5 Girls in Tobago

We started off our vacation by making hand painted T-shirts to wear for our arrival in Tobago. None of us had ever made our own T-shirt before, it felt very spring breakish and they turned out so cute. Since our flight left at 5:30am and we had to leave Princess’s house at 2:30am we thought it best to stay up all night.

We arrived in Trinidad at 6:30am. We heard that a Subway was in the airport and we were so excited when we saw the green and yellow sign. Subway for breakfast was so good! Our flight for Tobago wasn’t until 12:30 but luckily we were able to get on an earlier flight, we were only in the air for 15 minutes and we arrived at our hotel at 10am. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we sat on the back porch of the restaurant, which was attached to the hotel and over looked the bay. We were pretty tired and just wanted to settle into our room and lay out on the beach. But tour guides kept coming up to us and asking if we wanted to book a tour, we told them we were only interested in going snorkeling. One guy came with all his brochures and Princess told him we didn’t have that much money. He ended up making us a deal, he would take us snorkeling and since it was a holiday he invited us to join him and his crew for a cook out dinner on the beach and than swimming at Nylon Pool (a sand bar out in the ocean). We talked it over and even though we were all tired we decided to do it, it would be a good experience to see what the locals do for fun.
When we got on the boat we were a little skeptical but we knew it would be okay. We went snorkeling, the water wasn’t so clear but it was still fun. Then we headed to the beach. We got a few looks from people but for the most part everyone was friendly and welcoming. They were grilling up fresh fish and let us eat it straight from the grill. Then they made duck curry and dumplings, I liked it, the curry was different than the curry in Guyana. Once the sun went down they packed up and we headed back out on the ocean. Nylon Pool was neat because we were in the middle of the ocean and the water came up to our thighs. The local people on the boat were having dance party, which was pretty funny to watch but I think we all thought, “Oh my, how do we get in these situations?” it was a little crazy. At this point we had been up for 40 hours and were beat. Once we got to the room we all passed out.

Grilled fish and duck curry 

We stayed at Miller’s Guest Hour and our room had 3 sets of bunk beds and a kitchen, it was just what we needed and it was nice to be able to cook most of our own meals.

Miller's Guest House

We rented a car for the day and drove around half of the island. It was beautiful and reminded me of Hawaii. The road was narrow and windy. I was excited to try and drive on the left hand side of the road but I waited until the road was not so narrow and curvy. It was weird and I didn’t feel that comfortable with it but I’m glad that I can now say I’ve driven on the opposite side of the road.

We named our car Pepper Ann

Weird to drive on the wrong side of the road

For Princess’s birthday we ended up eating at an Italian restaurant close to the Guest House. The food was amazing, probably the best Italian food I have ever had. The chef, who’s originally from Southern Italy came out to talk to us and gave us free appetizers. We were in food heaven!

During the day we’d pack a lunch and head down to the beach. The beach was pretty isolated and the water was so nice. In the evenings we sat outside, ate dinner, played cards and talked.

On Sunday night food and craft venders were out on the road. It was neat to walk around and look at the local crafts. For dinner we ate shark sandwiches, they were so good.

Monday was Halloween and we spent the day paddle boarding, reading and napping. At night we dressed up as the Spice Girls, making do with what we had and ate at the Italian restaurant again. People actually guessed that we were trying to be the Spice Girls.

We Left Tobago early Tuesday morning and instead of taking a plane back to Trinidad we took a 2 hour ferry ride. We were all impressed with how big and nice the ferry was. Then we had about 8 hours to kill in Trinidad since our flight back to Guyana wasn’t until 8:30pm. We decided to spend our time in a mall because Leighton and Heather really wanted McDonalds. Trinidad was really nice, very developed and modern. Becky and I walked around the mall a little and then ventured out to see what else we could find. We found a supermarket that was just like home and we were impressed by all the big buildings and apartments near the mall. It took us 2 hours to get to the airport because the traffic was really bad. Once at the airport we got Subway again, did a little souvenir shopping, and sadly boarded the plane back to Guyana.

I’m so grateful I got to spend 6 days with good friends on an island in the sun!

Leighton, Me, Becky, Princess, & Heather

Tobago-Preview

There’s just something about an island in the sun that speaks to my heart. I don’t think people understand how much I love islands and blue water. Tobago was amazing! Princess, Becky, Heather, Leighton and I spent 6 days exploring and soaking up another part of the Caribbean. We swam in the emerald colored ocean, ate delicious food, snorkeled, paddle boarded, rented a car, took an epic amount of photos, and laughed until our bellies ached. We had a great adventure together!
This is just a preview into our trip. There is so much to write about and so many pictures to share.
More of Tobago coming soon! 

