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Neill - May 13, 2001
It is Mother's Day and we are anchored in Carenage, Trinidad. It's
about 5 miles West of Port of Spain. Bob Marley is on the stereo, the kids are
ashore with friends (Toads) enjoying the yacht club facilities, Sarah has just
finished the courtesy flag for Venezuela and we are gearing up to go in for a
Mother's Day chill-out paddle ball tournament and barbeque by the pool. This
year should be significantly better than last year when Sarah reminds me that we
were bashing up the Red Sea into strong contrary winds and nasty little seas.
We are planning to leave Trinidad&Tobago Tuesday, provided I get a part for the
windlass tomorrow morning. This country has been very good to us. Lots of people
come here for a week or two and stay a year or more. We are anchored at the
yacht club, temporary members now. It is very comfortable. The people are
extremely friendly. Shades of Bequia but less expensive and more real somehow.
With each day here we get a bit more immersed. There is movie (bootleg video)
night at the yacht club on Wednesday, shared cost excursions to various sites
and activities around the island organized for the yachtie community, more boat
stores and facilities than we can remember so close together, and a pretty low
cost of living. The weather has been great. A bit hot in the morning before the
wind comes up, but normally a pretty comfortable existence if you don't go out
midday.
We've done a variety of things here to get to know the country. One of the more
typical touristy things this time of year is a trip to the north or east coast
to watch the leatherback turtles lay eggs. We rented a car and drove the 3 hours
to a famous beach on the north coast. It was incredible. Got a reasonable big
room right on the beach to stay in, planning to have someone sit watch all night
and alert the others when and if a turtle should show up. Not necessary. At 5:30
pm the first one came up. By 8 pm, after a dinner in a guest house (actually
eating at a table in the kitchen with kids watching TV and surfing the net just
across the room), the beach was full of them. We must have seen 30 or more and
at least 60 came up. We watched them up close, watching the eggs drop. There are
so many that when they dig their holes they often destroy other nests in the
process. They used to eat these turtles, but now that they are such a hit with
the tourists they are seriously protected. They even go to lengths protecting
the hatchlings from birds etc. We watched the big momma's (1000 lbs) surf in and
labor up the beach, then make it to where they felt was a good nesting site, dig
for half an hour, lay for half an hour and then make lots of decoy digs all over
the place. The whole time they look terrible. Typical female in labor (just
kidding). Grunting and exhaling some very nasty breath, long strings of sand
filled mucus hanging from their eyes (ok, that bit is different), and seemingly
oblivious to the world. We watched until about 11 and then got up early to try
and get some photos at first light. In the morning the dogs and vultures were
going wild. Lots of eggs get dug up by subsequent mothers, and there was a
feast. I noted a group of vultures taking special interest around one turtle and
when I approached I saw a little movement. A hatchling was struggling around in
seemingly impossibly difficult crawling conditions. Mountains of sand, with a
half ton mother to be spraying sand all over the place. I chased the birds away
and called the others over. The hatchlings weren't due for another two weeks or
more, and they hatch by the dozen, not individuals. Survival depends to a large
degree on getting lost in a crowd. We took lots of pictures of it and then set
it towards the water. Sarah noted that we needed to let it crawl in case it was
a female that needed to imprint the beach for a return trip to lay eggs in 25
years. It tumbled and fell and got caught on one mountain of sand after another.
When it flipped over we tried to let it learn how to right itself, but no one
could stand it struggling for more than 10 seconds or so. It measured about 3"
and was perfect. When it got close to the water we all hoped for a smooth entry,
not thinking to what awaited a single tiny turtle bobbing on the surface, as
clear a sign as the golden arches to the many fish and birds looking for
breakfast. The entry was traumatic, to us. It got lifted and tumbled, dragged
down to the water, churned around and deposited higher than it started out. We
are all very experienced with ugly beach departures and felt a strong sense of
empathy for the little tyke. His tourture test went on for some time. "Where is
he? Nobody move!" Finally he made it to the sea for his first swim. To live a
long a happy life, perhaps. We reported back to the guides and they were all
surprised to hear of it. A very special little treat for us.
At the other end of the Trinidadian experience from a touristy turtle trip, we
went to the soccer match between T&T and Mexico in the qualifying round of the
World Cup. It was a big match. It was the fourth game of the round and they had
lost all and had yet to even score a goal. We sat in the stands, cheapest seats.
They price them according to "USA" prices, which makes them very expensive for
the locals, stupid idea. We paid US$100 for the five of us. The pregame
atmosphere was very lively. This is the home of one of the world's most exciting
carnivals, and these folks know how to party, and make a lot of noise while they
do it. Pregame activities included dancing to a very loud band; a very loud,
emotional, inspirational and at times down right malevolent pre-game prayer; and
a "How long can you keep it up?" contest put on by the local brewery. The last
was a lot of fun to watch. People have been qualifying for a couple of weeks.
The goal is to keep a soccer ball in the air for as long as possible while you
drink cans of beer. These guys are incredible. We watched one rasta type
qualifying at the game, before the final contest, kept it up for at least 15 min
and drank 2 beers before they declared him duly qualified. He somehow lost in
the final, to a teenager who I don't think had the proper drinking spirit.
ANYWAY, the soccer match was fun. We had our own steel drum band behind us in
the stands. And lots of people were blowing whistles in a dotted quarter
followed by two eigth notes rythm that will live with me forever. I could feel
the hot air from the whistle on the back of my neck. This crowd was really into
the game. It was a good one. Very close, which I reckoned was a good show
against Mexico. Our side scored the first goal and you can try to imagine the
noise and general vibration but you will not be able to. This is why stands fall
down and people die in the ensuing stampede of panic. I couldn't help thinking
that the engineers calculating stress and loads on the structure would be
nervous seeing what kind of rhythmic motion these crowds get going. There were
some altercations and T&T played a man short for most of the game after he was
ejected for elbowing a Mexican player (who just spat on him.) A stupid and
disappointing move. There was a center back that played for Wales(!) that was
outstanding and lots of fun to watch. They ended in a 1-1 draw. Leaving was very
exciting. We mad the mistake of leaving with the crowd, which seemed to enjoy
the effect of a mass of people squeezing through small portals.
So that is a little picture of our life now. We hauled Margarita last week and
had the bottom painted as well as tackling many boat jobs. She is looking like
new and like the rest of us, ready to go.
Neill and the Margaritas
Trinidad
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