BOATBUMMS LOG: Turtle Watch

Photo of Paradise in her slip at Crews Inn and parrots that roost in the nearby trees.

I don’t know where to start we had such a wonderful weekend which was needed and well deserved, but I write about that at the end of this report.

May 17^th we joined another fun Hash. This time we rented a car. It was quite exciting to drive on the wrong side of the street, at least here the steering wheel is on the right side too so it’s easier to remember to say in the left lane. Naturally every time Sid tried to turn the blinker on the windshield wiper came on in stead, we had many good laughs. Traffic was horrible to get out of town and jammed up pretty much all the way to the turn off for Mundo Nuevo. From there on traffic was almost non existent but the roads were oh soooooo narrow, narrow enough that the mirrors almost touched with on-coming cars. It was at times rather stressful especially rounding sharp turns with no shoulder along side the road. Sid hasn’t lost his driving skills yet and got us there in one piece. Mundo Nuevo is in the central part of Trinidad a very remote area with just few homes with lush rolling hills. The run again was through a dense jungle up steep hills and of course down again, very exciting. At one point something grabbed my hair and pulled me back, it was a very thorny plant that entangled my hair. The thorns were not longer than a millimeter but so close together that it looked like a fury branch, which wasn’t thicker than 3 mm in diameter but it entangled my hair big time. Even the big leaves had one thorn each sticking out about one inch. One of the Hashers had to help me get off it by pulling strand by strand from the plant. Another branch that was lower tore at my leg. Later on when I met Sid again, he was pretty scratched up as well, guess we should put long pants on. This is really a very hostile place, but just so beautiful and peaceful at the same time. Along the path there were uncountable beautiful tropical flowers accompanied by unusual bird and bugs sounds in the tree tops. Again it was an exhausting run, for Sid more so as he runs, I do a slower pace for sightseeing. As on every run we find some kind of hidden treasures. This time wild mandarin trees and pineapples growing in the middle of the jungle and on the home stretch to the beer barrel I found cocoa trees with fruits ripe enough to pick. One of the hasher ladies showed us how to open it and inside we found pieces of white sweet flesh that surrounded the cocoa bean which has a similar flavor like a leechy, yummy. The seeds are dried for either tea and of course for making chocolate. I found another use for it: beer cozy!

On Sunday we drove to Grand Riviere which is on the north eastern side of the island. The road took us by the eastern shore which is a beautiful area with long white sandy beaches as far as your eye can reach and rolling waves crashing onto the shore, a very rough area. The scenery changed as we headed more towards Toco and rolling hills started to get steeper and the coast line rockier. In Toco we drove out to the lighthouse and enjoyed a spectacular view. From there is was a windy road to get to Grand Riviere, I don’t know for whom it was more stressful Sid who was driving or me sitting in the passenger seat as the roads were even narrower and full of potholes and blind corners. It was a very beautiful scenic road and we pulled over here and there. Also had a scare as we drove along the coast and Sid tried to break for a turn, the break pedal went to the floor and no breaks slowed down the car, Sid pumped the break for a while and luckily we didn’t have any problems anymore.

Grand Riviere is incredibly picturesque and the only sandy beach we found on the north coast. This is where the Leatherback Turtles nest.

The Grand Almandier Guest House we stayed at lies nested on the beach where forested headlands border the seas to the north and to the wide flowing Grand Riviere River from which the village got its name. To the north east the river originates deep in the northern Range and flows down into the seas where strong waves give the leatherback turtles, the extra push they need to haul themselves unto the sand at the nesting time – March to August.

Many species of birds are viewed right from the veranda of the guest house or the from the balconies of each room which have an old-fashioned and modern décor and the restaurant serves wonderful local dishes like the famous Callaloo Soup and the lamb chops came with a wonderful tamarind sauce. We had a wonderful dinner and when we returned to our room we couldn’t open the door, no matter what we tried we could not open it. The lock was broken and after two employees tried to open the door unsuccessfully one had to climb up a ladder onto the balcony and open the door from the inside. Just good we had the balcony door unlocked. But that’s not all the excitement.

