Adventures aboard SV/Thaleia
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Goodbye Trinidad....Hello Venezuela! |
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Before
we left Trinidad, we took a break to go to the north coast where the leatherback
turtles lay their eggs. We stayed in this rustic inn on the beach and at about
10:00 in the evening, we went with a guide to see the turtles coming ashore. Once
hunted for their meet and shells, the leatherback turtles are protected in Trinidad,
and there are now educational programs directed at the primary school children
to help insure that the turtles will not face extinction in the future. | |
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The flash from cameras disturbs the turtle's laying process, so no pictures are allowed. Here, the sand reveals the path from the previous night of at least one of these nesting creatures. We saw some 30 turtles come ashore and lay their eggs in just an hour or so, and on a relatively small beach. This area is one of only several places in the world where the leatherbacks lay their eggs.
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Of course, no trip in Trinidad is complete without a stop at the roadside doubles stand. Here is one such offering....fried mashed potato balls. | |
| Chaguaramas.....our hangout for the past eight months....even though it's a bit like leaving home, launching and preparing to leave is exhilarating!.
It's
time to splash and say goodbye... |
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| Our first stop was in Scotland Bay on the north coast of Trinidad. Here, our friends Hakan and Ewa (from Sweeden) are having a quiet weekend retreat. We spent a week in this lovely bay finishing preparations to sail to the Testigos.
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Farewell dinners are fun when we know we'll meet again soon...we'll see Joe and Julie on Apogee again in a week or two. | |
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Los
Testigos are a small group of relatively unihabited Venezuelan islands, usually
the first landfall in Venezuela for sailors coming from Trinidad or Grenada. The
islands get almost no rainfall, so the scrub is very desert-like. |
The chief inhabitants of Los Testigos are fishermen. This boat piqued our curiosity, as we couldn't figure out what kind of fish they were catching that required harpoons. When we sailed to Margarita, we saw these boats again, 'harpoons" in the water marking their nets. No whales there.
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A boarding incident... It is well known that there are occasional thieves that ply the harbors and anchorages looking for easy prey, so in our preparation for going to Venezuela, we put flare guns and pepper spray by our berth to use on any late-night visitors. Sure enough, on our second night in the islands, I (Judy) heard a loud crash and several more bangs on the side of the boat. Sure that we had been boarded (by some clumsy desparados), I woke John with the words "we've been boarded", handed him a flare gun and pushed him out of bed. Reluctantly, he stuck his head above decks and saw nothing, so he continued up the companionway ladder. No sign of life anywhere. After looking around, he came back to bed and I apologized for what I was absolutely positive that I had heard. The next day, while inspecting the dinghy, John hollered for me to come and see something. In the dinghy was lying a huge mullet (below), our boarder. They do jump, and this one met his maker in our dinghy. John got into the dinghy and took him, still flopping, to the fisherman a few hundred yards off of our stern, who received him with great ceremony and smiles. Whew..... glad we didn't shoot him with pepper spray....  | ||
| After a few days of rest in Los Testigos, we sailed to Juan Griego on the north coast of Margarita.Juan Griego is a small fishing village named after a hapless Greek sailor named John who washed ashore there. After being nursed back to health by the locals, he stayed on and his home became known to visitors as Juan Griego..
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Margarita enjoys a duty-free status, so tourism there is a big industry. Juan Griego has many beach-front restaurants for the tourists, but the beach is home to its many fishing boats (not to mention a pelican here and there). | |
| These fishing boats are careened on the shore to have work done on their bottoms. Sometimes, the fishermen roll them on logs onto the beach, then return them to the water the same way. One of these boats has been trailored; two are on logs.
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This woman is bringing John and me our first arepas, a cornmeal pastry stuffed with cheese and/or meat. | |
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The local fish market is on the beach...everyone is gathered around looking at...take a look....
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These fish are definitely fresh. We saw the boats deliver them. | |
| Fishing is a family affair. When the men come in during the morning hours, the women and children are waiting to sell the fish. This small boat shuttles the fish from various larger fishing boats in the harbor.
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Fishing is a serious business.....
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Even for the pelicans, fishing is a serious business.... |
These women are across the street from the fish market making empanadas, another Venezuelan favorite. | |
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Well....not so serious for the fisherman who's taking Sunday off.
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These young men are posing next to the sunday fisherman....
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Juan Griego offers a number of vantage points from which to see the sunset--some even have music. This duo actually look better than they sound. | ||
| Juan Griego sunsets are....I'll let them--three different days, all more beautiful than the last--speak for themselves.
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While we were visiting Juan Griego, we fell in love with the town and with this villa (the blue house) with an unobstructed view of the sunset. It's for sale! |
The villa has an indoor garden area and scads of room; the only problem is that it needs a complete restoration. Argggghhhhhhhh | |
| Of course, the restoration would take time and lots of money, so we looked for a way for electrician John to earn some big $$$. We happened onto a situation on a downtown street corner that could well be the cash cow.....>>>>>> What do you think? Could use some work? |
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| After much serious thought, we decided to move on.... this is the beach front in Mochima, a small fishing village that is contained within the boundaries of a national park by the same name.
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This resort in the Mochima park is a lovely getaway for some lucky folks.
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And another lovely sunset......in Mochima. | ||
