One sunny Saturday, we chartered the services of Sundara and boarded its modern and gorgeous 43ft catamaran named Ballerina Girl at 10am for a day trip DDI. Our captain, Daniel Stollmeyer, greeted us with a warm welcome and gave us a brief on all the fun activities to expect throughout the day.

As we made our way down to the island of Chacachacare, we lazed on the nets at the front or bow of the boat and admired the glorious views of the islands and deep blue waters all around. The sun was shining and we couldn’t have asked for a better morning. After an hour drive to our main stop, we anchored the boat and popped out the swimming noodles for a wonderful dip in the ocean. The boat is also equipped with snorkeling gear to explore the DDI marine life. The day was picture-perfect and service was exceptional!

A day trip DDI has room for up to 25 guests on Ballerina Girl, which is a perfect get together for friends and a family excursion. You can also book sunset cruises, romantic dinners for two and even a trip up the Caribbean to the Grenadines, as the boat sleeps 4 comfortably plus crew.

A popular, fun and friendly sailboat adventure can be booked with the lovely Sundara Yacht Charters. If you are lucky, you may get the chance to cruise up with the bottlenose dolphins swimming alongside your boat.

THE TRINI TRAVELLER IN TOBAGO

My name is Gabrielle Agostini and I have a Caribbean Travel Blog known as The Trini Traveller, “Trini” being the nickname of a person from Trinidad and Tobago.I am based in Trinidad but decided to pack up my amazing FunBoy floats and make a quick trip to our country’s sister isle of Tobago for my Birthday Weekend….

To read the Full Article Feature, click here: Funboy

I had heard of many great stories about a NGO named “Healing with Horses” that was doing fabulous work in the island of Tobago. So of course during my last visit to Tobago, my friends and I had decided to reserve a horseback riding tour with “Being with Horses”, which is the business initiative to support Healing with Horses, and see what it was all about. To get a preview on the amazing work done by the Foundation – click here.

Upon arrival to our Saturday morning swim and trail combination ride, we were introduced to all members of the Being with Horses Family – Veronika and her amazing team as well as their healthy herd of gorgeous rescue horses. Veronika sat us down in a circle around her and revealed to us on how the foundation came to be. It had all started when Veronika, a native German, had met her husband Lennon, a native Trinidadian, while she was on vacation in Trinidad and Tobago. They fell madly in love and shortly after, they co-founded the Healing with Horses foundation. Their mission is to give therapeutic services to hundreds of differently abled individuals from Tobago and Trinidad, using Equine Nature Therapy, free of charge. The horses are free to roam for 16 hours a day in their farm located a few miles up the hill, which are brought down to the stables for the therapeutic and riding sessions.

We were then asked to make our way to the horses; each situated in their homely and beautifully decorated stall. Veronika would then introduce us to each horse one by one with a little story on how they came to Healing with Horses. Subsequently, the horse would slowly make their way out of their stall and walk up to the individual with whom they would like to partner up with. This was quite the experience. I was slightly anxious especially as I was one of the last individuals to be selected by the horses. Luckily, one of the most beautiful horses in the stable, named Princess, slowly walked up to me, gave me a nod as she waited for me to offer her a little snack. I had only ridden once before, so was nervous to get up onto Princess but once I did, it all went rather smoothly.

We began the ride by making our way out of Buccoo Village, past the goat race track, through the wetland mangroves and onto the beach. Princess surely had a mind of her own as we ever so often ended up on the other side of the mangrove, away from the rest of the group. I trusted her and knew that I was well taken care of. Princess was slightly uneasy upon entering the water but with a little nudge, we were on our way to riding past the rest of the group. It was so picturesque and an unreal experience; feeling the power of the horse while riding through the clear and calm waters of Buccoo Bay.

We finished the ride through the waters made our way back to the stables where we said bye to these amazing creatures. Just before I left, Veronika had showed me a video about my horse Princess and the incredible journey she went on after falling 40m off a cliff a few years prior. You can watch the video here to see the amazing work done by Veronika and Lennon in enabling Princess to have a full recovery.

Also during our ride, we were very lucky to have a group of professional photographers – Gabriele Boiselle and her TEAM Edition Boiselle – whom specialize in photographing horses. All the photos seen in this article were taken by Gabriele and her team. You can find more information on Edition Boiselle here.

