ASA Wright Nature Centre and Lodge Celebrating Rand's Birthday

We celebrated Rand’s Birthday by taking an overnight trip to ASA Wright Nature Centre and Lodge. (www.asawright.org). What a fabulous experience!! We recommend this Centre to everyone. We suggest you take advantage of an overnight stay as it not only is quite a ways to travel but we feel one needs to experience the early morning tranquil hours .

We had such a great time and my only dilemma is picking the pictures to share as we took soooooo many.. Jesse picked up Wednesday morning and came back for us around lunch the next day. There was a total of 11 cruisers in our group.

We broke up the two hour drive stopping at a roadside eatery to try local West Indian food. We really like the doubles. They are very messy to eat but we were amazed that they did not taste greasy. What is a double? A double is made with two baras ,deep fried rounds of thick batter. In between the two baras is curried channa which are ground up chickpeas and then topped with chutneys and sauces. Delicious...

Now I tried everywhere to find a better picture of this to no avail, so sorry that it is a little fuzzy. This is a Sahenna---made of calaloo bush leaves rolled together, sliced and dipped ina split pease base, then deep fried...We were amazed how good it tasted. The other item Rand tried was a Kechorie which was ground up split pease rolled into a ball with spices and then deep fried.

Again these items deep not taste greasy. One would of thought they were baked.

Randy and Jesse "horsing" around.

This vegetable Christophene is grown off the ground up the hillside (see background) on vines.

As we drove through the forest we constantly saw the countries flower----Chaconia. It grows wild in the forest and is bright red.

ASA is a 200 acre conservation Wildlife Sanctuary 1200 feet above sea level in the rain forest of North Trinidad. Originally a coffee and cocoa plantation owned by ASA Wright and her husband in the late 1800's early 1900's. An amazing fact about ASA herself was she was born and raised in Iceland.

The property became a nature centre in 1967.

The 26 room lodge is comprised of mainly cottages. The main house built in 1908 is where we enjoyed meals and the verandah for our best view of the birds.

After the long drive we were ready for a short hike before "High Tea" was served.

Beautiful bright orange tubed shape flower called Kohleria tubiflora had a mass of tiny dots inside each flower.

The poisonous Trumpet flower was in abundance.

The oranges here have green skin.

Impatiens are a natural ground cover here.

One of the many streams we came across.

Huge Hibiscus outside our cottage. We also saw a beautiful coral shade.

Our cottage for the night was half a duplex with a protected verandah.

I think if you click on pictures you hopefully will get to see the birds a bit better. Not technically being birders but always enjoying them at home I think we now have a new hobby. We have decided we definitely need a better camera so we can zoom in on these beautiful creatures.

Green Honeycreeper. Dazzling colour.

A Hummer up at the feeder with the Bananaquit enjoying the feast on the table.

This yellow tailed-crested oropendola is regarded as a pest as it is quite aggressive; but it sure has a beautiful bright yellow tail seen in flight.

This good size animal is an Agouti and is a type of rodent. It in fact is a very important member of the rain forest foraging for fruits and nuts.

Ending our day in the great company of Donna and Barry (S/V Sea Star eh!)

Aug. 28th. Thanks to Donna and Barry waking us up at 0600hrs. we enjoyed watching the forest awake.

We had no luck with hummers coming close to the verandah, however, the Bananaquit was very inquisitive.

Strategically placed dead trees for our benefit.

See the birds nest hanging by the 4x4. We saw these hanging out in the forest.

Priviledged to see the MOT MOT

Hummingbird

After breakfast we went on a two hour hike on a couple of the rain forest trails. Even with bug spray we still had bugs swarming around us.

Isaac is our guide for our hike. He is very knowledgeable sharing facts on the fauna, insects, Oilbird and the famous Bearded Bellbird.

Isaac explains we will not see the Oilbird today as they live up on the ledges of caves. We could hear them though---- a very loud clicking sound. Isaac tells us the Oilbirds wing span is 3 feet. As babies the Oilbird grows to twice the adult weight feeding on the oil rich fruits of the forest which makes them very fat. Years ago they were captured and their fat boiled for torch oil. (I pulled this picture off the internet.)

Making the nature walk totally worth while was seeing the Bearded Bellbird. (I had to pull this pic off the internet too.) What an amazing bird. We literally had to hunt for it. First we heard its cry.....a very slow loud hammering like someone hitting a piece of steel and then the sounds gets quicker and quicker....this is how he calls for a mate. Following the sound sure enough Isaac found one high up in a tree. It started to jump on the branch in excitement.

While watching the Bellbird Barry noticed this bug on the underside of a huge leaf right over Donna's shoulder.

Back at the lodge we saw one of these feeding on the bread by the bird stands.. It is a Gold Tegu Lizard. "Tiger Lizard".

Well hope you enjoyed the pics as much as we enjoyed the adventure.

