Old Cities !!!

Tobago is one of those Caribbean islands with a long, sometimes bloody history changing hands between European colonial powers — thirty-three times in three centuries is the dizzying number, with the Dutch, the French, and the English the chief rivals, or culprits. Colonists of these nations made several attempts to establish settlements on Man O’War Bay, and by the late eighteenth century there was a sugar plantation established near the location of present-day Charlotteville, thriving under the backbreaking labour of enslaved Africans. 

As a result, the village of Charlotteville was directly influenced by this history of imperialism and colonialism. Within the village existed several agricultural estates which were fairly profitable during the era of enslavement. The villagers during this time were involved in sugar cultivation, and later on, during the period of 1916-1918, began experimenting with banana which was a rising success as well as cocoa for commercial purposes, which proved a successful venture for the agriculturalists. By 1946, according to the census reports of that year, the area had a total of 277 households and as many as 1,360 people including some Grenadians who came to Tobago, possibly due to the shortage of agricultural labour during the war (WWII).

Charlotteville today is a fishing village of around 2000 people. Its long village beach of soft creamy sand is backed by a few cottages and a few small shops and bars owned by villagers. Fifteen minutes walk along a track is Pirates’ Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches in Tobago, where there are no permanent buildings and no roads. Some of the village houses have two or three guest rooms and there are several small guesthouses. There are a few, simple restaurants.

Also popular in Charlotteville are guided tours and hikes through the rainforest, the oldest protected rainforest in the western hemisphere and which is still visibly scarred by Hurricane Flora. Little Tobago is only a few miles away from the coast and is a popular site for bird watching and other explorations. 





Charlotteville also has small tamboo bamboo bands (the rhythms are produced by pounding bamboo on the earth) which had originated during the era of enslavement when Africans were debarred from playing their traditional musical instruments.