Cove at Chaguaramas Bay Trinidad

I decided to take advantage of my paid vacation and spend two weeks in Trinidad and Tobago. My good friend Kevin Fortune, who I met in college, is from Trinidad and was a phenomenal tour guide. I stayed away from computers, cell phones and any reading materials related to the economy and/or the environment.

... we moved on toward the beach. Arrival at the "Rustic Shack" and lots of pictures, everywhere, everyone, not wanting to forget the faces that I'm realistically certain I won't ever see again. And then the dark walk from the Rustic Shack to the beach, where the sound of human voices was replaced by the pound of the high-energy ocean. I was already exhausted, even before the trudge through the soft sand began this night, worn down by the shifty-wifty schedule, high seas rescues ...

... could no longer paddle myself since I had an armful of everyone else's paddles and water bottles and sundries that I'd saved from floating off to Venezuela. Suddenly, like another episode of Baywatch, a sleek and stylish speedboat came cruising toward us out of nowhere. It was Baptiste and his army, swooping in to save the un-athletic and water-logged! Baptiste and his crew expertly plucked the kayaks out of the water and lifted them into the boat. Ronald, Peter ...

... warmth of the equatorial sun, in the calm of a sweltering day on the terrace. As I enjoyed my chillin', Askim arrived on the terrace with a strange look on her face. She said that she had something really weird to tell me. A few minutes ago in the kitchen, she'd overheard one of the staff report to Suzan that two people had been shot and killed on Matura Beach today. The weirdest part of it was not that it had happened, but that later, when we were all gathered together with ...

... claimed that everyone drives this way in Trinidad. The roads wound and wound and wound with deep drainage drop offs to each side and pavement that was about one lane wide. So Baptiste would drive in the middle of the road at speeds exceeding warp, and would suddenly veer dangerously close to the edge of the road when another similarly driving hot rod approached from the opposite direction. The air smelled like poop and then compost and then diesel fumes, and ...

... and DJ's - blasting music and most important a truck that has porta potties. The music is so loud - everyone wears ear plugs. Check out some of the pictures of the costumes.

Another event is the steel drum contest. Imagine over 100 steel drums playing at one time. The contest consists of neighborhood steel drum bands, each with at least 100 players playing an original selection. It is awesome!

... a huge hairpin descent into this little fishing village with colourful homes tumbling down the hillside to the waters of Man o War Bay...There you see only blue water and a flotilla of pirogues and diving pelicans! We'll hope to tell more after a day or two when we get more settled in. Right now we are trying not to curse Delta too much and just trying to get on island time! Cheers!

... in Bucco. The owner Winston was really nice and we ended up staying there for 8 days. We started off in a double room and then moved to the apartment which had its own kitchen and views of the ocean and palm trees. The next week was then spent lazing on the beach, doing a spot to snorkeling and drinking the 3 litres of rum we had bought from Guyana! There was of course New Years Eve and Elliot's birthday during that time and for NYE we started off having a few ...

... the scare the heck out me. We eased off on the "gas" and brought the tow boat along side, before entering the approach toward the slip way. And by meandering in a state of partial control brought Sparrow along side the travel lifts' run way, and tied her up. At which point we all breathed a sigh of relief. We had successfully completed the two most risking challenges. We had managed to tow Sparrow around with out ...

... bumbling dildo-head!" Waiting for David wasn't an option. I had to get out of the house. right ... then. Luckily, if you don't have any friends in Trinidad, there are plenty of bums willing to hang out with you. I went to the transportation station downtown. There were no buses to the beach from there on Sunday. They re-directed me further into town. Walking, I soon found myself at Port of Spain's plaza on George St. - not the best place to make friends if you're ...