Tuesday 12th October World Heritage Site Trinidad Pitch Lake

   
     Well I have been remiss, partly because the blog site says there have been no visits recently I just wonder who reads the blog.  At least one person who emailed me some home news wondered why there was a lull.  Today I have been shopping and almost drowned in the torrential downpour of Tropical Rain and uploaded the October folder of photos to Picasa, Now to tell of the trip we took to the World Heritage site here in Trinidad (except I can no longer find it listed on the website for World Heritage sites!)
  We set off once again with the intrepid explorer and man about town ‘Jesse’ and the rest of the travellers.  A short drive out to La Brea the village perched on the old shores of the lake.  La Brea actually means Pitch Lake in Spanish since it was they who first discovered it. Sir Francis Drake and other seafaring visitors also stopped by to re caulk their galleons.  Thank goodness we have antifouling to prevent the re-homing of marine animals.  Many of the wooden hulled ships in those days sank due to ships worms eating through the hull rather than by cannon fire during a war.
     It had almost stopped raining when we set off along a short path out onto the Pitch Lake, so I carried my rain coat.  Our guide filled the hike with many facts about the vegetation and geology of the area.  The plant we call ’The Sensitive Plant’ grows wild here and she demonstrated with her umbrella how the leaves fold when touched.  The Pitch Lake lies above the sandstone which is part of the geology of great oil deposits in the area.  The surface is sufficiently solid to support a tractor and JCB which the Asphalt company use to ’mine’ the deposits.  Underneath the surface it becomes more plastic until there is a point at which it becomes liquid and very dangerous.  Before the advent of guides visitors had been known to ’drown’ in the lake.  As you will notice in the picture she managed to find an area where the pitch was bubbling up to the surface and she demonstrated just how liquid it was.  After mining an area to reach the liquid layer that place is left to rest and recover.  As the top is taken away so more rises to take its place.  Once in a while an artefact , tree or bone comes to the surface which may have fallen into the lake thousands of years ago. 
     We hike back to the visitors centre and have a quick look at the interpretive centre but only just have time for a quick look.  Most people (including Jesse) are hungry for lunch so we stop at a café and have ‘Rostis’ or curry in a wrap if you haven’t tried them at home.  Jesse also bought the drinks and a ‘Cutter’ of Beef.  This being the name of a plate of spiced cubes of beef to nibble as an appetizer.  As usual it was all very tasty.
  After lunch we drove back along the southern most road to see the huge industrial areas where crude oil & Gas are stored,  chemical plant where Nitrogen and other such are produced.  We stopped next at a Hindu temple and again at another newer temple which had a large statue of Hanuman a Hindu Deity.  The usual quiz on what we had remembered came as we were almost home and today I tried a delicious pineapple ice cream.

Just to keep you up to date with the ongoing work:
After a week of waiting for good to arrive from America we were inundated with workmen yesterday 17th.  Nathan was back to sand the cockpit now that the caulking has dried, so there is a fine layer of teak dust everywhere (yet to be cleaned)
  The domestic batteries have been fitted but the engine batteries are still to arrive and much re-wiring has been done to remove the now surplus lines.  The electrician was most impressed with the condition of the wires.  We were expecting to have them replaced due to age but he said it was not necessary!  We have the seats back for the saloon but are awaiting the final items seatbacks and mast cover before I show you a picture.
  Today our American Visas arrived- phew so now we can sail into American waters and they can't impound our boat! and we get to visit any American Islands (and the mainland) any time we like.
  Our friends Julie & Terry aboard ‘Mervyn’ have left for Grenada and Willie & Mark ‘Liahona’ have gone too. Having said that there are new people at all the ‘Potluck’ events we go to so plenty of book and DVD swaps to while away the idle moments—if we get any!

Tuesday 27th September Cultural Tour of Port of Spain.

  What a pleasant day, we set off with Jesse bright and not too early and stopped for the ubiquitous ‘Double’ which he looked after ‘til lunch time. Jesse is a fount of information and besides concentrating on the road, other traffic, answering his business phone and our questions he also keeps a running commentary on all historical monuments and important dates. So on the trip into Port of Spain we now know that there are 5 Islands in the Bay one of which is called Nelsons Island because this is where Nelson came to re-caulk his ships. (Trip to the pitch lakes WHS coming up soon)  If I had taken a notebook I could tell you more suffice it to say that Trinidad got it’s Independence in 1962 and became a Republic in 1976  The National Flag tells a big story of the peoples inhabiting the Island I’ll try to get it straight before I tell you, but the same characters appear on the paper money too.
  Next was a history lesson on the Magnificent 7 Mansions. Most are falling to ruin but the stories behind the structures are poignant. They were built when each family became rich by the time they died their family either didn’t want to live in such opulence or couldn’t afford to.  The upshot is that most are becoming ruins.  Fortunately the World Heritage Council has slapped a preservation order on the and maybe soon they will be restored.  It would certainly be a boost for Trinidad's Tourist income. Next we were shown the Queens Park Savannah where the Carnival floats and costumes are judged before the Carnival.  Apparently some are so large that they will not squeeze through the carnival route.
  To continue the Tour; we made our way to the Signal Station Fort George- at the top of an amazing viewpoint.  It was here we had lunch. Next a drive along and up into the mountains of Subiaco where the Abbey of St Benedict lies.  Here we bought Strawberry Yoghurt (made by the monks) and had ‘ High Tea’ in the Abbey of Our Lady of Exile next door.  Although it rained on the way home we still had a test on the facts we had been given and the prize for all was a home made ice cream !!