Trinidad-Part 2--We've traveled 2335 Nautical miles/Shark and Bake

August 2008

People have been asking where exactly ae we so we thought this map would help.We have spent the past 20 months traveling the Eastern Caribbean . The GPS says we have travled 2335 nautical miles. The black line is our 2007 travels and the grey is this year.

Between working on completing tasks we make time for a few excursions exploring Trinidad.

We continue to enjoy the Crews Inn Marina however for cruisers out there considering a trip to Trinidad we thought we should update you on changes at Crews Inn. After we were here two weeks we were notified the dockage fees were to be increased Aug. 1st to 79 cents a foot for a 31-180 night stay and this now is to be paid in advance. The power has gone from $2.00 a day to about $10.00 a day for us. (It is now .35U.S./kwth plus the normal 15% VAT) We have also received notice that Crews Inn will start Sept. 1st to charge for the wireless internet because the system has been upgraded. Unfortunately at this point the wireless is only in fact working intermittently so who knows wh at will happen come Sept. 1.
We do love the pool.

We recently did a City Tour with Jesse James which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We saw this Salt water croc basking in the mud.

We saw the Queen’s Park Savannah which is the city’s largest green space…260acres.
The park is surrounded by a large “round a bout” meaning the road completely circles the park. We drove past the Magnificent 7. These were residences built in the early 1900’s and are now protected by the local Historical society from being demolished because of their unique architectural style.

Most were quite over grown and difficult to see. It looked like this was the only one inhabited. The Trinidadians want to save these historical buildings but quite honestly I don’t know where they will find the necessary funds as they all need major refurbishing.

Then past the Prime Ministers Residence

We picked up lunch and took it up to Fort George where we enjoyed lovely views of the city. Fort George was used as a signal station until 1964.

Today the panoramic view was not clear enough to see Venezuela.

Randy tried to get me locked up in the dungeon.

(Just kidding)

Last stop was to see how the Steelpan’s are made. This truly was amazing. The steelpan originated in Trinidad and Tobago. The pan is a pitched percussion instrument, made from a 55 gallon drum (like an oil drum). The pan falls into the idiophone family of instruments ( an instrument creating sound primarily by way of the instrument vibrating itself) and is in fact technically not a drum.

Tony showed us how he stretches the steel with his hammer and then marks and shape the notes on the surface. The larger the oval the lower the tone. After tempering the notes are softened and tuned. The process will probably take a week. A steelpan will need to be tuned once or twice a year.

There are 13 instruments in the Pan family which include double, triple guitar and cello. Truly Amazing!!!

Out in the dinghy we came across the UNDA…Chris is this your dad’s boat that he and Grandpa brought to Canada from England back in the 70's ??

One of the completed tasks. Accordian window covers for the hatches. They worked out well, letting in light but giving us privacy. Randy has cleaned up one of our “peeling” cleats and his sanding and varnishing looks gorgeous. It looks like one of Randy’s weekly chores is cleaning out the air conditioning strainer that gets full of little “gremlins”.

The Chaguaramus water taxi is ran by Campbell. This is an option for crossing the bay rather than using our own dinghy or hiking around to the other side of the bay.

August 20th, SHARK AND BAKE:

Traveling over an hour through the mountains to the Northern Coast

We arrive at Maracas Beach for the famous Shark & Bake. We were told Maracas Beach is where this local dish started. The beach itself was named after a popular instrument used in Trinidadian “Parang” music called the marac a xylophone-like instrument. Parang music is usually heard at Christmas. We went on this trip with Donna & Barry (S/V SEA STAR EH!)

Jan (Yon) and Teri,(S/V KIVA)

Jay and Jennifer (S/V RUM RUNNER)

and Gervais and Manon (S/V LA BETE) oops where are you Gervais??

A group of children were learning how to surf.

The beach again is different from others we’ve seen—the sand is mocha in colour and instead of lots of shells we see all sizes of stones and rocks. What makes this area different is the rocks look like driftwood.

We are told Richards Shark and Bake is the best on the island. The Shark is excellent. It reminds me of Halibut. It is not greasy and the home made bun is very light in texture. We can add condiments which include an incredible assortment of hot and not so hot sauces, shredded cabbage or lettuce, avocado and pineapple. Hard to get your mouth around this one.

Hope we're not boring you with all these pics but I don’t think we can ever get enough of these beautiful beaches.

We stopped at a roadside stand to purchase the local fruit Sweet Apple(sugar apple). To me it tasted like soursop but looked like an artichoke. The creamy flesh inside was sweet and full of seeds. We also had mamocilla which is similar to lychee—you “crack” the outer green skin with your teeth and suck on the tangy pulp that surrounds a very large seed.

Randy with Jesse James (2nd to Randy's left).

Trindad- "The Land of the Hummingbird"

First, Thank you Kate and Brian for your welcome comments on our blog. We always appreciate them and miss you both. And, yes you are right our cruising days are not over. How can they be when you haven't come for your promised visit???

July, 2008

This past month has absolutely flown by, however, it did not help with my catching a “bug” that started out as congestion and put me in bed for days. Now feeling more like my normal self I can hardly wait to share with you one major excursion we went on which was to see the Leatherback Turtles. Before I get a little ahead of myself however, I want to share a bit of information on Trinidad itself.

