Big things come in little packages!

BASK IN THE HISTORY OF LITTLE TOBAGO

Little Tobago, also known as Bird of Paradise, is a star-shaped mountainous island located off the coast of Speyside. This small offshore island is one of the most spectacular seabird sanctuaries in the Caribbean. Long ago, Little Tobago was a preferred hiding spot for pirates but were driven from their rocky shelters of the coastlines  when agriculture and trade started to flourish in this part of the West Indies,

In Tobago’s declining economy of the 19th century, Little Tobago lost a lot of its value, and in 1898, Sir William Ingram was able to purchase it for only £225. Sir William’s pet project was the importation of pet birds. In 1909, he spent a whopping £1,000 on twenty-four pairs of Birds of Paradise from New Guinea.

Since the splendidly-feathered animals were not able to fly the 1.5 miles to the Tobago 'mainland’, they remained in Little Tobago. When Sir William died, they started to be neglected, and their numbers dwindled. The birds survived on the island until at least 1958 when they were filmed by a National Geographic crew. In the middle of the 20th century, Hurricane Flora swept over the island, and the precious birds were all swept out to the sea and drowned.

For many years, the main attraction of the trip to Little Tobago has been the birds but the trip has much more to offer!

Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting a lazy barracuda? Have you seen the long tail streamer that came very close to beating the scarlet ibis to the title of our national bird? How about viewing the remains of the largest brain coral in the western hemisphere? Three hours spent on and around the Island is enough for an adventure that will live long in your memory.