In the morning, they radioed to tell us that they were lifting anchor and heading for the Tobago Cays; less than an hour upwind. We decided to follow Moody Blues, as they had asked us to allow them to host the next night. Last time we were in here (2006), you could anchor anywhere for as long as you wished. However, with these changing times, there are now mooring balls available for 45 EC a night. These aren't mandatory so you can still anchor in between them at no charge. However, the "Park Rangers" come to visit and extract 10 EC per person per night from your wallet and tell you to have a nice day! The area is absolutely beautiful, however, and worth the extra money. The water is the clearest, and the colours are amazing. The little islands and shallow sand are all behind double horseshoe reefs that protect the area from the waves that may have traveled all the way from Africa. The reefs have all sorts of different fish, and are a marvel to poke around in while snorkeling. The islands have little white beaches with palm trees. Among the scrubbier vegetation on the island hills can be found tortoises and iguanas.
An area where we anchored in the past is in a grassy spot where the hawksbill turtles would appear around the boat from time to time. This area is now off limits for anchoring and is actually roped and buoyed off in order to protect the turtles from the harm of boats and propellers. Before, the turtles would scoot away when you swam towards them, but today they are as tame as can be. You can hover with fins and snorkel over 2 or 3 of them while they munch the grass and even touch them if you want. They pay you no mind and move around naturally. They aren't locked into this area, they just stay there because of the grassy bottom. We spent a couple hours yesterday afternoon observing these beautiful creatures. I would say that these turtles are about a meter in length. Just as I was wondering how they keep their shells so clean, I spotted one with a large yellow sucker fish attached to the back of it. Problem solved.
When we arrived back to the boat, Laurie began cleaning some of the barnacles growing on the bottom of the boat. I was standing along the side of the boat when something just at the bow of the boat cleared the water. When I turned to look, I saw a huge spotted Eagle Ray land back in the water with a huge splash. Laurie, after hearing my gasp and the splash, immediately headed for the ladder to get his body out of the water! As soon as he realized it was a ray, he started swimming after it, but by then it had gone a quarter of a mile. I could see it clearly in the pristine waters here.
Last night, we went to Moody Blues for sundowners. Susie and Gene served up a magnificent meal. It is a speciality of a restaurant back in Friday Valley and consisted of an anchovy dip with home made bread along with a suvichi (fish marinated in lime juice for hours to 'cook' it) with a home made salsa and tortilla chips. Now, how can I ever keep up with all these creations??
Today, we'll head back to the reef and will remain here one more night. What paradise it is here in the Tobago Cays!!
