Man of War Bays local Rasta musician sings about "Great Tribulation" in Tobago, but that is mainly in respect of his opinions regarding the Tobagan Government, who , he feels are doing "No justice A Tall" for the local people! In comparison, my tribulation was minor, less serious, and slightly embarrasing!
It happened on the day we were about to haul anchor, and head down to Store Bay, when one of the local Fisherman knocked on the hull, to offer us a fresh Tuna.We were keen to buy, as we had finally, after 7 weeks, just finished the last of our own Frozen catch. The problem was , that it was quite early, and we were not yet up and ready to conduct a business transaction in a business like manner. For starters, we were both still naked, as we are wont to be by night, and I was still dentally disadvantaged, with my front tooth still immersed in Sterident. I lept out of bed, grabbed a Kikoi to wrap around my waist, and headed for the cockpit.
"Tho how muth you want for the fith?", I lisped to Dash, the fisherman. Now they also speak a funny sort of English here, but this was beyond his understanding. I managed to get Mary to pass me my tupperware with denture, and proceeded, to insert it and try again. Now this requires both hands to fit properly, and as chance would have it, this was the moment my kikoi wrap decided to fail me, and fall down! Dash must have wondered about this strange Whitey, trying to buy his fish, with one hand in his mouth, and the other trying to cover his manhood! He did'nt bat an eyelid, but he must have felt sorry for me, because he agreed to a price about half of what it should have been! Later on, when I gave him a lift from his mooring to the shore, he still offered to take Steve and I out fishing when we get back to Charlotteville !
The trip down to Store bay takes about 5-6 hours, and we had to clear out with Customs, before we left. Even though one is already cleared in to Tobago, one cannot move out of ones anchorage into another bay, without their permission. We knew all their rules, and had got to know Raphael , the cricket crazy customs officer in Charlotteville, quite well. He is a real gent, and took care to explain the rules to us, and gave us permission to stop over en route in some of the bays on the way down, and asked us to confirm our arrival with the Scarborough Officials, once we got there. As I only expected to reach Store Bay at sunset, I specifically asked if it would be Ok to check in the following morning. No problem said Raphael! BIG PROBLEM said the huge, and beligerent official in Scarborough, who set upon me like the Spanish Inquisition, and refused to hear what I was saying. He assumed I had just arrived in Trinidad, and had not already checked in to Tobago, demanding to know why I had not checked in the previous night when we anchored. He went balistic when I replied" Because I did not have to!", quoting rules and regulations, and trying to shout me down, without either looking at the papers, or listening to what I was trying to tell him. Because I knew I was right, my voice probably transmitted my annoyance, which raised his volume a further decibel. This attracted the attention of his boss, who thankfully intervened, demanded silence, asked two questions of me, looked at the papers , before confirming that I was correct, and quite legal ! I had just experienced my first and only incident of bureacratic, (racial??) abuse in Tobago. Not a nice experience. It really seems that some customs people the world over, have got a power ego problem. They fail to realise that they are in the forefront of a visitors opinion of a country. I am equally sure that they need to be efficient and strong people but refuse to accept that that gives them the right to be rude and obnoxious, and to assume that all visitors must be harrassed. Get a life guys!!
Tomorrow we head back to Scarborough to check out, and, to listen to the Steel Band Carnival Finals. Now that should be fun!!
