Posted by Seth on August 9, 2010 under Trip Reports | 
I’m throwing in the towel. Conceding defeat. Packing up an going home (well, not until tomorrow). Lomé, Togo has defeated me and my irrational sense of invincibility. Indeed, I now have precisely one country on my “do not return” list and Togo is it.
Maybe it is because of the schmucks who tried to rob me while I was getting my visa in order at the border. Sure, that was partly my fault. I played right in to their game. At least they were bad at it and I managed to catch them and recover the cash. Still, not a great way to start a visit.
Maybe because the border crossing experience – even before the attempted robbery – made a Tijuana to San Diego crossing 20 years ago look organized and functional. And my memory was that it was anything but. The guy in charge walked off twice with no explanation, once while holding my passport. At one point another guy, this one in civilian clothes, just sat down at the desk and started processing the visas himself rather than wait. Oh, and their idea of records is a paper ledger. Nothing electronic to be seen.
Maybe it is because the best thing to do in downtown is to hang out on the beachfront promenade and apparently that’s too dangerous to do on my own as a white guy here.
Maybe because going out alone after dark is considered ridiculously unwise.
Okay, I knew that last one before I got here so maybe I shouldn’t hold that against the place since I made the choice to visit anyways. Still, it seems that he cards are heavily stacked against anyone who wants to visit Togo without an organized tour. And I’m not entirely convinced that would help enough to make it worthwhile.
I leave in the morning. It cannot come quickly enough. The Fetish Market was cool (photos and details from that coming tomorrow) but I’m not sure it makes up for the rest of the experience. At one point while planning this trip I considered taking the midnight flight from Lome to Accra but I wrote it off as a silly move and depriving myself of the overnight experience here. I now believe I would have rather enjoyed such deprivation.
In short, Togo has earned a place on my “do not return” list. It is currently the only country on that list. Even Trinidad is just on the “dislike” side of the ledger, not all the way to the “never again” column.
p.s. – Mom & Dad, I know you’re likely reading this. I’m fine. Really. A bit bitter and annoyed, but I’m fine.
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Posted by Seth on February 5, 2009 under Uncategorized |
For those of you who read the WSJ, there’s an article in the Weekend Journal section of tomorrow’s print edition that talks about the changing dynamic of vacations. Specifically, it seems that vacations are becoming shorter for many, and travel companies are altering their offerings to accommodate that pattern. This means hotels are waiving minimum stay requirements and tour operators are doing more in less time, all in hopes of wooing the ever thinning ranks of leisure travelers.
A three-night China tour will kick off in July with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. Travelers will take in a solar eclipse (astronomer provided) on Mount Emei, followed by visits to a Giant Buddha statue, an embroidery workshop, an opera (performer interviews included) and meetings with families, students and baby pandas. Seventy-two hours later, it will be time to head home.
Tour operator Remote Lands, whose shortest China tours used to be five or six days, is one of many vacation companies putting its trips on fast-forward. This year, travelers can book a one-night Caribbean spring break trip, or a two-day African safari. Hotels and resorts are throwing out the minimum-stay requirements that used to widen their profit margins, and admitting guests who only want to stay a night or two
And I managed to be one of the examples cited in the article. I’m actually the very last example, but still, I’m there. Apparently my 36 hour trip to Trinidad and Tobago was just crazy enough to get me a column inch at the very end of an article in the WSJ.
Seth Miller started taking short trips a year or two ago, to save money and fit his travel within limited vacation time restraints. Last week, the 31-year-old IT consultant from New York went to Trinidad and Tobago, leaving on Saturday and returning Monday morning. "It basically left me on the ground for about 36 hours, then you figure, scratch 12 hours for sleeping," he says.
Mr. Miller spent Sunday morning on Tobago, snorkeling and wandering around the island, and then flew to Trinidad. He hoped to catch some pre-Carnival parties, but his timing didn’t coincide with any, so he ended up watching the Super Bowl at a local bar. "You roll with what happens and take it in stride," he says. Next morning, he returned to New York.