Learn more about Healing with Horses here and book your next ride with Being with Horses here to support the foundation and this great cause!

The Amerindians, which were the indigenous people of Trinidad & Tobago, had first named the island of Trinidad as “Iere” (or “Irie” nowadays), meaning “Land of the Hummingbird”. The hummingbird was a scared animal to the Amerindians as it was the symbol signifying the soul of their ancestors. Shortly after Christopher Columbus arrived in 1498, the name of land was changed to “Trini” representing the three hills Christopher had sailed passed on his journey into the New World. This little yet most fascinating piece of history was given to me by Dr Theo at the well-known Yerette Hummingbird Sanctuary.

Yerette (another Amerindian name for the hummingbird) is Dr Theo’s home, which he and his wife opened up to the public in 2010 to show the world the spectacular-ness that is the hummingbird. Bright and early Saturday morning we left home to make our way through the Maracas Valley region of Trinidad to Yerette to arrive right on schedule for the first tour of the day. We all sat humbly around Dr Theo, while he told tales of and described the countless remarkable characteristics of this fairy beauty. As we listed to these intriguing stories, we became entranced by the magic of a creature I knew so little about; ever so often distracted by the buzzing of their strong wings – the mystical sound of the hummingbird.

Of course me and my nerdy-self had to make copious notes on all the elements of these attractive beings, so I will share with you some of my favourite facts about the Hummingbird:

1. The Hummingbird is exclusive to Western Hemisphere (USA, Canada and even in Alaska).
2. There are 345 species of hummingbirds in the world; 18 in T&T and 14 in Yerette.
3. Average life span of 5-7 years but they can live up to 15 years.
4. They push the limits of biology as their wings beat 25 to 200 times every second, they can take 250 breaths per minute and they have a resting heart rate of 200 beats a minute. That’s insane!
5. They must eat every 10-50 minutes. When they fly long distances, they must prepare for the flight by doubling their body weight.
6. 90% of their diet is nectar and 10% is insects.
7. They are the only birds that can hover mid-air, fly backwards and fly upside down.
8. Powerful national symbol – They can be found on T&T National Coat of Arms (You must look closely as I actually never realized this before)

Dr Theo became a hummingbird ambassador through his love for photography and his amazing ability to capture the true beauty of these colourful creatures. One day, he started placing hummingbird feeders around the garden to bring them in and then slowly realized that something unusual was happening. The hummingbirds came in huge numbers and then they had realized that they had wanted to share this experience with others.

Yerette is also known as a place where persons with various medical conditions can come to relax and receive therapeutic comfort through the positive and happy energies of this delightful place. Rainy days may even be the best time to visit as a shower of hummingbirds is known to come in and completely occupy Yerette on these days.

Sit back and enjoy the live show as well as the happy energies at Yerette Hummingbird Sanctuary so as to get some of that healing power.

For all you soca music fans, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T)’s Carnival is the place to be to get that full-on experience that you having been searching at other festivals! For the carnival virgins, download some soca music, start dancing in your room and get excited, as this festival is a once in a lifetime event that cannot be missed!

Carnival – What it is all about?

Carnival was introduced to T&T during the late 18^th century by the French who would parade down the streets for the two days preceding Ash Wednesday, which is the start of Lent (i.e. 40 days before Easter). These are known as the last two days before one must give up something they truly desire – so Why not throw a crazy party? This tradition was parallel by the African slaves whom eventually turned this celebration into one of the greatest festivals of all time. Those of African descendants influenced the music, the costumes and large number of events to occur during the “Carnival season”.

Carnival season usually starts a month before the actual street parade where one can partake in music competitions for pan, calypso, soca and chutney as well as costume competitions such as Kings and Queens as well as Kiddies Carnival. The atmosphere is pulsating with positive energy and loud music. It is quite difficult to escape.

I will take you through the process of how one organizes “costumes” which are basically your tickets to enter this amazing street/ road festival.

Costumes – Tickets

Start your journey to Trinidad Carnival by securing your costume in one of the many band available.

Why buy a costume, can I not just make my own?

If only this was the case! But unfortunately no you cannot do this. Think of your costume as a ticket to entering a festival. Carnival is a competition of the various bands of masqueraders in beautifully hand decorated costumes competing to win the best band of the year. Carnival Bands come in all sizes. The largest and more up-beat bands are: Harts, Tribe, Bliss, Fantasy, Island People, Trini Revellers!

