So, to catch you up with what we have been doing while waiting here and this is in no particular order as I can't remember the dates and I am too lazy to get the calendar.
We went on another hike with the hiker people again. This time we all went out together but split up to go to two separate trails. The one that was supposed to be harder went uphill to a ridge, across the ridge for a while and then back down to end up at the same beach we ended at last time. The other trek was pronounced easy and flat - about a 2 km walk to Edith Falls. Well I can tell you that there were some wires crossed. In fact the first question I asked when we rejoined the other group is how many of them had to use their hands to help themselves up the hill they climbed - because we did!! It was actually an incredible hike. We started off on an old road shaded on both sides by bamboo. In the background we could here a lot of howler monkeys making their roaring sounds. Some sound like dogs but there are some with and incredibly deep roar that does sound like a lion, as we mentioned before. 
After a while the road turned into a path strewn with rocks and pebbles that quickly turned into boulders that we had to climb on in order to climb up. the scenery and the birds and butterflies were fantastic while the vegetation turned more jungle-like with each step we took. We finally arrived at the base of Edith Falls but not before losing one couple to the roughness and difficulty of the trek (they were Canadian too - I was so embarassed!!!). The falls didn't have much water 
falling which, considering the amount of rain we have been getting, was a surprise to us but apparently it only falls heavily immediately after the rainfall. Nevertheless, there was enough water falling for me to stand under the falls for a very refreshing shower.Edith Falls is about 5oo feet above where we were standing and all over the cliff face are a variety of clinging vines and plants. It was really very beautiful and in addition to my shower I was able to bathe in a pool farther down the stream. We finished the morning by meeting everyone back at the golf course before returning to the boat. And that segues very nicely into our golf game.
Tuesday morning bright and early (well, 7:30 is bright anyway) Jesse James sent one of his guys over to pick us up and take us to the golf course. It is a 9 hole course laid out into a very nice although not very demanding course. Greens are in good shape and although there was no longer grass to serve as rough, if you put it into the bamboo, you didn't get it back. There is also one hole where if you put it too close to the stream, you could end up meeting the caiman who often suns itself there. While we were playing the first hole a single player - a lady - caught up with us
and asked if she could play with us. First thing she said was "Hi, I'm Canadian and I have been here 2 years, how about you guys?" Turns out she and her then boyfriend came here when he was asked to manage a major cable installation. After they were going to send her home when her Visa expired, they ended up getting married so she could stay. She was from Toronto and he was from Montreal. Very nice lady and we enjoyed the day a lot.We also finally took advantage of the movie run into Movietown, towards Port of Spain, a week ago Tuesday. We saw Mama Mia and were really astounded how well Meryl Streep performed as a musician. She and her two cronies really made the movie. One thing that really amazed me was the number of Trinidadians who know all the words (the women next to me sang nearly every song - she had a good voice so it wasn't too bad) As we were leaving and the credits were rolling there was a song playing that, while ABBA's, certainly never made any kind of hit parade but I heard a small but melodic voice singing all the words. I looked down and an East Indian boy about 6 years old was singing away with a beautiful smile on his face and he was not missing a word or a note. Marvellous!!
Just an addition to that - right beside Movietown is a store called Price Smart. It requires a card to shop there like Costco and later that week we had an opportunity to visit the store on someone elses card. Close your eyes, open them, you are in Costco, right down to some of the merchandise having Kirkland labels and even the food outlet just in front of the cash register. At the time we went there we were still possibly going up the river so we stocked up on all kinds of goodies and actually saved a bunch of money. Must be some kind of connection though.
So, that is the catch-up for Trinidad. We check out of the marina tomorrow morning at 11:00 and will also check out of customs and immigration at the same time since it is right here. We intend, however, to stop in Scotland Bay on the way out of Trinidad waters even though we only have an hour to clear Trinidad. We have two reasons for doing this. One is we need to clean the barnacles off our prop. The water here is rich in nutrients due to the Orinoco river running out into it (and probably because of the garbage too!!) so barnacles form quickly, taking away the efficiency of the propellor and causing poor fuel consumption and slower speed while motoring.
The second reason is the major one (but we will use the messed up prop as our excuse in case the customs boat should ask why we haven't left), he second reason being we don't want to start our trip to Grenada too early and arrive there in the middle of the night. If we start sailing about 4 we should get into Grenada first thing Friday morning and be able to see where we are anchoring - which is always a good thing!! An added bonus is we will hear and may get to see howler monkeys. There is a large community of them around Scotland Bay.
Next blog from Grenada - sorry that we have been there before but we promise the next step will be to uncharted waters!!
1 comment:
thanks for the update, glad to hear you are moving on from T&T. I didn't like the sounds of that place.
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