There is also discussion of a three day trip to Costa Rica or a seven day Ecuador trip, including some time in the Galapagos (we could fit them in on our five day trip two years ago). Those trips don’t really seem that short to me, but I know I’m not the norm in that sense.
Looking forward, I’ve got a few more similar trips planned already for this year, including Rome for four days, Belize for six days, Panama for three days and an overnight to Florida. There’s also a yet to be scheduled weekend in Germany in November that may include a hop-scotch tour of Scandinavian airports, too. Of course, I’ve also got a normal two week vacation planned for the summer, so all the trips aren’t this way. It is good to have balance in that sense.
I’ve now been covered by the NY Times and the WSJ. I wonder if I can get myself into the Post or Daily News somehow other than the police blotter…
Posted by Seth on February 3, 2009 under Uncategorized |
There may not be a lot of folks like me out there in the world but I am not the only person who went to Trinidad for 36 hours this weekend. The other two that I know of didn’t also go to Tobago, but that’s their loss.
I sat next to a wonderfully friendly woman on the flight down to Port of Spain, Trinidad and we got to talking a bit. I eventually revealed that I was only going to be in the country for the ridiculously short visit. She noted that it really wasn’t enough time but I didn’t think much of it. A few minutes later, as the conversation progressed, I come to find out that she, too, was only going to be in Trinidad for the same 36 hours as I was.
Waiting in the immigration line I started to tell the couple behind me in line of my plans and they were dumbfounded. That was doubled when the woman behind them said that she was also only going to be in town for the same brief stint. I actually ran in to her in the first class cabin on the plane as we were getting ready to head back up to Newark. We ended up talking for the first couple hours of the flight about various trips, exploits and adventures we’ve had. She travels similar to me, squeezing in quick trips where she can between work and other, more pressing responsibilities. I think I may have even convinced her that it is OK to drink before 9am, at least when you’re traveling.
So, yes, I’m rather crazy, especially when it comes to travel. But there are others out there who have a similar problem. Together we can fight the “crazy” stigma that we’ve been tagged with. Cue the pep rally scene from the end of Revenge of the Nerds.
Posted by Seth on February 2, 2009 under Trip Reports |
The IATA airport code for Port of Spain, Trinidad has always made me chuckle. I am pretty sure that a big part of why I wanted to take this trip is be able to say that I’ve flown into the POS airport. The airport itself isn’t a PoS; it actually is a pretty nice facility with free WiFi and pretty decent fried chicken so not too much to complain about there. The city of Port of Spain, on the other hand, was not all that impressive to me.
I was a bit confused about where the hotel I wanted to stay in was at so I took my cab to the wrong destination. That was bad in that it meant walking around for an extra hour or so trying to find where I was going. It was good because it gave me a chance to see some of the city that I probably would not have otherwise visited. I’m not really sure that is a good thing, but at least now I know a bit more about the area around the Savannah. I saw the national museum – pretty good collection of local artwork – and I happened upon a church that was pretty, but otherwise the area was pretty run down.
I won’t go so far as to call the area slums. They weren’t that bad, but they were pretty close. Every storefront was covered in bars or wood panels. There were plenty of stray animals roaming the streets and plenty of folks sleeping in them. Not a pretty scene. I finally found my way to a hotel where I was able to buy some extortionately priced internet access and find my actual hotel. The Par-May-La’s Inn was just fine, especially for the price. Their internet wasn’t working, which sucked, but the woman working the desk was very friendly and helpful. The cab she arranged for me to get to the airport in the morning was right on time.
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| Fun sign on a storefront in Port of Spain |
But there was NOTHING going on in Port of Spain on a Sunday. I wandered as far as I felt safe doing and really couldn’t find anything. I ended up in a sports bar (Trotters) to have a couple beers and a snack. And later I was back in the same bar to watch the Super Bowl (great game, I thought). I met some new friends at the bar. One was a German who has been living in Trinidad for a few years. Another was a guy from San Diego who was in month 11 of his random trek around the world, picking up contract work from his employer as he went to pay for the trip (yes, I’m a bit jealous). And then there was the Phoenician who was a regular visitor to Trinidad. All in all a fun group to hang out and watch the game with.
