Tobago vacation: Through the clouds and under the sea

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now beginning our descent into Tobago.”

I place my forehead against the cool window pane and watch as the rugged hills of the north coast of Trinidad slowly slip out of sight, and give way instead to the turquoise waters that surround the sister isle of Tobago.

Thankfully, we leave the clouds behind in Trinidad and the waters surrounding Crown Point Airport sparkle underneath the clear sunlit sky. In prior times I would have probably spent this short flight flipping through a book or magazine, or wasting time on my phone, or closing my eyes for a short power nap.

No way am I doing this now. I've missed this: the thrill of the takeoff, the anticipation of travel, the whole routine of checking in and then walking out on the breezy Piarco runway towards the plane, and of course the spectacular views from the window seat that our ancestors could have only dreamed about.

For all our flaws, humans can be amazing sometimes, and here we all are flying through the sky like birds. I look back for one more glance at Trinidad, and try to see if I can make out any of the beaches which are being caressed by the Caribbean Sea. These islands really are so beautiful from the sky...

Saturday: Buccoo beach. Here in these aquamarine waters I can pretend, at least for a moment, that everything is normal. Here, out in the water and far enough from the shore that we must tread water, there are no sounds except the seagulls and the waves (and, admittedly, the music blasting from somebody's speaker back on shore).

For a few moments there is no need to sanitise, there is no police officer yelling at you to pull up your mask, there is no endless talk of numbers and cases, and there is no need to argue about vaccines, and school closures, and sickness. Here, we are free. Now, on the shore we see a large group of children riding horses. They trot down the beach and then take the horses into shallows of the ocean.

The sight of all of these children socialising together brings me so much joy. But the horrible thought of the ongoing school closures comes back to mind, and I try to force it out of my consciousness. Not now, I think. Now is not the time for thoughts like those.

I take off my cap and plunge underwater for a few seconds. This has always been my favourite part of swimming. I wrote a haiku about it once, for class I think. It may not be any good, but after all these years I still remember what I wrote: “Break through tranquil sea. Keep eyes closed and listen well. The ocean pulses."

Sunday: Kariwak Reef. This is a strange and overwhelming experience and the first few minutes, if I am being totally honest, are much more disorienting than I had anticipated. I open my mouth and suck cool, pure oxygen into my lungs. The thought of not being able to breath through my nose is a bit more claustrophobic that I thought it would be, but I try my best to control my mind. I have a few brief, terrifying moments where my mind turns on me and begins its awful habit of self-sabotage, “you can't do this!” it says. I tell myself that the panic is coming from a few nights of broken sleep (mostly from the excitement and anticipation) and the fact that this is my first time doing something new in such a long time.

Under the ocean, with the oxygen providing regulators in our mouths, and the masks which allow us to see over our faces, we are silenced except for our ability to communicate with one another with simple hand gestures.

I glance around and see my instructor Ellis; we make eye contact through the masks and he gives me the signal for "a-ok", the panic immediately starts to subside, and now I feel myself being pulled out of the turmoil of my mind, and entering into the bliss of the present moment.

This scuba diving trip is the main reason why we have all come to Tobago this weekend. There are a couple of us in our little group who are more experienced divers, it is they who encouraged us to come over to Tobago to try our hands at diving. It has been a weekend of laughter, good conversation, culinary adventures, and now, scuba.

I stop focusing on my thoughts and instead start looking around at the reef. I see a rainbow coloured parrot fish dipping in and out of the coral and decide to follow him. There, below me now is our other instructor, Derek, who is pointing towards a green moray eel, coiled up on the rippled sand. I swear I can see his teeth shimmering in the aquamarine light, but Derek has obviously done this thousands of times and doesn't appear in the least bit fazed.

I look around at our little group, now I am in the moment, and now a feeling of extraordinary peace has come over me. And then, the best part of the whole experience occurs, before I have time to even realise what is happening I see that our group has become totally enveloped in a school of tiny silver fish. It creates a fleeting moment of feeling total connection with the ocean, and I can't help but be overwhelmed by awe and wonder that humans have found a way to turn themselves, if only for a while, into fish. We shall spend another 40 minutes here, 35 feet beneath the ocean's surface.

I swim about the coral, with the truth ungracefulness of a beginner, but no mind, it's all a learning experience. Fish dart about me, my friends snap photos, and I enter into the experience of diving. I give thanks for all of these blessings.

Sugar Cake

A trip to Tobago is never complete without some delicious sugar cake! Here is a recipe for the classic Tobago treat from Simply Trini Cooking.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups brown sugar

2 water

2 whole coconut, husked and grated

1 cup (for the coconuts)

2 bay leaves, dried

1 tsp almond essence

¼ cup cream of tartar

Direction

Grate the coconut in the blender with a little water (about 1 cup). Strain the coconut, but do not squeeze the juices out of it. Shake the strainer a little to release the excess liquids.

Set aside the grated, strained coconut for the sugar cakes.

Crumble dry bay leaf in the palm in the palm of your hands. Pour the 2 cups of water in a deep, heavy pot and throw in the bay leaf. Allow it to boil for about 5 minutes.

Then pour the sugar into the hot water to form light syrup. Stir occasionally to test the thickness of the syrup. When the mixture thickens up pour in the grated coconut and almond essence. Mix well. Leave to cook, stirring occasionally until the coconut mixture comes away from the sides of the pot easily. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle cream of tartar mixture and beat with a wooden spoon for two minutes. Immediately drop a spoonful onto a non-stick surface and allow to harden completely.

Recipe adapted from Simply Trini Cooking: https://www.simplytrinicooking.com/coconut-sugar-cake/