Ohana-Villa Tobago – Travel Check List Tips

As we are always looking for extra ways to ensure that guests coming to Ohana have everything necessary to ensure a peaceful and relaxing holiday with us, here are some tips to add to your own checklist: -

• A Visa if you are coming from a country where one will be necessary – please contact a local Trinidad & Tobago Embassy to verify prior to booking any flights

• A valid passport with at least 6 months of time from departure

• Adequate travel & medical insurance is always recommended for any trip

• Current Driving License and remember to discuss with us any extra insurance cover required for your hire car at time of booking

• Bring any regular prescription medication that may be necessary to last the trip – Rena will also have a list of recommended medical facilities & pharmacies near to Ohana

• Ohana will be ready for your arrival from 2:00pm onwards. Rena The Ohana House Manager & her team will have been busy in preparation for your arrival, especially if your arrival day, coincides with departing guests. However if for some reason you arrive a little bit early, please call Rena on 635-1040 and depending on her schedule, she may be able to accept you a little earlier, especially if she has no departing guests.

• Tobago is in the tropics, so you will need tropical strength mosquito repellent, as well as some high factor sunscreen. Don’t worry – you will still get a tan – it will just enable you to spend a little longer in the sun without you burning! And for those of you who don’t listen to Rena’s entreaties to ‘come out of de sun now’ – she has a bunch of aloe vera plants in her herb garden outside the kitchen. She will cut you some, peel the cactus-type leaves, and slather the raw aloe jelly inside all over your skin – naturally magic stuff that is so cooling and guaranteed to heal!

• You will find Tobago is wonderfully laid-back and casual so formal attire is not really necessary. However, most restaurants stipulate long trousers and shirts (no vests/open sandals), when dining at night for men – so if you have any rebels amongst your party, who will not follow these rules, do check – you will find there’s always 1 or 2!! Some places really do not mind too much! However, with the excellent cooks at Ohana, to be honest most guests just stay in and wear whatever they like!

• We advise that you do not wear dark colours, as for some reason dark colours seem to attract the mosquitoes. And even though Ohana is located on the Windward Coast, meaning less problems with mosquitoes, it is a good idea to stick to white/light colours especially at dawn, at night, and after any heavy showers of rain. There is also an amazing little gadget called a zanza-click – you put it against a bite and click for a few times. You get the most minute electrical pulse/shock on the skin and this causes the itching to stop – and as it is the itching that irritates and causes problems, this little tool is a boon. You can pick them up reasonably these days at airports.

• Ohana has WIFI facility, and so far favourite places in Ohana seem to be at the bar, down on the beach, under the gazebo, and in bed! Please ask Rena for help with logging on.

• Each room has a digital room safe, large enough to hold a normal size laptop computer, and all your other valuables

• The standard power supply in Tobago is 110v 60Hz with Type B (American 3-pin) plugs and sockets. This type of socket will automatically also take the standard two-pin-flat Type A (unearthed/ungrounded) plugs. As well and to confuse the issue, 220v/50Hz power is also available on Tobago. North American visitors do not need adapters, however, British and European travellers will require a standard international plug adapter.

• UK visitors will be able to use most electrical accessories with their adaptors, however you will find a hairdryer in each bedroom. And a tip for the ladies – due to the humidity of the tropics – it is an idea to leave the GHD hair straighteners at home and cultivate a more wavy organic approach! Don’t worry I promise you – after a couple of days at Ohana, absolutely everyone starts to look more and more sun-kissed and gorgeous!!!

• UK travellers, please also check that your electricity travel adaptor can take two-pin-round shaver plugs, as some do not have this facility.

• The Travel Smart adaptor is a good buy as it also protects against surges in power, and as these are very common in Tobago, this would protect your expensive equipment and prevent damage so well worth the £10-£15 investment.

• And when packing, really do thorough edit once you have packed that case and aim for a capsule wardrobe ie one that works with everything! I tell you that as someone who religiously takes far too much when I go to Ohana – even though I have been cutting down more and more over the years. There is a large sized washing & drying machine at Ohana and Rena can arrange with the Laundress to have your stuff washed and ironed at reasonable cost – so really – try not to take too much as you just won’t wear it and probably end up either giving yourself or the man in your life a lifelong shoulder or back problem . . .

You will be surprised to find that once the Ohana ‘magic’ starts to have its way with you – working on all your senses simultaneously – things that seemed so important just yesterday, begin now to have very little impact as your body slowly but surely begins it’s task of returning itself to a more natural balance

Hope this helps – Till later . . .

~ by ohanavilla on March 13, 2008.