    During the last week we have been continuing with our boat jobs.  Nathan the carpenter who is re –caulking the cock pit has been elsewhere since we have been held up by US customs who are holding the export of caulking !  Never mind there is still much to do.  Plenty of sanding the veneers which have lost a touch of varnish and need to be refreshed.  The anchor windlass needed a professional to re vitalise it and I must say that Ian has done us proud.  It looks like a new toy.  The refitting caused a few minor problems and Ian's mate Avi and electrician soon had the problem sorted (our batteries not giving sufficient power!- yes they are on the list) This is not all the foot-pedals for the anchor are also found to be corroded and need to be replaced.  So here starts the Mexican train of dominoes effect. To get to the foot pedals with a drill we need to take the wheel off, which needs a tool and a professional to help.  When it is off we find that the spindle has worn and is what is giving the ’play’ in the wheel. A new part from the States will take a month or more so we leave it until next year.  The Compass which has been opened inadvertently now has an air bubble so will need another professional to refill it.  The plinth on which it sits can soon be sanded and restored to the high standard of Ghislaine and Yan.  Of course the anchor chain has also been cleaned and looks brand new with new paint at 10 m intervals in different colours.  We have also gone for a new Rockner anchor to see if we get better holding.
  I have also been busy getting a quote for some new furnishings.  Kay the nice lady who made some hatch covers for me has said that she can do the job so I have been taking the staples out ready for her to start work.  At present we are using the cushions from the aft bedroom to sit on.  I hope she gets finished soon.
  We have also been quite active in the evenings going to a variety of ‘Potluck’ BBQs and having people round for drinks. The weather has been hot and sunny and we both wish we were sailing or at anchor in a breeze rather than ashore with air conditioning on. Hey ho at least it’s not snowing or cooling down for winter like it is in the UK.
Along with this are the photos in the October folder on Picasas- let me know if you need a link!

Jesse’s Taste of Trinidad Tour, Tuesday 20th September.

Thanks to Willie on Leahona for remembering everything in this blog!
    Our first stop was a breakfast of “doubles.” A double is a sort of sandwich, only instead of bread, they use a fluffy ,savoury pancake mixture.  The filling is chick peas and the topping (of any of a variety of spicy chutneys like mango or tamarind) oozes out, over and through the flat bread and down your shirt. There is no being “neat” with a double.
After our “first” breakfast, Jesse stopped to buy some “plums” from a street vendor. We all thought, “Oh, good… fruit.” Not. The plum turned out to be a “coolie” plum, a small green olive-sized fruit with a hard seed inside. These were marinated in vinegar, olive oil, coriander, garlic, hot peppers and who knows what else, and burned your lips. They were delicious.
  We headed east on the Eastern Main Road and then on Valencia Road to the town of Valencia which used to house a US Army base. The only remnants of the base are some stone pillars marking the entrances to the old base, and a slew of bars and barbecue restaurants.  In Valencia, we stopped for our second “breakfast” of BBQ pigtails and mango slushies.  From Valencia, we continued east on the Valencia Road then south on the Toco Main Road looping back through Sangre Grande (where we hit a mini-traffic jam next to the bus terminal) to Sangre Chiquita. Both towns are so named (“big blood” and “little blood”) because of Ameri-Indian massacres that occurred there.  Jesse gets hungry in the traffic jam at Sangre Chiquita  so we stop for a lunch of fried delicacies.
We observed many houses with Hindu prayer flags and Frangipani in their yards. Each coloured prayer flag is aimed at a specific deity for a specific purpose, such as health or harmony. The Frangipani is supposed to keep your daughter from marrying too young.
  Back on the Eastern Main Road, we headed southeast to the beach at Lower Manzanilla.  This is a lovely beach with excellent restrooms, showers and changing facilities, friendly lifeguards, warm waters and gentle waves.  After a refreshing swim, we headed south along the coast on the Toco Main and Manzanilla Main roads to Mayaro where we spotted a little shack that said “Cold Nuts”.
  The Rasta Man hacked an opening in the top of the coconuts so we could drink the coconut water, then split the coconuts so we could eat the jelly and meat inside. He also had hot peppers for sale, but we passed on those, our lips still tingling from all the other spicy stuff we had eaten earlier.  Jesse next stopped at a sweet stand to get Pholourie Dipped in Very Hot Sauce.  Eaten without the ’Hot Sauce’ they were sweet and tasty.  Feeling guilty about all that fried stuff we were eating, we practically begged Jesse to stop for bananas at the next food vendor we came across. He selected some Grand Michelle bananas which were just as Bananas ought to taste straight from the tree.
  We drove through Rio Claro past mosques, two high schools letting out their students and another jam of traffic.  Continuing west, we passed a “cocoa house” where the roof slides to create a drying area for the cocoa beans. We also passed lots of teak trees and logs waiting to be exported.  In the middle of nowhere just east of Brickfield we came across Harry’s Water Park. Thinking it might be a good place to find restrooms (we were due again), we stopped. In addition to clean restrooms, we found a bar (finally – a Carib!) and a restaurant. We ate the most incredible curried duck and some delicious stewed pork bits.
  Still heading west, our next stop was to buy a six-foot length of sugar cane from a roadside vendor. We stopped for another pit stop at Jesse’s uncle’s house where he borrowed a machete to peel the sugar cane and he taught us how to suck on the cane, and how to eat the cocoa beans right out of the pod.  While we were there, Nana bought a bunch of coriander from a street vendor and we all took turns smelling it.  Heading north again, we bought some sweet boiled corn.
  Back in Carenage, we topped off our binge-eating tour with homemade cherry coconut, ginger coconut and rum raisin ice cream.  Thank you, Jesse, for showing us your beautiful island and treating us to its marvellous sights, tastes and smells. It was a wonderful day!