Wild Tobago

Pat Ganase looks at two short films by Elspeth Duncan (published in the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, November 24, 2025)   For as long as I’ve been coming to Charlotteville – over 30 years now – there have been dogs in this village. We call them strays (even when they wore collars) pothongs or more caustically shithongs.   Amazingly, they are never fierce. Even when we brought our own pup – Jet – on one of our first trips, he was not barked at, attacked or lured away.   Around the Man-o-War Bay cottages, we feed them our scraps and bones. Most of the dogs that come around or sleep in the crawl space below the cottages are well-mannered and patient. They don’t need to speak for us to understand them. “We are here to welcome and look after you while you visit,” as they join us on the beach or the road. And in the casual way of vacations, we are friends for the while.   In recent years, we see the same dogs, the ones we called Max, Toby...

Castara occupies Tobago’s sweet spot for visitors. Joanne Husain looks at the village model for tourism demonstrated at Castara Retreats. All photos by Joanne Husain   The lodges look like a dream carved into the hillside above a small, authentic Caribbean fishing village: wooden cabins tucked among trees with the sea shimmering below. Beneath its postcard-perfect serenity, Castara Retreats is quietly but ambitiously reshaping what tourism can mean to operators and to visitors.   The accommodations at Castara Retreats perched on the hillside. Photo by Joanne Husain   Castara Retreats has long been known as a boutique eco-lodge, having opened its first rustic accommodation 25 years ago. Today, the property features 17 self-catering units, the Caribbean Kitchen restaurant, and a wellness space connected by footpaths that wind through tropical gardens. Accommodations have names such as Birdsong, Coasthanger, and the aptly named Hideaway, where I stayed for a few days...

In this week of the COP30 in Brazil, Dr Anjani Ganase warns of more severe climate disasters as the world races to overtop the 1.5C rise subscribed in The Paris Agreement a decade ago. As a small island nation, Trinidad and Tobago also needs to do its part. Global Tipping points Currently Today, the world has already reached 1.4 C warming over pre-industrial levels (the target is 1.5 C). Over the recent years, 2023 to 2025, we have seen the worst coral bleaching along tropical shores and island nations. The science confirms that for coral reef ecosystems, a tipping point at 1.2 C has paved a certain future where coral reefs are likely to no longer be functional marine ecosystems. Coral reefs house more than 25 % of the ocean’s marine biodiversity, so we can expect rippling consequences to fish stocks, food security and even coastal protection. It confirms what marine scientists knew and feared for the future of many coral reef systems for the foreseeable future....

People and partners are key to our new cocoa industry. Ashley Parasram talks with Pat Ganase about networking to revitalize TT’s cocoa industry and the dream to make our islands synonymous with fine flavour chocolate.   “Cocoa is a process that requires the commitment and co-operation of many people, communities and institutions but the process has started,” Ashley Parasram breathes a quiet sigh as he considers the last decade since he fell into the most absorbing work of his life.   He has been in Tobago working with agriculture trainees on the Charlotteville Estate, as well as at the Tobago Tourism and Hospitality Institute at Mt St George. He is also involved in the historical aspect of cocoa, helping restore the rolling roof of an old cocoa house.   Ashley Parasram, director of Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company. Photo by Pat Ganase He started thinking about cocoa around 2012, and the goal has become increasingly clear even as he rea...

Dr Anjani Ganase remembers Asa Wright Nature Centre as the timeless tropical place central to her explorations of Trinidad’s Northern Range rainforest    The natural pool. Photo by Anjani Ganase As an undergraduate student to gain fieldwork experience, I volunteered for an internship with what was known as the Guppy Project, led by Dr David Reznik then of University of Pennsylvania. It was an exploration of our tiny river fish in the Arima – Blanchisseuse Valley and it was the opportunity to learn about my country one river at a time. I remember the daily drives to Verdant Vale using my mom’s then new Subaru, I tested its grit on muddy and steep roads and lesser-known trails in order to access upstream areas for experimental work. It was an adventure, with time spent trekking through rivers of Lalaja, Brasso Seco, Marianne, chopping bush to adjust the light over the streams, and avoiding mapepires. I was not in my element, my glasses were fogged up or were...

  Before there was oil from the ground, there was this bird. Rarely seen in the day, this mystical creature forages at night. Faraaz Abdool tells us about the bird that once was a source of energy for the early inhabitants of our island.   The continental island of Trinidad shares virtually all of its ecology with South America, and this includes one of the strangest and most remarkable birds in the world. Like the superhero masquerading as an ordinary citizen, this is a bird that can easily be overlooked. It lacks many of the avian attributes that enrapture us: no iridescence of the hummingbird nor powerful talons of the hawk-eagle, for example. The constant lesson in nature, however, is to look deeper. Nowhere is this truer than with the Oilbird.   This Oilbird was found roosting one morning at St. Benedict's College in La Romaine, south Trinidad. Nowhere near any known colonies, observers carefully kept their distance throughout the day and the bird flew off that...