[S]We are just back from two days at the Kaieteur Falls,a high-volume waterfall on the Potaro River. The drop is about 750 feet, and at the time we were there, there was a lot of water flowing over. The Gorge into which the water falls is surrounded by sheer cliffs and you can walk right to the edge, though there are notices asking you to stay 8 feet frm the edge (because of the 750 foot drop). The spray and patterns of water from the falls are very spectacular.
Swifts nest on a cave behind the wall of water and they fly behind occasionally, and in the evening flock spectacularly overhead and swirl, like the starlings over Brighton beach, before disappearing behind the water in large groups to roost. We could not reach the bottom of the falls (it is totally inaccessible except to climbers with long ropes) but we did some bird and frog watching is the surrounding area. There is a bird there called 'Cock of the Rock' because it makes a nest on rocks, and the male is bright orange. We saw the male bird several times and caught a glimpse of the brown-coloured female whcih is much harder to see.
The area has many large Bromeliads. In the water that collects between the leaves, tiny frogs live (as well as hairy spiders, tiny pink crabs and some sort of beetle. The tiny frogs have a call rather like a ringtone. They are notable as the source of poison for amerindians' blowpipe darts - they contain curare, whch paralises muscles in mammals. The male is golden colour, but is rather shy and hard to glimpse but we did see them as well as the drab brown female.
To get to the falls we took a light aircraft - the outward journey was in a 13-seater, but many seats had been removed for freight (much of it food for the Amerindian village nearby). It was quite fun although a bit scary in a way and we were sitting directly behihnd the pilot.
Comming back the aircraft was even smaller, and we did find on both flights that the noise level made conversation impossible. However we had a spledid view of the forest and the mountains around the waterfall as well as a view of the falls themselves from the air. We passed mining sites where gold and diamonds are found. it is open cast mining and the gold and white sand with pools of water where they pan for the gold made a sharp contrast with the green of the surrounding forests. We crossed mile after mile of rainforest which makes up to 90% of Guyana - stunning to see so many trees and to think of the undisturbed wildlife which flourishes there.
Tomorrow we take another plane back into the interior where we will spend 10 days at various nature reserves.
Friday, 25 February 2011
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Rainy days in the rainforest
[Cathy]We have just spent 4 nights at Adel's rainforest resort on the Pomeroon River north-west of Georgetown. It usually takes around 3 hours to get there - 45 minutes in a taxi, 35 minutes in an open speedboat acros the Essequibo river, weaving between several of its large islands, another 40 minutes in a taxi along the coast, and finally another 35 minutes in a speedboat down the Pomeroon. It took us a lot longer as the first taxi journey involved stopping at an ATM to get money and the last boat journey ws delayed, as the resort wanted to pick up three other tourists who arrived a lot later! So it was nearer 7 hours in the end - and the Essequibo river trip was very hairy, wet and windy, with nothing but a tarpaulin to pull over your head to protect you - so much for looking for interesting birds!
[s] The Esquibo is about 23 miles wide at its mouth and there are 350 islands in the estuary. The rivers here are big - the Pomeroon is about the width of the Thames at London Bridge.
[C]The resort was lovely when we got there - 3 linked wooden houses on stilts, simple rooms with bathroom and a cold shower and mosquito nets on the beds - entirely essential as we soon found out. Its only functionning source of electricity was solar panels, and as it had rained a lot that day we had to sit in semi-darkness and use lights as little as possible. Because of all the rain we found we got very muddy exploring the grounds next day. It is a 60 acre fruit farm, and we saw the citrus, guava, mango and avocado trees, but had to jump narrow drainage trenches between the rows, which were very full and squishy, or balance on narrow planks to cross the wider ones! We got very muddy. There was supposed to be a "nature trail" round the perimeter, but it was overgrown and impassable. So between the flooding that was already affecting it when we arrived and the continuous rain until the last day of our stay we were very much confined to barracks. Luckily very comfortable and attractive ones, and the gardens around the house were full of interesting birds.I saw around 60 species during our stay despite the downpours. the birds had to eat, so couldn't stay hidden all day. the most charming were a pair of Trumpeters (I kid you not: see http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/10/04/the-grey-winged-trumpeter/ for more information) which spent the day patrolling the grounds keeping the dogs in order, but flew across the river to roost in the trees at night.
