoming and cold soft drinks really hit the spot.

Next up: Devil’s Island, New Guinea  This is a tender port and the captain is expecting deep swells which could make for difficult and potentially dangerous tendering conditions, so we will see.