well travelled
Arriving at Castara Retreats, Tobago, I feel oddly out of place. I hold my yoga gear in one hand, and my laptop in the other. My host for our week of ‘raw love’, Gabriela Lerner, a nutrition and health coach, greets me with a welcoming embrace. She walks barefoot, guiding me up the winding path, through the trees and to my eco lodge. ‘The pace of life here is a daily reminder to slow down; to really be in the moment’, she tells me. As I settle into my accommodation, I’m not completely sure what she means. I’m still in o ce mode – tired from the flight and mentally running through the emails I need to send. A week of meditation, walking, yoga and fresh, raw food sounded blissful on paper, however, I can’t quite switch o… But, as I soon learn, on Tobago taking things slowly isn’t optional; it’s fundamental to their way of life. This is a.ectionately known as ‘Tobago time’.
Just six miles wide and with around 70,000 residents, the island is the smaller half of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and remains charmingly unchanged by tourism. I’m staying in the small fishing village of Castara on the north coast. Here, locals spend their time farming and fishing, swimming at the quiet beach by day and ‘liming’ (the Caribbean art of doing nothing, considered a central part of their culture) by night.