Trinidad and Tobago Caribbean Discovery Tours Ltd, Down the Islands Boat Tour

The channel between South America and Trinidad is broken by a series of breathtakingly beautiful islands dear to Trinidadians as sites for holiday homes. This tour offers a glimpse into both colonial history and the way of life of the well off Trinidadians. These islands in colonial days supported a flourishing whaling industry, coconut plantations and small communities of fishermen. The remnants of permanent settlements are now one of Trinidad's last remaining group of French patois speakers.

We set out for 'the islands' from the Chagaramas National Park where marinas are crowded with yachts from all over the world. We travel by boat through the Gulf of Paria to Gaspar Grande Island to visit limestone caverns, then pass through ' coves and bays of Scotland Bay, The Bocas, and Monos Island, named for its bands of Howler monkeys, to the island of Chacachacare a few miles from South America.

This island had been an outpost of the Venezuelan war of Independence but today only the ruins of colonial architecture and an abandoned convent remain on the island. All is now desolate except for the reputed nightly visitations by the ghost of a nun. We stop on the black volcanic sands of La Tinta Bay to picnic, swim or hike before returning to the mainland.