The food was good and I'm sure I put on weight eating three cooked meals a day and having such little exercise. We were looked after by a family of Amerindians from the Arawok tribe. Agnes the matriarch was in charge of everything (the Guyanese-American owner whos grandmother was born on the estate visits from time to time). Agnes' son and grandson, sister and niece in law do all the work of looking after guests and keeping the place gleaming. Others are employed to tend the crops and grounds, but it has all got very neglected, so many of the tress are smothered with vines. Ther were other guests to chat to - a Dutch couple of our age, with their daughter who is here with VSO, and later a Guyanese family. We visited Wakapoa, the village where Agnes' family lives by boat in pouring rain, getting very cold and wet. It was very interesting to see the school and the health centre which serves the extended village with houses scattered all over the waterways and savannah, dependent on samll dugout canoes, or speedboats if well off to use these facilities. We spent a lot of time on the verandahs staring out at the rain and looking for birds, but finally got a chande to go up the narrow creek with a slow speedboat and dift downstream without an engine to watch the birds. And that day it barely rained!
We are now back in Georgetown, which we found was so badly flooded while we were away that they abandoned their national independence Day parade. all seems fine now. We are off to Kaieteur Falls early tomorrow morining for 2 nights.
[s] The Esquibo is about 23 miles wide at its mouth and there are 350 islands in the estuary. The rivers here are big - the Pomeroon is about the width of the Thames at London Bridge.
[C]The resort was lovely when we got there - 3 linked wooden houses on stilts, simple rooms with bathroom and a cold shower and mosquito nets on the beds - entirely essential as we soon found out. Its only functionning source of electricity was solar panels, and as it had rained a lot that day we had to sit in semi-darkness and use lights as little as possible. Because of all the rain we found we got very muddy exploring the grounds next day. It is a 60 acre fruit farm, and we saw the citrus, guava, mango and avocado trees, but had to jump narrow drainage trenches between the rows, which were very full and squishy, or balance on narrow planks to cross the wider ones! We got very muddy. There was supposed to be a "nature trail" round the perimeter, but it was overgrown and impassable. So between the flooding that was already affecting it when we arrived and the continuous rain until the last day of our stay we were very much confined to barracks. Luckily very comfortable and attractive ones, and the gardens around the house were full of interesting birds.I saw around 60 species during our stay despite the downpours. the birds had to eat, so couldn't stay hidden all day. the most charming were a pair of Trumpeters (I kid you not: see http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2009/10/04/the-grey-winged-trumpeter/ for more information) which spent the day patrolling the grounds keeping the dogs in order, but flew across the river to roost in the trees at night.
The food was good and I'm sure I put on weight eating three cooked meals a day and having such little exercise. We were looked after by a family of Amerindians from the Arawok tribe. Agnes the matriarch was in charge of everything (the Guyanese-American owner whos grandmother was born on the estate visits from time to time). Agnes' son and grandson, sister and niece in law do all the work of looking after guests and keeping the place gleaming. Others are employed to tend the crops and grounds, but it has all got very neglected, so many of the tress are smothered with vines. Ther were other guests to chat to - a Dutch couple of our age, with their daughter who is here with VSO, and later a Guyanese family. We visited Wakapoa, the village where Agnes' family lives by boat in pouring rain, getting very cold and wet. It was very interesting to see the school and the health centre which serves the extended village with houses scattered all over the waterways and savannah, dependent on samll dugout canoes, or speedboats if well off to use these facilities. We spent a lot of time on the verandahs staring out at the rain and looking for birds, but finally got a chande to go up the narrow creek with a slow speedboat and dift downstream without an engine to watch the birds. And that day it barely rained!
We are now back in Georgetown, which we found was so badly flooded while we were away that they abandoned their national independence Day parade. all seems fine now. We are off to Kaieteur Falls early tomorrow morining for 2 nights.
Thursday, 17 February 2011
South America - Guyana
[Samuel]
We are now in Georgetown, Guyana. We are booked to go the the Kaieteur Falls next week and prior to this are trying to arrange a short trip to a rain forest area near Georgetown. Later we hope to visit further up-country areas.
