Marion's Place 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. <br><br> <br>

... over unsuspecting Nature Seeker Ralph, using him as a barrier between us and the sea. Then there was the area past the ledge that hosted the decomposing sea turtle. It had been there for approximately one week, going through its various undignified stages, and now had been reduced to smelly mush with an aroma that put autopsy smells to shame. Then there was the slim log underneath a single palm tree called "Bouy" that served as our one semi-comfortable resting spot during our ...

... Lee were also plucked out of the water and back to safety. Whew! I offloaded my pile of paddles and other goodies and determined that I, along with Richard, would paddle myself into shore. So as the speedboat motored off, Richard and I cruised on the crests of the waves.....wahoo!!!! And as we came within 20 feet of the shore, my smug self and my smug kayak were suddenly hit out of nowhere by a rogue wave. <br><br>And I capsized. Everyone else already had, and I was ...

... ing *****." And then they fell back inside the Honda and went away into the jungle.<br><br>Last night, again while chillin' at the Rustic Shack around 1:00 a.m., yet another Honda rolled into the parking lot, but this one parked at a distance and sat running with its headlights on for several minutes. Finally, a lone male slowly exited the vehicle (I felt myself lurching into cop-mode again, my instincts again flaring up). Although there were at least ten of us ...

... br><br>Documenting the turtles is not easy. The first night, I felt unsure of how close I could get to the animal. The second night I felt more comfortable with touching her and being near her head while she was in her laying coma. By last night, night #5 of nighttime turtle science, Peter, Chris and I were at a whole-notha-level of comfort. With that comfort came some measure of foolishness on our part as to what we were willing to do for the sake of ...

... at an early release. At the station we wrote a statement and got on weirdly friendly terms with two of the police men. They gave their names as Chiny and B.I. (short for big indian). As we had nowhere to stay, they made up a bed for us in a little room with an en-suite. I got the impression of a small-town police station with not enough crimes to be attended to. The cops had watched all these crime dramas and were all eager to 'solve' the case or even just to have one. It ...

... that hopefully your driver will drive you too in a timely manner. I would never flag down a private car on my own, which is why it's good that my PLU/Ordal Hall buddy Kels is taking the class with me, and we travel there and back together. There's a shuttle owned by The Mount which supposivly picks up people at this corner we waited at and takes people up and down all day, but we learned the hard way that it works infrequently during the day, and ...

... Count Turk for some shore leave. He wanted to see some of the island interior on his day off so Tyler and I took him on a long adventure around the island. We had originally planned on going up to a place called Argyle falls. But along the way, we got distracted. First by all the neat little bays and fishing villages along the North side of the island. We didn't stop at ALL of them but just about. They we spent some time on a strange hiking trail and ended up going on an hour long hike ...

... TT$3000 (same in Rands), and cleaning her inside and out. But the best of all is the endless generosity of and assistance from fellow cruisers in Chagaramas, who have been answering our requests for any free goods on the morning VHF net. So far we have been given a gas stove, hand held VHF radios, culterly and cookery, bedding, sails. wind vanes, water pumps, etc, etc. The list just keeps on going. and for this we are very thank full.

... My, you don't see many girls looking like you who've had kids." He then preyed upon a poor lady whose husband had gone for a swim. When the guy came back, Tony joked, "You don't like a girl like that alone for long!" Not with Tony around, you don't. Tony then wondered what was the matter with me, and why I wasn't taking part in his bikini romping. Like he and I were going to pick up girls together! I pointed out that the girls around us were twice my age and obviously ...