Tobago Day 4

Class was an hour shorter this morning which was nice; it was our last one till next week since we are busy the next few days. Tomorrow we go to Buccoo Reef and Saturday is the rain forest. Then Sunday we fly home!

After class John, Chris, and I walked into town to get roti. They hadn't started making them yet so we had to wait about an hour, but they were fantastic! They had a veggie option I got with this delicious sweet/savory mix and yummy spices. A roti is like a very thin flatbread filled with garbanzo beans, meat or vegetables, and some other stuff. It is then wrapped up kind of like a rectangular burrito. Mine cost $15TT, or about $2.40 US.

After lunch we went down to the dock to take our boat right. No one was going to get sea sick right? Of course not. I've been out on boats my whole life but nothing like the actual sea! The ride out wasn't too bad; took some cool pictures and videos and got splashed a bit. By the time we got around the point through the waves to the bird sanctuary everyone was doing pretty good. Once at the island, though, they turned the boat off. Without the movement of the boat through the waves everything started rocking way more. That, combined with watching the island bob up and down in the waves (ok maybe we were the ones bobbing) left about half the girls feeling sick. By the time we got moving again everyone except Brendan was feeling pretty sick. I feel like I'm still moving when I lay down.

The actual island itself was amazing! We couldn't land but hundred of Magnificent Frigate Birds circled over the island. After moving a bit aways the boat driver through some meat scraps in the water. Boy did those birds move their feathery behinds! They are SO HUGE! They have a wingspan of about 3 or 4 feet and when they are swooping right on top of your head, those birds are BIG! Saw the ones with the red pouch which meant they were ready to mate, as well as another kind of bird (I'd have to check my bird book) and the guide said there were brown footed boobies too. There could have been more kinds, it was hard to tell with all the swooping.

After getting back everyone made their way as quickly as possible to bed to rest and try to get the hang of standing again. I finished my books and got some new ones from the library, wrote some of my postcards, and collected cool rocks on the beach. Found a few tiny shells and some coral as well! Daniel and I will have a beach themed bathroom, so I'm planning on bringing some sand back as well to put in a little jar with the rocks and shells.

We then went to dinner which was BBQ at a restaurant in town. Dinner was good; rice, macaroni pie (they love that here), Mackerel or Chicken (I passed) and some assorted vegetables. They also had a bottle of hard wine (yes that's what it was called) that came with dinner that we tried. It wasn't my favorite, a little strong compared to moscato. We also tried a homemade guava wine the restaurant owner made. It also tasted rather strong. By the end of drinking and trying though everyone was a bit tipsy and ready to have some fun. There was a DJ that set up some big speakers on the patio to go dance. We all ended up joining in, even some of the other visitors who came for dinner. It was a lot of fun being silly and showing off a bit. Daniel, I needed my dance partner!

After leaving we made a bonfire by the cabin and played some games and then just started talking. It was a great bonding time and I know everyone a lot better now. Supposedly I'm a pretty good dancer (probably from loosening up with a drink) and the girls are plotting when they can drag me dancing again. Still, it is nice to relax and have some fun with everyone!

We are all going to bed late, but we have to be up early and ready by 8am to head to the reef and town!