Trinidad

10.40N 061.37W

It was in Trinidad that we met. Andy was there for carnival and I was teaching in a local school. We found that we both enjoy long walks and meeting the wildlife and we had some great experiences in Trinidad before deciding to sail on together.

At the anchorage in TTSA, where we were staying, we watched pelicans happily fishing; cutlass fish jumping into the dinghy as we passed by; bats fishing at night; turtles coming to visit; hawks nesting in the bushes alongside the anchorage and many other sea birds flying overhead.

We joined the Hash House Harriers, an intrepid bunch of drinkers with a walking problem! Every fortnight we met up to follow a trail set by a group of other members. The trail is marked with shredded paper by ‘the hares’ and ‘the hounds’ set off in a pack to find it. This was a great chance to see areas of Trinidad that we would not normally have seen and meet a friendly bunch of locals and expats. The trails took in varied countryside and small villages off the beaten track.

Some of our best encounters with the wildlife, however, were around our local area. Howler monkeys could be heard nearly every morning in the trees around Chaguaramas and could often be spotted as they follow their regular routes through the tree tops. On one occasion, whilst walking up the hill behind the fire station, a troop of howlers passed above our heads, about 50 meters away. On another occasion, in the same area, a troop, startled by gunfire (from police shooting practice nearby) spotted us as they tried to make their way quietly from the danger. The large male, and protector of the troop, stopped and stared at us as he slowly grabbed a branch and brought it in front of his face to disguise his position. As the rest of the troop hurried away he continued to keep us in his sight, carefully raising his head above the branch from time to time, to see if we were still there. After a few minutes of us watching him he tried a different tactic, shaking the branches and posturing before us in a show of strength. Once the other monkeys had got a safe distance from us and were well out of sight he turned and hurried off to catch them. Priceless!

Another place where we enjoyed the antics of the howlers was Scotland Bay, where we occasionally took the boat for a weekend. There the demonic sound of the monkeys could be heard often throughout the day and it was common to see them moving through the trees as they went about their business. Occasionally they could be seen close to the water’s edge as could the capuchin monkeys who also roam the surrounding forest and play in the trees beside the water.

On one of my walks I had a close encounter with a tarantula. I became aware of him when I spotted a sudden movement beneath my foot as I stepped forward. I managed to stop myself from treading on him, thankfully, and, despite being a little startled, was fascinated to see this large, hairy spider, about 15 cm across, crouched beside a rock on the path. Fortunately he was more scared of me than I was of him and he scurried away!

On another walk to the beach at Macaripe Bay, we saw another, less fortunate, tarantula. This one was a young one, almost the size of a tennis ball, who had become the victim of some sort of large wasp, about 6 cm long. The wasp had evidently stung the tarantula, which was partially paralyzed, and was trying to drag it to its nest, probably to become host to the wasps young. The tarantula was managing to put up some sterling resistance, holding on to anything he could and making the wasp’s job rather difficult. We watched as the wasp, clearly keen to end the struggle, stopped dragging and turned to give the tarantula another venomous injection. The still live tarantula was no longer able to resist and the wasp continued the journey hindered only by the size of his prey.

We drove out, one night, to watch the leatherback turtles lay their eggs and see the hatchlings making their way to the sea. It was a beautiful, moonlit night and we sat on the beach for a couple of hours, quietly waiting for the first turtle to appear and make her way laboriously up the beach to perform her task, a process which takes a couple of hours and a lot of energy!

We had many other adventures along the way and enjoyed watching the many birds we saw each day and picking mangos and avocados from beside the road as we walked. It truly is a beautiful island and we will always remember it with fondness.