Trinidad & Tobago is by far the most developed and influential country in the region. This has a lot to do with the gas and oil they have, but also the smaller business are quite good developed. Many of the products you can buy on the Caribbean islands are actually produced in Trinidad & Tobago. In Barbados we heard complaints from the local people that many rich people from Trinidad & Tobago are buying real estate on this holiday island. So there is money to spend. From all the tourist you see in Trinidad & Tobago, most of them are on Tobago, the holiday island of the two. Also for local people. It is difficult to judge for us if the country has a safety issue for travellers. The crime rate is high, but tourists are no specific target (yet). But that does not mean that nothing happens. In November 2014 the country had its last major incident. An older German couple was brutally murdered on a Tobago beach.

We eventually stay one week on Trinidad and five days on Tobago. At the end of April we leave the area and fly with Caribbean Airlines to Fort Lauderdale in the US. We got many times the questions if a visit to the Caribbean is worthwhile. We did not visit all the islands in the region, but after spending four months in the region we find it still difficult to answer this question. A visit to Cuba and Jamaica is definitely worthwhile. These countries have enough to offer and the culture is great. It is also quite easy to leave the beaten track in these countries. The answer for the small islands is a different matter. It probably all depends on what you expect to see or experience. The islands are focussed on tourism and that means that almost everything is related to tourism. That can be an advantage if you need for example public transport to one of the tourist sights. On the other hand is it difficult to avoid the tourists. Only if you take one of the hikes deeper into the forested interiors, you can beat the crowds. But if you like your vacations in nice resorts, with plenty of tours available, and around other people, these islands have a lot to offer. If you are prepared to spend some bucks, a lot of activities and experiences are on sale. But if you are a backpacker, used to do things on your own, looking for new and weird experiences, and travelling on a budget, you probably better skip these destinations. They are simply too expensive for what they offer is our opinion.

Most people you see on the Lesser Antillean Islands are north Americans escaping the cold winter and spending a few weeks in the area to recharge their batteries again. Most of them come on a pre booked resort tour and use day tours to see the sights around the island. You won’t see a lot of individual travellers. There are also a lot of ‘yachties’, people with a yacht travelling from island to island. It is probably a very nice way to see the islands if you have the money. Many of the sights are off shore or even below sea level, and that means that your own boat can be very handy.

We are now in the USA and spent last days to explore Miami and the Everglades. It will take another week before our cruise start. We decided to take a ship back to Europe. A transatlantic crossing is something we always wanted to do once. So now we are going to do it. The cruise will leave Tampa in Florida, and will arrive 14 days later in Zeebrugge in Belgium. Will it be too long 14 days on a boat? You will read it in our next weblog!