Trinidad is approximately 60 miles long by almost 50 miles deep at its southern and northern peninsulas. Its shape reminds me of a tooth. Trinidad is only 7 miles from Venezuela and in fact was joined to South America 10,000 years ago. We understand there are almost one and a half million people inhabiting Trinidad with over 300,000 commuting to the capital Port of Spain daily. Trinidad and Tobago (20 miles East) are one country. They have a dry season Jan- May and wet season June-Dec.

Like all the other Caribbean Islands we have visited Trinidad has changed hands many times between the French and English, ultimately given to the British in 1814. The island is rich in culture due to a mix of Indian, African, Chinese, Lebanese and Afgan peoples. Trinidad was in fact the first stop for the Carib’s as they migrated north from South America.

There is an incredible assortment of natural wildlife that we have not seen previously in our travels. Particularly compared to the Bahamas where we had a hard time finding birds, we understand there are some 460 species of birds here which of coarse include the Parrots that settle each night in the trees by our marina slip. We are looking forward to making a trip to the Caroni Swamp and Bird Sanctuary where we will see Trinidad’s National Bird the Scarlet Ibis. We understand at dusk the green of the trees is transformed to a blanket of red as the Ibis fly “home” for the night. And of coarse there are the howler monkeys and Leatherback turtles. Trinidad has rain forests, swamps mangroves and a pitchlake.

Trinidad is where the Steelpan was invented. The Steelpan is the only acoustic, non electric instrument invented in the 20th Century. We are looking forward to learning about and listening to this amazing instrument.

And then of coarse there is Carnival. Carnival is held on the Monday and Tuesday before lent. The celebration of Carnival is primarily about bands and costumes and everyone having a good time. When one Carnival is barely over preparations are started for the next year. WOW!! Sounds like we are going to be really busy with so much to see and do.

We receive a local newspaper to the boat daily. The crime and murder rate here is astounding. Daily the papers are full of what is usually gang related crimes. One day, one community had three murders bringing the death toll to 292 this year on the island compared to last years 170.

The TT (Trinidad/Tobago dollar) is 6TT to 1US$. Trinidad has a 15% VAT (Value added tax) that we have seen added to almost all our purchases. To date we have only found recycling for glass which is a disappointment.

July 17th We have been really busy. Our TODO list continues to grow; each time we cross off a task we remember a couple more things that need doing. One job was my making new curtains for the lower port lights in the salon. What a difference.

This is the before picture.

And here is the completed lower port light covering.

July 18th. Now though on to our first official excursion….The Leatherback Turtle Watch. We left Crews Inn at 1500hrs . Our driver Jesse James keeps us entertained for the three hour drive to Matura Bay which is on the East coast of Trinidad. He is a walking, talking encyclopedia on Trinidad. We stop to pick up our Turtle guide (Francis) at one of the small boroughs along the way.

Arriving at dusk we start to walk the 2km beach in search of the turtles making their way out of the sea and are fortunate to come across a hawksbill turtle laying her eggs.

As we watch in awe Francis and an assistant take GPS waypoints of the turtle’s location, its measurements and finally tag it.

Then its time to continue our search for the leatherbacks and sure enough Francis comes across three baby leatherbacks that need “rescuing”. The babies had burrowed their way out of their chamber only to get stuck in a large circle of deep sand that they could not climb over. They were getting covered in sand which weighs them down. Francis said they wouldn’t have survived if we hadn’t come upon them. (They were the last three out of the borough). Francis took them to the sea cleaned off the sand then brought them back close to the borough so they could crawl to the sea on their own. Francis said the majority of babies make it to the sea however only about 1 -3 % will survive and become mature leatherbacks.

We have a wonderful bright moon tonight and as we listen to the crashing surf we see a huge formation making its way up the sandy shore. Leatherbacks grow up to 2 meters long and weigh anywhere from 400 to 1000 kg. The leatherback we are watching spends approximately an hour on shore lying between 80 and 100 eggs. It is fascinating to watch them use their big hind flippers to scoop out the egg chamber. The eggs do not break as they are dropped into the borough because they are like jelly. After the eggs are laid “mom” slowly flips sand on top of the eggs and gently pats the sand around the eggs and continues this process until the borough is completely filled in and then she starts camouflaging the nest by pulling her heavy body in circles flipping sand as she goes until she is facing back towards the water and starts her slow trek back to sea. The eggs will take 60-70 days to hatch. The leatherback turtles shell is soft almost rubbery in texture. If the shell is cut they bleed. The leatherback looks like she is crying. The secretions actually protect her eyes from bright light. Another beautiful evening of fabulous memories!!

July 20th.

Crews Inn Marina

Time for a break in the pool.

And as I said we are here in the rainy season...Jay and Pat getting a little protection on Song Bird.

After a 20 minute deluge of rain.

High States is surrounded with ugly brackish brown water.