Becky & Princess bought us these amazing beach hats

Buccoo Bay

view from outside our hotel door

on the boat to go snorkeling

driving around on the left hand side of the road for Princess's birthday

we were swimming and this passed right by us

another part of the island

we took a few photo shoots!

Zach In The Jungle

I am so grateful Zach got to spend a week with me in Guyana. It means so much that he was able to be a part of my life here….he’s now lived Peace Corps life in the jungle.

It was really nice traveling to Guyana together. I planned my trip home so that I could travel back with him and I think it worked out well. Plus, traveling with someone is way better than traveling alone. Fortunately, everything was smooth sailing and we arrived to the humid jungle and welcoming friends last Sunday morning.

On the red-eye to Guyana

He made it!

Friends who welcomed us

I loved seeing the awe in his eyes as he took everything in while looking out the mini-bus window. I’m glad I was there to experience his first trip out of the U.S.
I also loved the shocked looks that appeared upon his face when the mini-buses would speed into the on-coming traffic lane and dodge back into the right lane just to pass a slower moving vehicle. Priceless.

Of course our week flew by but we had a wonderful time together! And I think he really enjoyed his time in Guyana....
We went to the Linden market multiple times. We went hiking through the backyard of Linden. I took him to the health center, schools and hospital kitchen to meet all the people I work with. We watched school sports on the big sports field. We went out to eat so he could taste local dishes. I cooked us a lot of rice and beans. We had two group meals with other PCVs. He helped me with the laundry. We went to Georgetown a few times (he really got a feel for the craziness that goes on and he seemed to like it). He got to see Giftland and LOVED all the pirated movies. We went to Kaieteur Falls, which was amazing! We played pool one night and he got to see the nightlife of Linden. We got ice cream a couple of times and watched movies at night. He also got his lift on at the gym, which was a plus. We stayed two nights with Princess so he got to see another volunteer’s site. We went to GuyExpo, (kind of like a county fair) there were so many people there-- it was overwhelming for the both of us. And then this morning I saw him off at the airport, I was sad to see him go.

Hiking the backyard of Linden

Hanging his laundry

The kids loved him

Kaieteur

It was a beautiful sun-shiny day. Simply amazing!

Yup, that's us sitting on the ledge

Enjoying fresh coconut water

&

Ice cream

Family

It was so good to see my family!!! I love you guys so much!!

 Ange & Reggie

 Mom & me at the tulip festival

 My dad

My colorful cousins & aunts

 Mom & her girls

 My sissy & cousins

 Dad & his girls

 Cousin Holly, simply beautiful

 Berna & dad with their girls

 Dad, Uncle Jim, Berna, Aunt Tery, Aunt Linda, Aunt Diane

My cousin Dana

Barbados!

I am so grateful I got to spend 4 days in Barbados!

It was a much-needed, incredible break.

It was interesting to experience the emotions of being away from Guyana and in a once more familiar life style; I was in a little state of shock the first night.

Before joining Peace Corps I took so many things for granted and although I’ve realized the joys of living a simple life, just being able to spend a few days in “normalcy” was so nice.

On the last night, as we were walking back from getting ice cream at Chilly Moos (like Coldstone) Chelsea and I were talking about life and the trip. I mentioned how it was probably one of the best vacations I’ve had, and I’ve been on some pretty cool trips. We started thinking about it and came to the conclusion that everything was a novelty… real restaurants, A/C, no bugs and bug bites, hot water, a washer and dryer, the blue ocean, swimming, not getting hassled and sipped at, a real grocery store, actually looking nice, not sweating like crazy, lattes, treats, TV, a mall, side walks, sewer systems…everything we’ve been without for the last 7 months. So of course it was an amazing vacation, it truly was so nice to enjoy those specialties! But it also showed us we really don’t need all that materialistic stuff, we are surviving just fine for now.

I love these pictures!

Flying over the island

At the airport, so excited for chia tea and bagels with cream cheese

Yay for blue ocean and white sand!

View from our condo

It was so nice

These nachos were so good!!

Snorkeling

Saw old sunken ships

and sea turtles!!! 

I love being at the beach, especially in the Caribbean!

It was heavenly to straighten my hair :) 

Celebrating at a good Brazilian restaurant 

Princess and I in Bridgetown