Golden Tulip Kapok Hotel Port of Spain

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. <br><br> <br>

... so it was quiet when she began to lay her eggs. As I always loved the best, I hung out by her front flippers and her face. I got closer and felt her breath, and this made me cry. A combination of being too tired, having forgotten my cake snack, and knowing that this was one of the coolest things I'd ever been near.<br><br>It's easy to be grateful and reflective when you have the energy to be so, but gratitude and appreciation become more difficult in the presence of weakness and ...

... entire back end of the kayak sank. I mean SANK below the water line. The sinking, of course, caused the kayak to tip over and dump Lee and Richard back into the water. Meanwhile, Peter was having no better luck with his single, and multitudes of paddles, water bottles, and sundry items were again set adrift into the open ocean. Being astute kayakers, Ronald, Richard, and I came to the realization that the vessel was obviously full of water and had to be emptied ...

... near the Rustic Shack, he came directly to me. I don't know why. In almost a whisper, followed by a scent of liquor, he said, "I'm interested in viewing the turtles." I wondered, is this what a poacher looks like? We were supposed to have left an hour ago; did he think no one would be here? I pointed him toward two staff members standing nearby, they had a brief conversation, and then the man departed. I went to Francis, Suzan's brother who has been a Nature Seeker patroller ...

... Long Beach, where we were there to celebrate the 25 year anniversay of Henri &amp; Gary. That included a pool-side BBQ, a formal dinner, and a Newport Beach harbor cruise. It was wonderful to see old friends there as well. After a packed wkend there, it was up to Santa Barbara to visit Don &amp; Terry (family) for a couple days. It is always great to see them. And, of course, SB is a great place. I wasn't back in Dallas long before I started my first "real" adventure. With ...

... each judging point along the route, we busted out our sailor dance! The last judging was the big one for the National Carnival Commission and Micheal Lucien, who cooreographed and taught us our dance, was in the judging booth so we all had extra (really hyper) motivation to do especially well. I was in the front, and each time we did our dance for the crowd, I could not help but have the goofiest glee-filled smile on my face because it was so much fun ...

Trinidad &amp; Tobago: Used a half marathon in Trinidad as an excuse to get away for the weekend. I was accompanied by another CIDA intern also dying to get away for a weekend. I was blown away by large buildings and traffic lights in Port of Spain. I guess I had gotten used to Georgetown and had forgotten how **** the infrastructure really is. Took a gorgeous ferry ride between Trinidad and Tobago. Tobago ...

I took a chance. I met some people who were kind enough to invite me to join them on their trip to Tobago for the Easter weekend. Get this...we are taking their yacht (I'm not kidding you). I took those motion sickness pills well in advance but those things really don't work. Within a few hours, I was desperately ill. Even after we threw anchor I was still looking green. Yet it was all worth it to come out on deck and see the turquoise blue waters ...

... and burnt; bored enough perhaps to consider Trinidadian talk-radio worthwhile entertainment - only to see his team lose? I could've learned some new heckles from that guy. "What da' muhda-a*s ya doin', Cuffy!? You muhda-'s couldn't knuckle-bowl a muhda-slipper in de gully if yuh'z wuz bowlin' to my grand-muhda! And why is this game called "cricket," anyway? It makes no sense ... Youshtupido'suh-im? Cream in de Cuffy! Yu muhda-'s!" To be continued. Modern Oddyseus.

... a white, brown-spotted moray eel was tangled beneath a rock. He wore the mean-looking frown of someone gasping for air, and he wasn't afraid of anything. Reaching forty feet of water, I took big dives into the green nothingness. A still channel in the depths seemed like a place big sharks might travel. Surfacing took a while. Some preying birds circled above. The dark water began teeming with small silver fish whose scales flashed the sun's rays as they scurried for safety. A ...