I had considered trying to find one of the pre-Carnival parties to hear some steel drum music and celebrate a bit. There was supposedly one near my hotel but I didn’t really feel comfortable walking the half mile to try to find it. And the news this morning was filled with a story about a guy getting killed buy some jealous guys for hitting on a girl at a similar party the night before. I think that my inability to find the party might have been a blessing in disguise.
Oh, and apparently I managed to bring the financial meltdown with me on the trip. The bank and investment company responsible for 40%+ of the nation’s GDP announced on Sunday that they were insolvent and the government is taking them over. Awesome.
Posted by Seth on February 2, 2009 under Uncategorized |
First off, a bit of a pronunciation lesson, as I got it wrong for most of the trip. The middle syllable of Tobago rhymes with lay, may and hay.
Now that I’ve got that out of the way, let me say that spending time in Tobago is a great way to play, for a week or even just a day. It is ridiculously laid back, but also almost completely dependent on the tourism infrastructure so they understand the value of actually dealing with visitors in a reasonable manner. I didn’t get the same feeling from my stay in Trinidad but that will be a different story for a different day.
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| Pigeon Point beach in Tobago |
I had made arrangements with the guest house I was staying at to be picked up from the airport when I got in late on Saturday night. The guy came right over and about 20 minutes after landing I made it to my room, dropped off my bags and headed out to see what there was to see on a Saturday night. Quick aside here: I stayed at a place called Candles…In the wind. It was fine. It was cheap, clean and in a decent location. Not much more one can ask for at $40/night. Somewhere between a true hotel and a hostel, but nice enough. Call in direct rather than booking online; I saved ~$20 that way.
Back to the evening in Tobago. Good times. I wandered about 5 minutes from the hotel to a bar and had a beer while enjoying the sights and sounds of the island. There was a good mix of locals and tourists at the bar flowing out into the street, which wasn’t too hard since the bar had a parking lot and small dance floor and then literally was in the street. There were 30-40 people milling about and generally having a good time. Music was pumping (dance/techno) and it was an interesting scene. I wasn’t up for a big party so I called it a night after one beer and headed back to the room and my reasonably comfortable bed.
The next morning I was up early; too early. For reasons I still do not understand I woke up around 6am. On the plus side, it wasn’t too hot out yet. On the down side, it was ridiculously early. I had planned to spend most of my morning in the water, snorkeling the great reefs of Tobago. I didn’t get to see the great reefs, but I did have some decent snorkeling opportunities on the beach about 10 minutes walk from the hotel. It is an open public beach that abuts a ridiculously high priced resort (Coco something or other) so pretty much the same fish at a significantly discounted price. The snorkeling wasn’t phenomenal, but it was pretty good. Definitely a good alternative to just sitting on the beach the whole day.
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| Some of the fish and coral off of Pigeon Point beach in Tobago |
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| Bake ‘n’ Fish breakfast at Liz’s |
After snorkeling I did sit on the beach for a bit reading and then, around 9am, decided to find some food. Knowing nothing about where I was I randomly ambled up the road, hopeful that a decent opportunity would present itself. It did, in the form of Liz’s By D’ Bay, a restaurant i found on the road to Pigeon Point. I saw the place as I was walking but kept on, just in case there were other options. Finding none I was headed back to Liz’s when I saw a woman sitting in front of her shop eating breakfast. She also endorsed Liz’s (and made the 10th offer I heard that morning for a glass bottom boat tour of the reef) so I made my way over for breakfast. The food was pretty cheap ($3 for fresh Bake ‘n’ Fish) and pretty delicious. It doesn’t quite meet the technical description for street food since it was a permanent building, but it was pretty close in terms of atmosphere and quality – great on both accounts.
I should note at this point that ordering breakfast made me feel a bit like I was in the movie My Cousin Vinny. Sadly, it is not because Marisa Tomei was stomping her foot at me. Still, there was no menu at Liz’s, so ordering mostly consisted of looking around at what others were eating and then casually saying that I wanted “breakfast, like these guys.” All I can say is that it worked. The food was great and rather filling, too.