There are a lot of birds in the town and we have seen eagles several times plus the usual small birds like Grackle and Kiskadee. We have looked around Georgetown which has several timber buildings dating from the colonial era such as a cathedral and government buildings, as well as a lot of newer timber building. The newest buildings are however mainly concrete. Some of the timber buildings appear abandoned - termite attack may be one reason. In Brasso Secco, much of the floor of the wooden building we were using was being replaced due to termite damage.
On the flight in from Trinidad to Guyana, one could see that the country near the coast was mostly forested, and the forests extent through much of the interior until they give way to Savannah in the far south. So there is plenty of wood. There is also plenty of water with several large rivers including the Demerara which we saw as we arrived.
There are many species of birds to see (so many that Cathy is concerned about how she will manage to cope). There are quite a few mammals too, though many are nocturnal so it remains to be seen how many we will see.
We are now in Georgetown, Guyana. We are booked to go the the Kaieteur Falls next week and prior to this are trying to arrange a short trip to a rain forest area near Georgetown. Later we hope to visit further up-country areas.
There are a lot of birds in the town and we have seen eagles several times plus the usual small birds like Grackle and Kiskadee. We have looked around Georgetown which has several timber buildings dating from the colonial era such as a cathedral and government buildings, as well as a lot of newer timber building. The newest buildings are however mainly concrete. Some of the timber buildings appear abandoned - termite attack may be one reason. In Brasso Secco, much of the floor of the wooden building we were using was being replaced due to termite damage.
On the flight in from Trinidad to Guyana, one could see that the country near the coast was mostly forested, and the forests extent through much of the interior until they give way to Savannah in the far south. So there is plenty of wood. There is also plenty of water with several large rivers including the Demerara which we saw as we arrived.
There are many species of birds to see (so many that Cathy is concerned about how she will manage to cope). There are quite a few mammals too, though many are nocturnal so it remains to be seen how many we will see.
Monday, 14 February 2011
A village in the Northern range
[Samuel]
We are staying in a village called Brasso Seco, with a family of Spanish origin, who run the village shop and also teach at the village primary school. We have gone for a hike to a nearby waterfall which was pleasantly cool in the midday heat. We didn't take a guide, as the paths round here are broad and well maintained, and we were told we couldn't miss the falls. in fact we walked past the place where we should have turned off, between two small rivers, and walked for a further half-hour beyond, through some very muddy stretches. Luckily we met a man repairing the underside of his pickup - not surprising it needed it, as the ruts were very deep. It seemed impossible for a vehicle to traverse such steep and waterlogged paths. He told us the way back, and commented that they had been saying for ages that it should be better signposted. So instead of a two and a half hour walk it was in fact three and a half there, though less back. And I had already been birdwatching on my own in the hills for two hours at dawn! The glorious thing about Brasso Seco is how safe it is. Everywhere else in Trinidad we've been warned not to walk alone, but here, where the village depends on its ability to attract tourists to its lovely trails we could go wherever we wanted. Everyone is very friendly and asks about the birdwatching.
This village is situated in the Northern range of Trinidad, and one can see the hills towering above. The hillside are covered with lush vegetation, though there are abandoned cocoa plantations along the track, as well as active banana plantain and cristophene (a kind of cucumber-like vegetable). There are lots of birds and lots of butterflies, many of them large, colourful and very beautiful.
We went on a couple of other morning walks - tired out by our all day marathon to the falls - once down a track to a spot on the river where Cathy swam - though it wasn't really very deep it was wonderfully refreshing.
And the next morning we did a circular walk up the hills above the village and back down at the other end. it was a steep climb, and took us three and a half hours. The views into the valley below were spectacular, the trees towering above us magnificently, but we didn't see many birds as the canopy was too high.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Home cooking in the hills
[Samuel]We are staying up in the Hills at a site called Alta Vista where there are some cabins in the forest (with a caretaker/cook on site)and we get cooked Caribbean food for breakfast and dinner. It is quite nice but can be a bit heavy. We've had a lot of fish as the owner seems to go fishing (out on the sea) among a lot of other activities.
