Trinidad at Last!

On 5/24, after a relaxing swim at Port Louis followed by lunch on-board, we headed out at 2:00 p.m. for our overnight sail to Trinidad. Due to Venezuelan piracy issus, we intended to buddy boat with another sailboat, however, early on, due to the sea and wind conditions and the design of their boat, they had to adjust their course considerably so we continued on by ourselves as we wanted to arrive with the tides after daybreak. And, we accomplished our goal. The other boat arrived 14 hours after we did! They said that with the currents and squalls, they could only make slow to no progress even with their engine on! We, on the other hand, had to hold our boat back - we just let out our mainsail and jib a tiny bit (sailing with a handkerchief) in order to limit our speed to an average of 5 knots so we could take advantage of the tides which enabled us to avoid the bad weather. Whatta boat!

I just have not said enough about the fine sailing capabilities of our boat. Inspiration, a Beneteau 473, points really close to the wind, is fast (we have had her to 11 knots), and sturdy. No matter the conditions, we always say that the boat can take it! On the other hand, we, on occasion, wondered whether we could take what mother nature gave, but we did! We arrived in Trinidad, our final destination, on-time and on-target. We took advantage of the tide for a smooth ride into Chaguaramas Bay after daybreak, just as Ralph had planned.

After taking a day to recover from our overnight passage to Trinidad, we started exploring the island. First was the start of our gastronomic adventure at a near-by roti stand where we had buss up shut chicken roti - that's roti skins on the side of the curried chicken. It is served with mango pickle, mashed chick peas, sweet potatoes and scotch bonnet hot sauce-yum! We then took a bus into Port of Spain where we walked through the "safe" parts of town (some of the locals looked shocked when we said we wanted to venture out on our own and they gave us names of perimeter streets within which they said we would probably not get robbed!). We looked through shops and went to the National Museum and Art Gallery which provided a very thorough explanation of the country's history and culture. Upon entering, we asked what price of admission was. We were told there was no admission fee at museums and historical sites because Trinidad wants to encourage tourism which has suffered due to its reputation as a high crime area! We also came to learn a bit about the national election that had been held the day before we arrived. This resulted in Trinidad's first female prime minister being elected. Issues revolved around crime, official graft and corruption, education and assistance to the poor. Everyone we met who spoke of the election results was excited and hopeful that the new government would help the people of Trinidad.


Then, we met up with Jessie James (his real name). Jessie has a tour and taxi service that caters to boaters. Our first trip was the evening leatherback turtle watch tour on Madera beach. This beautiful beach is off-limits to anyone who is not escorted by an official turtle guide. It is also a high surf beach so it would not be good for casual swimming. In spite of that, leatherbacks like it. We saw 4 of these huge (up to 2,000 lbs.) turtles materialize out of the surf in the darkness. Our guide had us follow one turtle as she struggled up onto the beach, dug a nest to her perfection (this took about 1 hour) and laid her eggs. She then covered the nest and compacted the sands and struggled back to the ocean. The turtles will return 3-4 times in a season and then take the next 2-3 years off. Only 1 to 2 of every 1,000 eggs is hatched and returned to the sea. We were lucky to be there to see a hatchling that was about ready to return to the sea. It was only about the size of the palm of a hand. This was a priceless adventure.


The next day, we returned to Port of Spain and found a great taxi driver named Harry who took us to Fort George outside the city. This was a signal fort built in the hills in 1804. It was one of a chain of look-outs that were put in place for defense of the island. The fort is 1,100 ft. straight up above sea level. It provides wonderful views over the capital and across to the mountains of northern Venezuela. The day we visited, a local women's group whose mission is monthly elderly outings, was having lunch at Fort George. They were very curious about how we ended up at Fort George (they noted that not many tourists venture out and about because of crime) and they were quite astonished that we came from Washington State on our own boat. After hearing our story, they served us up a big plate of their homemade roti and accompaniments like pickled fruits and spiced chick peas. They were delighted that we liked the hot sauce (actually everything was superb). What a great experience that was!

After the Fort, Harry took us for a drive to the Queen's Park Savannah, home to the Botanical Gardens. It is bordered on one side by the Magnificent Seven, a collection of eclectic over-the-top old mansions (pompous British colonial buildings - most in disrepair), although one houses the Queen's Royal College. Evidently, one issue in the recent campaign was the building of pretentious new Trinidadian high-rise buildings for government use while letting these architectural jewels disintegrate. I hope they can restore these buildings as they were, indeed, magnificent and among the oldest in the city.


It was in getting ready for our second Jesse James tour that we noticed both of our cameras (and my watch) had been stolen from the boat. It must have been someone watching our every move because there was usually someone on-board or it was locked. Crime in Trinidad, indeed! We really were sad that all pictures of Grenada and Trinidad were gone! Those turtle pictures were especially spectacular. You can Google turtles and Trinidad to get an idea!


Anyway, our second trip with Jesse started out with a stop at a road side stand for "doubles". This fried bread concoction (reminiscent of a sopapilla stuffed with roasted meat and doused with scotch bonnet hot sauce) was delicious! Next, we stopped at the Asa Wright Nature Center, an old plantation (the house is now a hotel) that is a nature/bird preserve. We went on a hike with a guide, saw lots of birds and learned about the area, ate roti and accompaniments for lunch, drank the local coffee, and had a swim in a natural pool under a waterfall. Then we went to the Caroni Swamp, a bird sanctuary, where we witnessed the dusk flight of the national bird, the scarlett ibis and saw a variety of other birds and fish, snakes and anteaters. I wish I could post a photo of the scarlett ibis flying overhead, you just can't believe how red and big they are. They gain their color from their diet of shrimp and crabs. Google scarlett ibis!