There's usually not a lot of space on a postcard, and in this case there is not really a need to write a lot ........ Five miles south of CANOUAN lies the shallow area known as ..... " THE TOBAGO CAYS " ........ A group of scattered islands with white sandy beaches with swaying palm trees and incredibly blue water that has now been made into a protected marine park ....... It doesn't get any more beautiful than this .........They have even roped off an area near one of the beaches to prevent you anchoring too close, and thus disturbing the turtles that feed on the grassy bottom .... Views to take your breath away and swaying palms to sit under, while you compile the rest of your 'bucket list' .............
Climbing to the top of the mast gives you a grandstand view of what is already a grandstand view at deck level ............... There is no way to describe the grandure of this vista ............ You just have to see it for yourself .....
And many people do, for all around us were yachts enjoying this spectacular location ........ Look closely at the photo above and you will see a large turtle coming up for air just behind the charter yacht ........ Do a double-click on the photo to enlarge it ............ Enlarge any of these postcvards to see the beauty of it all .......
And we swam with turtles, ... Lots of turtles .............. Yes, amazing to see them and to see how close we could swim with them, for they were not fearful at all ........... Large ones and small ones, just happily grazing on the bottom and digging the front fins into the ground to anchor themselves, as they pulled on the grass and bit it off ...... One of them found the lower part of mooring line and proceeded to give himself a good neck rub and then slid his shell right under the line, so as to rub off all the algae ..... Check out the underwater video that Laurie took of the 'Massage parlour' if we can load it ........
Mother rounding the kids up for 'turtle' school .............
A couple of quick breaths of air and down they go again for another bite of lunch ....
This too is a charter boat that operates out of PALM ISLAND ........ Bright pink and locally made, it picks up guests from the 'high dollar' resort and takes them for a day sail to this fabled location ....... No A/C on this trip .....
We met some of them when we took the dinghy to one of the islands to climb the hill and get even higher than our mast .......
Sometimes the sign that says 'road' should not be taken literally ........ More like 'trail' or 'track' or 'make your own' or better still 'find your own' .......
And a sudden rustle in the undergrowth makes you jump ............ With no predators the iguana didn't move very far ....... Kind of " If I can't see you, then you can't see me " .........
But the view from the top was worth every effort .............. Awesomely spectacular ...... The very reason for going cruising .......If it wasn't so hot and humid you could sit here all day in the sun and breathe it all in ..........
This cactus flower is ready to burst forth but what is interesting to see is that the spiky thorns are so much longer just around the flower than elsewhere ....... By late afternoon we moved to the shelter of Saltwhistle Bay on the island of MAYREAU, with its beautiful secluded palm-lined bay ............ Secluded may not be the right word for at one end there were some happy 'beach bars' to take your final worries away .............. "No worries mon" ........... " We have da rum " .....
By morning we are on shore again to savour the magic of the coconut palms and a walk to see the beach on the windward side of the island.......... This truly is "Paradise found" ............ This truly is beautiful ..........
No matter where we travel in the future, it is an unforgettable memory that will travel with us ...... A memory of 'white sandy beaches, of palm fronds and blue water and of clear skies and warm weather and turtles' ........ And it doesn't get any better than that .... Well, maybe it could? ............. We will just have to travel on and find out ..............
No comments:
Post a Comment