We are right in the higher forest and nearby is a bird watching centre (ASA Wright) which incorporates a large tract of land. They feed the birds and have a large veranda to watch them, though we think we actually saw more birds at the Eco farm in Tobago.
They also do tours showing some birds, though these are a bit limited, but we did see some good birds (I will leave the description of this to Cathy).
Tomorrow we go on to Brasso Seco, which is a village in the forest further North.
It is cooler up in the hills but when at Asa Wright yesterday, it rained a lot and we got extremely wet. However it is a drier today (at least only a few showers in Arima, were I am at present).
We are right in the higher forest and nearby is a bird watching centre (ASA Wright) which incorporates a large tract of land. They feed the birds and have a large veranda to watch them, though we think we actually saw more birds at the Eco farm in Tobago.
They also do tours showing some birds, though these are a bit limited, but we did see some good birds (I will leave the description of this to Cathy).
Tomorrow we go on to Brasso Seco, which is a village in the forest further North.
It is cooler up in the hills but when at Asa Wright yesterday, it rained a lot and we got extremely wet. However it is a drier today (at least only a few showers in Arima, were I am at present).
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Port of Spain to Arima
[Cathy] We arrived here on Friday 4th Feb by ferry from Tobago. The car-ferry catamaran does the journey in two and a half hours, and amazingly I wasn't seasick - I have been known to be seasick on a dinghy off Brighton sea-front with hardly any swell! We saw a tropic-bird on the way over, which pleased me a great deal.
Our guest-house was cramped but very convenient for walking into the centre of town, and for the wonderful Panorama - one of the preliminary heats for the Steel bands wanting to participate in the main Carnival in early March - which we watched on Saturday night in a street just round the corner. We explored the town later on Friday after we'd settled in, and walked round the Queen's Park Savannah which is park sports ground and arena for steel band performances in the Carnival. On Saturday we went into the center of town, bought our flights to Guyana, and spent some time in the fascinating museum. It was large and tiring - I was rather glad that only half was air-conditioned. It was far too exhausting to concentrate without that, so we had to abandon those sections, however interesting. the rest focusing on Geology, natural history and industrial development of Trinidad was really fascinating.
Next day we took a bus to Arima, where we were met by our hosts from a very friendly guest-house, who took us straight off to a village in the rain forest, Lopinot, which had a lovely park laid out for liming-picnics - whole families settling in for a day's relaxation with food, loud music and paddling. Despite the bustle I saw lots of lovely birds - yellow oriole, lineated woodpecker and a greyish saltator (I know...look it up!). The dominant birds everywhere are the vultures, black vultures circling all over the centre of Port of Spain and the turkey vulture circling every valley in the Norther Range rain-forest. There was a small village museum where Parang music making was going on, with lots of visitors participating, led by the village guide who played the cuatro - a small guitar. Our host [ie hotel owner -S], Matthew, turned out to be a great[?} box base player. It's a large wooden box with a stick and thick string that you pluck, while holding the box steady with your foot. The guide told us about the history of the village, which apparently has been awarded a peace prize for the way its multi-ethnic community works so well together. In fact one resident was playing really blaring music which we found really annoying and one feels must have annoyed their neighbours even more! Matthew took us up to see a cave in the towering rocks above the village, and on the way he showed us cocoa plants growing. He opened one and showed us the cocoa beans nestling against one another in the thick pod, surrounded by a sweet white viscous substance, which I enjoyed sucking. The bean itself isn't edible till this white stuff has been removed (by dancing on the beans barefoot in the old plantation days), the beans dried and cooked.
Next day Matthew dropped us on the main rain-forest road to do a bit of unaccompanied birdwatching. The forest and the valleys and high peaks all around us were lovely, though we didn't see an enormous number of birds. The highlights were the white-tailed trogon and the tufted coquette - a very frilly and unlikely looking hummingbird. There were laden lorries trundling past from the stone quarried higher up the road, which was a bit wearing, but we revelled in our freedom to bird watch unaccompanied. We have felt a bit claustrophobic here in Trinidad. All the rooms have bars on the windows, razor-wire adorns most walls, and we have been constantly warned to go nowhere alone as it is far too dangerous. We were accosted by one or two beggars in Port of Spain, but we never felt at risk. But we did feel intimidated by kind people approaching us to say this street really wasn't safe, we should go somewhere busier! They weren't a threat, just being helpful, but it made us anxious.