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| Store Bay Beach |
And then my time in Tobago was done. I waited out a quick tropical rain storm, wandered back to the hotel, gathered my belongings and walked the mile or so back to the airport. Yeah, I walked to the airport. I had the time to kill and it let me stop off along the way at Store Bay beach. Nestled between the two high priced resorts on that section of beach, Store Bay is an impressively nice public beach facility. The beach isn’t huge, but big enough to accommodate a good crowd. Beach chairs and umbrellas are for rent at decent prices. And there are decent changing rooms and other facilities there. Oh, and basically all of the snorkel/glass-bottom boat tours operate from the beach there, too. So there is that to deal with, but they were pretty low key in terms of soliciting business, so no big deal.
Finally back at the airport, I hopped back on the DASH8-300 and made the quick jump down to Trinidad. That was the end of the more relaxing part of the trip. I could easily see going back and spending a couple days in Tobago. The diving with the manta rays is supposed to be pretty good, and it is way more accessible than Yap. Know going in that the facilities are still pretty limited, but that’s not too big a deal, especially considering the prices.
Oh, and add to the previous list of things I forgot for this trip (passport, books) some new entries, like a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Those aren’t important, especially when you’re going to the Caribbean.
Posted by Seth on January 31, 2009 under Uncategorized |
And I’m not talking about the light chop that our plane has been experiencing for the first two hours of the flight down to Trinidad. Don’t get me wrong – things could have been worse and at the end of the day I’ll be in the Caribbean. But this trip feels a bit like rolling over a rumble strip in a car with no shocks at this point.
I left packing until the last minute this morning and that wasn’t particularly fun. I am good at packing and have a system pretty well established, but getting ready to go in 20 minutes isn’t my forté and I paid the price. I made it all the way to the bagel shop before realizing that I forgot my passport at home. I had just enough time to run back and grab it without missing my train, but it was close.
Then, once I was on the train, I realized that I forgot to pack my books. I actually went out to a great book store in NYC – Idlewild, you should go there – to get a book for the trip. They are a travel book store on 19th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues with an interesting twist. They arrange their books by region but have fiction, non-fiction and guides all mixed together. So in the Trinidad & Tobago section they had some novel written by a native Trinidadian (and a Nobel winner for Literature) amongst everything else. I found one of his books that looked pretty good and picked it up for the trip. And it is sitting on the chair in the living room at home now because I forgot it.
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| Looking down on Newark airport and the fleet of ERJs, plus the El Al jumbo |
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| Ahhh….New Jersey |
The train trip to the airport was actually pretty good. The train was on time and the conductor didn’t bother to collect my ticket so I got a freebie out of the deal. And I picked up another book at the airport book store at the recommendation of a friend (thanks, Mike) that has been pretty good through the first 100 pages so it isn’t a complete loss.
I’ve also managed to empty the catering cart in first class of their rum supply (apparently they only stock 3) though the flight attendant had no troubles dipping in to the coach supply. For those who know me as a vodka drinker I still am, but when going to the Caribbean I feel compelled to play along and go with the local stuff, and that means rum. The “steak” that I ordered for dinner turned out to be a pork loin of some sort, which was an interesting surprise, but it wasn’t too bad and the shellfish appetizer was delicious, so no complaints from me on that front.
And the flight really has been pretty bumpy. We’ve had about 10 minutes of smooth air in the first two hours. Things seem to have finally smoothed out now and I’m hoping that they remain this way for the rest of the flight. After all, I wouldn’t want to spill the little bit of rum they still have available on the plane.
We’re due in to Port of Spain in about two hours and then I have my quick hop up to Tobago to see what the smaller island has to offer. My seatmate has had great things to say so far (though she, too, disbelieves that I’m doing all this for 36 hours on the islands) and a couple decent recommendations. She was also rather impressed that I managed to fly to the islands for $265 round trip in first class both ways. Life is good as a frequent flier.
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| Sunset, somewhere over the Atlantic |
I’m through immigration and customs now in under 10 minutes, despite the fear that the flight attendants instilled in me. I’m checked in for my onward flight to Tobago and will now enjoy the free wireless in the airport for the next hour until my flight departs. I’m truly looking forward to the next couple days.
