Travels and adventures we have enjoyed over the years. (Posts with down arrows after mean they have sub-posts that relate to them). Just select the one you want and schroll to the bottom of the list.
2016 – 05 – MOTHER’S DAY WEEKEND IN TRINIDAD
In May, 2016, Nancy’s Brother Dean invited us to visit him in Trinidad. He works as an Independent IT Consultant and had a job working in Trinidad for several months. He knows we like to travel so he invited us down. We have never been to Trinidad so, and thought it would be nice to visit Dean, so we accepted.
Dean had been working there for several months so he was well attuned to the rhythm of Trinidad. He had reserved rooms for us at the Hyatt along the sea so we were all set. We arrived on Friday evening from Miami and were ready to spend an interesting weekend in Trinidad. Dean had a full weekend planned for us. We spent Friday evening at our hotel catching up with Dean, his family, his job, our family, our activities, lotsa drinks, good evening … No Jet Lag. Later we went Liming but only for a short while.
So Saturday Dean had a full day tour of Trinidad booked. He had a friend who ran a tour service who took us all over the Island. I’m not going to give you a history or geography lesson on Trinidad … if you are interested just Google “Trinidad” and you will be enlightened. The first place we went is to the Northern Shore. Exposed to the sea and all it provides, the Northern shore was very impressive. Rugged, scenic, beautiful. All At one time. Here are some pictures of the trip there through the capitol, Port of Spain, and the Northern Shore.
Nancy Along The Sea Wall By Our Hotel (In The Background0Our HotelMy Boat (I wish!)Our Hotel Patio By The SeaMy Date For The Weekend (She likes Lattes!)A Local MuseumThere Were A Number of Colonial “Mansions” in Town. We Drove By A Number of them Going Out Of TownYou Can See That The British Lived Well HereA View From Above The “Port of Spain”Terraced FarmsDown TownOk .. So We drove Past A Bunch of mansions, small homes where everyone else lives, and here is a Cricket Field.Here We Are Getting Down To The Way The real People Live … Great Food, great Drinks, and Friendly CompanionshipThe North ShoreDean & NancyLight House On The North Shore … Interesting HistoryAll About The LighthouseThe Sea .. At It’s Best
We continued our tour of the north shore … saw some incredible cloud formations and made it back to town. That night, late, we went out to a turtle sanctuary where some naturalists were taking care of leatherback turtles that were coming ashore to lay eggs. I’ll show you the pictures then tell you a little about it.
The Sun Was Setting .. A Beautiful SceneDean (Left) and Nancy (Right) Walking The ShoreThis Is How My Skin Feels!! Actually Rocks Along the ShoreA Last Peak At The LighthouseThunderheads on The HorizonThe Rocky treeHere Are The Turtles … This Is A Series of Shots Where a Female Leatherback Lays Her Eggs on Shore.We Were Secluded until She Had Dug her hole And Was Laying Eggs. The Guides used Red Lights to track hen’s See The red).Once She Starts Laying Her eggs She Goes Into A Trance Where Any Outside Activity Is Not Noticed By Her … She Is In A Trance!She is About Five Feet LongShe Digs Her Egg Hole With Her Back Flippers … The Red Spots on Her Back are From The Red Lights Shining On HerHere She Is .. Beautiful Eh?She Got All The Sand On Herself While EggsShe Can Be Touched While She Is In Her TranceShe Lays 60 to 100 Eggs .. Some Are Babies, Some Are Food For themThen She Covers Them Up and Goes Back Into The Sea
The eggs hatch some time later. The Baby Turtles eat the eggs that don’t hatch until they are strong enough to dig their way out of the nest. They then take a GPS bearing of where they are and head to the sea. Incredibly, they return to the same spot some 25 years later after swimming the oceans all over the globe. It was a very unique experience. The Turtles are so gentle and quiet. The bad side is that thieves come and steal the babies as they crawl out to the sea … sell them. The Naturalists try to protect them until they can get to the sea.
The next Day was Mother’s Day and, as always, Nancy and I try to make these special days special.
Nancy With Her Mother’s day Gifts. Andy and Candy Always Send Something and I try to Do Something As Well. I did the Wrapping!
So That afternoon, Dean was working but his guide took us around the rest of the island and treated us to a shark sandwich. After that we took him on a tour of an amazing highly migrations of red birds.
A Condo Development Outside of Port of SpainI Was ready to MoveThe West bayNeed Anything?FlowersA Shark Sandwich and a Carib Beer … YummmmThe ChefsAdvertisingGetting ready For the Evening TourThe Cruise That Left Just Before UsSomething In The TreePerhaps A Monkey? MangrovesEnjoying The TourRootsFrom the Tree TopsA FlamingoThe Red Ibis … Coming In To roostAnd some White Water BirdsThey Do Integrate!They Keep Coming… and Coming… and ComingUntil The Trees Are FilledThey Still Keep ComingA Bunch of BirdsA Tree FullAll Colors
That ended the bird tour. We had an incredible sunset that evening, we went back to the hotel, got up the next morning and flew home. Great weekend in a Great little place. Here’s the Sunset.
That’s Our Mother’s Day Weekend In Trinidad. Thank You Dean for inviting us down and sharing your weekend and Paradise with us. Always a fun time.
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Author: Bill
Bill Rumpel served America as an Air Traffic Controller, a Commander of forces, and as an advisor to our country's senior leadership in peacetime and combat in the US Air Force for nearly, forty years of his adult life. Raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm and living most of his early years working hard or enjoying the outdoors, he has devoted his retirement years to telling stories based on true events with an intriguing mix of fiction and adventure. His books are published in 14 countries and in 9 different languages.
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