Later that day we went to the Caroni Swamps to see the famous scarlet ibis coming in to roost as evening falls. It was a two and a half hour trip through the swamps with boa constrictors, mangrove trees whose roots were festooned with small clams and crabs thrown in.
Also any number of egrets and herons, as well as the glorious sight of the flocks of scarlet ibis gleaming in the sunset light as they flew past us.
The icing on the cake was a pygmy kingfisher that crossed the front of our boat to attract our attention, and then obligingly posed on a nearby mangrove root until the entire 25 pasengers had had time to photograph it!
Today we have been to the Arena dam where we watched jacana, purple gallinules and grebe on the reservoir, hawks as well as vultures over the surrounding countryside, plus little marsh and water tyrants (yes!) flitting through a pretty corner of marsh surrounded by small trees. We walked back through the strip of rain-forest that lines the path, and were photographed for a local brochure which is being produced to encourage more bird watchers to come here! Samuel is finding the pace a bit wearing, so we are having a quiet afternoon now - he's not so keen on birdwatching as I am and would prefer to walk more steadily I think. But he is very patient, knowing how much pleasure I get from it.
Tomorrow we are going on a birdwatching trip with a guide from the Asa Wright Centre, who is going to pick us up from here with our luggage and at the end of our tour will drop us at our new accommodation in the middle of the rain-forest at Alta Vista staying in a log cabin, right by the wildlife reserve. We will stay 2 nights there (maybe more if we like it). We then plan to go to Brasso Secco to do some hiking, and hope we will be able to continue the blog there.
Our guest-house was cramped but very convenient for walking into the centre of town, and for the wonderful Panorama - one of the preliminary heats for the Steel bands wanting to participate in the main Carnival in early March - which we watched on Saturday night in a street just round the corner. We explored the town later on Friday after we'd settled in, and walked round the Queen's Park Savannah which is park sports ground and arena for steel band performances in the Carnival. On Saturday we went into the center of town, bought our flights to Guyana, and spent some time in the fascinating museum. It was large and tiring - I was rather glad that only half was air-conditioned. It was far too exhausting to concentrate without that, so we had to abandon those sections, however interesting. the rest focusing on Geology, natural history and industrial development of Trinidad was really fascinating.
Next day we took a bus to Arima, where we were met by our hosts from a very friendly guest-house, who took us straight off to a village in the rain forest, Lopinot, which had a lovely park laid out for liming-picnics - whole families settling in for a day's relaxation with food, loud music and paddling. Despite the bustle I saw lots of lovely birds - yellow oriole, lineated woodpecker and a greyish saltator (I know...look it up!). The dominant birds everywhere are the vultures, black vultures circling all over the centre of Port of Spain and the turkey vulture circling every valley in the Norther Range rain-forest. There was a small village museum where Parang music making was going on, with lots of visitors participating, led by the village guide who played the cuatro - a small guitar. Our host [ie hotel owner -S], Matthew, turned out to be a great[?} box base player. It's a large wooden box with a stick and thick string that you pluck, while holding the box steady with your foot. The guide told us about the history of the village, which apparently has been awarded a peace prize for the way its multi-ethnic community works so well together. In fact one resident was playing really blaring music which we found really annoying and one feels must have annoyed their neighbours even more! Matthew took us up to see a cave in the towering rocks above the village, and on the way he showed us cocoa plants growing. He opened one and showed us the cocoa beans nestling against one another in the thick pod, surrounded by a sweet white viscous substance, which I enjoyed sucking. The bean itself isn't edible till this white stuff has been removed (by dancing on the beans barefoot in the old plantation days), the beans dried and cooked.
