Dreamtime goes to Trinidad

The 2 months we spent in Trinidad & Tobago (for September and October, 2006), were very interesting and enjoyable.  After spending 3 weeks camped out in the Sandy Point Beach Club, a timeshare resort in Store Bay, Tobago, near Scarborough, we took the ferry back to Trinidad where we spent our remaining 5 weeks. One of the excursions we took included an overnight trip with 5 other cruiser couples to the Asa Wright Nature Centre.  What a wonderful time, full of fantastic sights. The Center is located at 1,200 feet in the mountains of the Northern Range, seven miles north of the town of Arima.  The draw?  Birdwatching for the most part, but also all the beautiful flowering plants.  So many species are present.  The center has multiple feeding stations set up just off their enormous verandah, where we spent several enjoyable hours watching the hummingbirds flit about and feed.  The shots below were taken by Walt on 'Wil o' the Wisp'. His skill level and camera quality are way up there compared to mine!  Thanks Walt, Margie and everyone that shared photos!   Follow the link for additional shots from Asa Wright.

Click here for more great shots from Asa Wright.

Now a few of my shots from here and there.

There's always one in paradise.

Our intrepid tour arranger and guide, Jesse James provides a ton of very useful information and services for the cruising community in Chaugaramas, including regular buses to the grocery store, the movie theater and mall.  He also arranges special tours of things like Asa Wright, the Caroni Swamp tour, a fun afternoon watching the evening "coming home to roost" of the great scarlet ibis flock, and the magical Divali, the Festival of Lights celebration - more on that later.  Besides all of that, Jesse is a warm, genuine fellow with a ton of patience to boot.

This shot of us with Jesse was taken on our way back from Asa Wright, on the north end of the island.

This shot is for my brother-in-law who first turned me on to sour cherries.  Guess what I bought here?

Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.  Per the website link here the true meaning of Divali can be expressed as being to bring light where darkness prevails, truth where untruth prevails, to bring life where death prevails, to brighten our surroundings, to illumine our minds.  140 cruisers headed out on buses to a small town of Felicity, in the central part of Trinidad to observe and learn about the festical.  Among the activities that evening we were treated to a performance of dance by a lovely local women in costume.  Beautifully graceful and exciting to watch.  We also ate a traditional vegetarian meal cooked by Ronald's mom (he's our #1 bus driver) and served on a leaf.  Final wrap-up was a stroll around town to enjoy the lights and beautiful finery worn by the Hindu women.  What a treat!

Click on any shot for a larger view

Next up some shots from our walking tour of the Queen's Park Savannah, a historic part of Port of Spain, featuring some mansions from the colonial period.

Finally some shots of our friends and fellow adventurers, (left) Heather & Scott from Scott Free and (right) Jeff and Una from Dragonfly on the Caroni Swamp tour.

Linda from Casa del Mar and Heather from Scott Free at Asa Wright.