January Xmas ahead

Since moving to Tobago in 2012, I have spent most Christmas Days in Trinidad with my immediate family, and a few in Tobago. For my first Christmas Day in Tobago, I was invited to lunch at the home of a Goodwood family with whom I had made friends, as they lived about ten minutes’ walk from my abode at the time.

Earlier that December, I had met a pleasant young Swedish couple visiting Tobago for the first time. From the get-go, we got along like long-time friends, so when they told me they would be spending the month on the island, and I mentioned that I would not be in Trinidad on Christmas Day, we agreed to spend that day together. As my Goodwood friends had said I could bring anyone with me, I invited the Swedes so that they could experience a typical TT Christmas meal. Six of us gathered around the dining-room table, eating, chatting and telling stories. Afterwards, the Swedes and I took a drive “up country” and returned to the south of the island later in the evening after an easy, enjoyable day. On my other two Christmases in Tobago (there were a few years between them), I chose to visit people I knew who would otherwise be alone, or who were ailing. Christmas is a sad, lonely time for many, and something as simple as a visit and giving a small gift or token can mean the world to someone who was not expecting anything – especially if they are accustomed to being alone on a day when most others are with loved ones eating lavish meals and opening presents.

There were years when I opted to spend Christmas with my immediate family earlier than the actual Christmas Day or later (for instance early January) because I needed to be in Tobago with my animals at the height of “fireworks season.”

Either that, or I had not booked tickets in time, and whereas I would have been able to get to Trinidad, I would not have been able to return to Tobago until sometime in the New Year, owing to the usual large volume of people coming over from Trinidad – resulting in all flight seats being booked. One year, the only way I could spend Christmas with my family in Trinidad was to fly over and take the ferry back, as Caribbean Airlines seats were sold out until the New Year. That day, as we finished lunch, I prepared to head to the port. Just before getting a lift from St Augustine, I glanced at my ticket and realised I had mistaken the departure time and therefore missed the sailing. Thank goodness I had noticed this before being dropped off in Port of Spain!

Instead, my sister took me to the airport, so that I could go on standby. As expected, there were throngs of others gathered with the same intent, so I anticipated a long wait. When a surge of extra people arrived at the airport, I learned that the ferry I had “missed” had, in fact, never sailed, so many of the passengers had come to the airport. Various Tobago passengers were crying (some literally): “I need to get home!” “I have work tomorrow!” and so on.

By nightfall, exhausted from the ordeal, I opted for a ride back to my parents’ house in St Augustine to catch a few hours’ sleep before returning to Piarco pre-dawn to join the standby line. Others had waited it out, some sleeping on the floor, as all the chairs were taken. In all, it took me about 24 hours on standby to return to Tobago. A few days ago, a friend in her 80s spent six gruelling hours waiting to get back to Tobago from Trinidad. Despite having a booked return ticket, she was told she would have to fly five hours later, because only one plane was in use that day and flight times were being pushed back. The airport was chock full of people all waiting to head to Tobago.

Domestic travel at any time can be a lot to navigate, for various reasons, but especially during the Christmas period it can have additional challenges.

I will be staying in Tobago for “December Christmas,” and look forward to a “January Christmas” in Trinidad with family and friends there.