Next day Matthew dropped us on the main rain-forest road to do a bit of unaccompanied birdwatching. The forest and the valleys and high peaks all around us were lovely, though we didn't see an enormous number of birds. The highlights were the white-tailed trogon and the tufted coquette - a very frilly and unlikely looking hummingbird. There were laden lorries trundling past from the stone quarried higher up the road, which was a bit wearing, but we revelled in our freedom to bird watch unaccompanied. We have felt a bit claustrophobic here in Trinidad. All the rooms have bars on the windows, razor-wire adorns most walls, and we have been constantly warned to go nowhere alone as it is far too dangerous. We were accosted by one or two beggars in Port of Spain, but we never felt at risk. But we did feel intimidated by kind people approaching us to say this street really wasn't safe, we should go somewhere busier! They weren't a threat, just being helpful, but it made us anxious.
Later that day we went to the Caroni Swamps to see the famous scarlet ibis coming in to roost as evening falls. It was a two and a half hour trip through the swamps with boa constrictors, mangrove trees whose roots were festooned with small clams and crabs thrown in.
Also any number of egrets and herons, as well as the glorious sight of the flocks of scarlet ibis gleaming in the sunset light as they flew past us.
The icing on the cake was a pygmy kingfisher that crossed the front of our boat to attract our attention, and then obligingly posed on a nearby mangrove root until the entire 25 pasengers had had time to photograph it!
Today we have been to the Arena dam where we watched jacana, purple gallinules and grebe on the reservoir, hawks as well as vultures over the surrounding countryside, plus little marsh and water tyrants (yes!) flitting through a pretty corner of marsh surrounded by small trees. We walked back through the strip of rain-forest that lines the path, and were photographed for a local brochure which is being produced to encourage more bird watchers to come here! Samuel is finding the pace a bit wearing, so we are having a quiet afternoon now - he's not so keen on birdwatching as I am and would prefer to walk more steadily I think. But he is very patient, knowing how much pleasure I get from it.
Tomorrow we are going on a birdwatching trip with a guide from the Asa Wright Centre, who is going to pick us up from here with our luggage and at the end of our tour will drop us at our new accommodation in the middle of the rain-forest at Alta Vista staying in a log cabin, right by the wildlife reserve. We will stay 2 nights there (maybe more if we like it). We then plan to go to Brasso Secco to do some hiking, and hope we will be able to continue the blog there.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
More on turtles, a visit to Scarborough (WI) and a wet day in Castara
[Samuel]
Yesterday we went to Arnos bay and did a bit more snorkling. I saw a very colorful fish that looked like a Moray eel, and Cath saw a cuttlefish, as well as other colourfull fish and coral. There was a turtle in the bay, but neither of us saw it. However we could see it coming up for air, and an American (US) couple we were talking to on the beach did see it up close. We suspect it is the same one we saw last week as it is a similar size.
We think that the one we saw last week is a hawks bill turtle. This species eats sponges, and there are some large yellow formations in the coral which we believe are sponges (though not like the ones that you have in the bath).
Today we took the bus to Scarborough, which is the relatively tiny capital of Tobago, with 18,000 inhabitants. We had an excellent lunch of local fare such as flying fish Callaloo and fried plantains after seeing round the fort constructed (and fought over) by British, Dutch, French (and possibly Spanish) colonial powers. There is also a small museum in the fort showing some Amerind remains, as there was a significant Amerind population here when the Spanish arrived, but they have been either assimilated into the introduced population or wiped out by 'colonial' activity , such as plantation development or by disease.
The museum also had some information on the slave plantations and the so called 'slave revolts' that occurred during the late 17C and early 18C here.
We had a quick look at the Botanical gardens and the shops and markets before returning on the bus (after a 15 minute wait for it to arrive - it runs every hour but seems to take more than half an hour to go from Scarborough to Plymouth and then more than half an hour to return).
[Cathy] The next day we went to Castara, a fishing village further up the west coast which is a popular tourist destination, despite its isolation from all main roads and shops. It has no big hotel like the area to the south of the island around the airport at Crown Point, but lots of guesthouses. We had planned to go on there from Arnos Vale to stay for several days, but couldn't bear to leave our Eco Farm with all its woods, birds and oranges in the end. In fact most of the day we were in Castara it rained heavily and steadily. This shouldn't happen at this time of year as it's the start of the dry season, but it is clearly running late this year (last year there was a serious drought at this time). We've had two days when a good half the day of more has been torrential rain.
