History and Culture

Tobago was settled over 2,500 years ago by Amerindians. Tobago was soon seen as a valuable strategic harbour with excellent agricultural assets by its recent European arrivals. Walt Disney’s scouts found Tobago exciting for another reason – the best location for the film The Swiss Family Robinson (a book written by Johann David Wyss). This is a story of a marooned family and their adventures. Their film tree house was destroyed in a hurricane but the proud 200 foot saman tree in the Goldsborough Bay area still remains standing.

A new era

Not surprisingly, as was customary during this period by nations seeking to cash in, Tobago was “discovered” by the English in 1508 and was then fought over by the Dutch, Spanish, English, French and was also settled by Latvians and buccaneers (and some others too) well into the 18th Century. To be precise, the island changed hands 33 times! The place names bear witness to its bellicose and politically colourful past. It was ceded to the English in 1814 in the Treaty of Paris. In 1888 it was officially amalgamated with its larger island neighbour, Trinidad, in order to achieve greater financial stability for the island. In 1962 both Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Britain and finally became a republic in 1976.

Tobago is now almost wholly dependent on tourism. The straightforward, genuine, unaffected friendliness of its people, its unique unspoiled beauty, rain forests, diverse & exotic birdlife has gained the reputation for being the archetypal tropical island as portrayed in Daniel Dafoe’s 1791 novel, ‘Robinson Crusoe’.