As the theme of each band changes annually, the costumes change the same. Once you buy your costume, you will receive wrist bands that allow you enter the band within a secured area on the streets in which the bands roams and the revellers “chip down d road”.

During the summer months of July and August, these Carnival Bands have “band launches” to display the new costumes for the upcoming year. Within a few days of the band launch, the costumes become available to purchase the “Band House” or online. Therefore you need to determine which band you will play with at least 6 months in advance. Costumes can sell out within days after up the event but I recommend buying as soon as they are available (by July/August).

Getting there & Accommodation

Flights – Once you book your costume, I would recommend booking your flight! You can direct flights to T&T from London, Frankfurt, New York, Miami, Orlando, Houston, Toronto and many Caribbean islands. Key airlines to look into include Caribbean Airlines, Liat, British Airways, American Airlines, Jetblue, WestJet, Condor etc. For more listing on flights check here.

Accommodation – If you are a large group, I would recommend renting an apartment in Port of Spain on airbnb or tripadvisor. Top hotels in Port of Spain include the Hyatt ($$$), Hilton ($$), Carlton Savannah ($$), Radisson ($$) and Mariott ($$).

The Event

Listen to Soca Music

You will hear Soca non-stop once you arrive in T&T around Carnival time so it is best to catch up on the best tunes of the season. One way to do that is to search carnival soca music on youtube or look out for DJ mixes online such as DJ Private Ryan or DJ Marcus Williams or DJ Nick Pena. Top soca artists include Machel Montano, Kes, Bunji Garlin & Fayann Lyons, Destra and many more.

Pre-Carnival Activities

Book your trip to T&T a couple days before the Carnival Event so that you have time to visit Carnival pre-parties, pan yards or relax in the sun to get that tan beforehand! Carnival schedule is updated one month before the event at Trinidad Carnival Diary – have a look around December and it ought to be online!

Key Essentials for the Ladies

Not only do you have to buy a costume for Carnival, but a popular new tradition is to buy another costume to wear on the Monday. This is called “MondayWear” – it usually consist of a monokini that is decorated lightly with beads and feathers. Other recommendations include buying boots (with dr schools insols) for true comfort on the road, accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, earcuffs and of course glitter and diamontes for your face. Many ladies book make-up, hair and even spray tan appointments months in advance to ensure they look perfect on the day, even if it means waking up at 4am.

Carnival Monday

J’ouvert (Optional but worth it)

It starts at 3am where you arrive in Port of Spain with an old pair of clothes and sneakers to parade in the streets until sunrise where you will be covered in mud, paint, powder or cocoa powder. Organize your J’ouvert package from numerous bands that specialize in this unique activity. The big bands include Red Ants, Cocoa Devils, Fantasy, Simply J’ouvert etc. If you are playing carnival, best not to take a nap and go straight through until Carnival if you can handle it!

The bands usually start around 11am in Port of Spain. If you are driving, go early to get a good parking spot near to where you band finishes for the day. A safe and reliable spot to park is St. Clair. Pack a little bag with essentials such as phone, id, cash, makeup, sunscreen and camera! Your band will provide you with food and drinks but take your time as the sun is hot and there may be not shade for hours at a time. Enjoy yourself and don’t go too hard as remember you have another 24 hours of partying to go!

Carnival Tuesday

The bands start much earlier than Monday and everyone is in their full costume. It is quite the sight especially at the stage where the costumes come together to present a show to the numerous judges determing who has designed the most awe-inspiring costumes for that year! It is a long day and there is even after parties in secret locations for selected bands. Have a great time and don’t stop dancing!

Post Carnival

A Carnival cooldown in Tobago for the following few days to relax those poor feet and burnt out bodies. Book your flights or boat across to Tobago at least two months in advance to ensure you get a spot as this is top post carnival activity!

Carnival Newbies

Grab your friends, Buy some costumes, Book your flights and get some good dancing shoes as this is a once in a lifetime experience!

Check out “Trinidad-Eat, Stay, Do” and “Tobago – Eat, Stay, Do” for more information on the best places to stay, the best places to eat and top activities to do in this beautiful sister isle nation.