Luckily there were two glorious sunny hours and we went straight into the sea (in turns - one is needed to guard the binoculars!) to snorkel. There was a beautiful coral garden with delicate plant-like corals, much prettier than the damaged stone corals that predominated at Bucco, which had so disappointed me, and the fish were lovely as well. It was just off the small beach, to the left of the big fishing beach which dominates the pretty bay. We had to round the rocks and disappear from the sight of the watcher on the beach, but the helpul staff at the bar just behind us said they would send out rescue parties if we didn't return! We got to know them quite well by the end of the day, as we had to seek shelter, plus drinks and lunch, from them fairly often for the rest of our time there! I saw my first brown booby (don't laugh, you lot from Hanover drop-in!!) fishing in the bay. It's a bit gannet like in its behaviour - most of the Tobago boobies are to be found on the North- East point, which we hope to visit at the end of our trip.
When we got back from the outing Samuel's camera, left behind in the taxi on the way to the airport, was delivered ( many thanks to Emily and James who found it and sent it on), so we walked straight into Plymouth to buy our ferry tickets for the next morning. Tinidad, here we come!
Yesterday we went to Arnos bay and did a bit more snorkling. I saw a very colorful fish that looked like a Moray eel, and Cath saw a cuttlefish, as well as other colourfull fish and coral. There was a turtle in the bay, but neither of us saw it. However we could see it coming up for air, and an American (US) couple we were talking to on the beach did see it up close. We suspect it is the same one we saw last week as it is a similar size.
We think that the one we saw last week is a hawks bill turtle. This species eats sponges, and there are some large yellow formations in the coral which we believe are sponges (though not like the ones that you have in the bath).
Today we took the bus to Scarborough, which is the relatively tiny capital of Tobago, with 18,000 inhabitants. We had an excellent lunch of local fare such as flying fish Callaloo and fried plantains after seeing round the fort constructed (and fought over) by British, Dutch, French (and possibly Spanish) colonial powers. There is also a small museum in the fort showing some Amerind remains, as there was a significant Amerind population here when the Spanish arrived, but they have been either assimilated into the introduced population or wiped out by 'colonial' activity , such as plantation development or by disease.
The museum also had some information on the slave plantations and the so called 'slave revolts' that occurred during the late 17C and early 18C here.
We had a quick look at the Botanical gardens and the shops and markets before returning on the bus (after a 15 minute wait for it to arrive - it runs every hour but seems to take more than half an hour to go from Scarborough to Plymouth and then more than half an hour to return).
[Cathy] The next day we went to Castara, a fishing village further up the west coast which is a popular tourist destination, despite its isolation from all main roads and shops. It has no big hotel like the area to the south of the island around the airport at Crown Point, but lots of guesthouses. We had planned to go on there from Arnos Vale to stay for several days, but couldn't bear to leave our Eco Farm with all its woods, birds and oranges in the end. In fact most of the day we were in Castara it rained heavily and steadily. This shouldn't happen at this time of year as it's the start of the dry season, but it is clearly running late this year (last year there was a serious drought at this time). We've had two days when a good half the day of more has been torrential rain.
Luckily there were two glorious sunny hours and we went straight into the sea (in turns - one is needed to guard the binoculars!) to snorkel. There was a beautiful coral garden with delicate plant-like corals, much prettier than the damaged stone corals that predominated at Bucco, which had so disappointed me, and the fish were lovely as well. It was just off the small beach, to the left of the big fishing beach which dominates the pretty bay. We had to round the rocks and disappear from the sight of the watcher on the beach, but the helpul staff at the bar just behind us said they would send out rescue parties if we didn't return! We got to know them quite well by the end of the day, as we had to seek shelter, plus drinks and lunch, from them fairly often for the rest of our time there! I saw my first brown booby (don't laugh, you lot from Hanover drop-in!!) fishing in the bay. It's a bit gannet like in its behaviour - most of the Tobago boobies are to be found on the North- East point, which we hope to visit at the end of our trip.
When we got back from the outing Samuel's camera, left behind in the taxi on the way to the airport, was delivered ( many thanks to Emily and James who found it and sent it on), so we walked straight into Plymouth to buy our ferry tickets for the next morning. Tinidad, here we come!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)