At 9 PM a ranger came to get us to the beach where Leatherback turtles come yearly ashore to nest. The full moon was shining over the beach and we saw dark humps scattered all over the beach. We must have seen 100 turtles either on the beach or crawl out of the water like giant bugs. We had no idea how big the leatherbacks turtles really were until we saw them and were just amazed. A mature male and female can reach 4 to 8 feet (1.20 m to 2.50m) and way 500 to 2000 lbs. ( 230 to 900 kg). The ranger said that she even could carry 3 adults back into the water. The ranger explained all about these beautiful creatures and overloaded us with information. The first turtle we approached we arrived just at the right time, she was just about done digging a hole, which is amazing to watch. She uses her hind flippers and digs about 2 feet and even digs a curve inside the hole to shelter the eggs better. Then when she lays the eggs she is in a total state of trance and most vulnerable and so she covers eggs with her hind flippers so that no predator can take them. The ranger lifted the female’s hind flipper so that we could observe her lay the eggs. I was lucky enough to have the prime spot to watch as he gave me the flash light. It was just amazing to watch her lay eggs, when she was done she covered them again with sand, pressed the sand down, more sand, pressing and repeating; then she started moving forward and around in circles. They do that up to three or more times to disguise the nest. The whole ordeal is very strenuous and she takes breaks about every 10 seconds. When she is done you cannot even tell anymore where she started. I’m sure you’ve heard the tales that turtles cry during nesting. Indeed, a slime like discharge is rolling from her eyes, which makes it look like she is crying. What happens is her living in salt water she has to filter out the excess salt because they no pores in their skin and the eyes are the filter, which she does in or out of the water.

Did you know that she lays unfertilized eggs? She lays first about 30 unfertilized eggs which cushion the about 100 fertilized eggs (about 2 inches in diameter), then lays a few more unfertilized eggs on top to protect them from predators, pretty smart if you ask me. She nests 8 to 10 times during a nesting season, and this every two to three years, but are also known to nest every year. Females start nesting when they are 15 years old and keep going for about 30 years. Unlike other species of sea turtles, leatherback females may change nesting beaches, though they tend to stay in the same region. Since so many turtles come to the same beach they accidentally dig up each others nests.

Leatherbacks have delicate, scissor-like jaws and therefore eat only soft-bodied animals, so they feed almost exclusively on jellyfish. Unfortunately leatherbacks have mistaken plastic bags, raw plastic pellets, plastic and styrofoam, tar balls and balloons for their natural food. Ingesting this debris can obstruct the gut, lead to absorption of toxins and reduce the absorption of nutrients from their real food.

Like all sea turtles, leatherback turtles start their lives after an about 60 day incubation period bursting out from the sands of their nesting beaches. Right after they hatch, the baby turtles are already in danger of predators. Many are eaten by birds, crustaceans or other reptiles before they reach the water. Once they reach the ocean they are generally not seen again until maturity. Very few turtles survive this mysterious period to become adults. It is known that juvenile spend a majority of their particular life stage in more tropical waters than the adults. Adult leatherbacks have few natural predators. The biggest predator is the human as untold numbers of adult leatherbacks die each year from drowning in fishing nets or on fishing lines. More acres of nesting beaches are lost every year to development for the tourist industry or for private residences. Eggs are stolen from nests to be sold on the black market as aphrodisiacs. Pollution can affect both adults and turtles in the egg. Scientists estimate that only 1 in 1000 leatherback hatchlings survive to adulthood.

Leatherbacks are also the reptile world's deepest-divers. Individuals have been discovered to be capable of descending to depths deeper than 1,200 meters and are also among the fastest reptiles in existence. The 1992 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records has a leatherback turtle listed as having achieved the fastest speed of any reptile at a speed of 9.8 meters per second (35.28 km per hour).

It was truly an incredible experience to watch this play of nature. Exhausted from all the excitement we went to bed. Sid turned the light off we said our goodnight and had our eyes closed for about two minutes when plop something fell between us on top of the blanket. Scorpion and gecko went through my mind, not sure what Sid thought but he turned the light on and me ready to jump out of bed with a scream, we saw an inch long ice cube laying between us, which the air-conditioner had spit out. The AC was right above me along side the bed. Sid figured it was turned too low and brought the temperature a bit up and turned the light off again. A few minutes later I felt a prickling sensation on by bare back and legs, then realized it was ice cold water, now the AC was spewing drizzle over the bed. It didn’t feel bad so we didn’t do anything about it. Then the AC turned off and on all night long which every time it turned on it would rain cold water onto my side of the bed, by morning my side was soaked in cold water, needless to say I didn’t sleep very well. The alarm went off at 5.15 and we raced back down to the beach as there were the last turtles for the night. Since daylight has started we could take photos and films of them. It was just amazing. The beach also was full of craters all dug out by all the turtles and broken turtles eggs everywhere with vultures and dogs feasting on them. (At end of report you'll find some more more photos and film).

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast overlooking the beach we headed back towards Port of Spain and in Arima took yet another very narrow road up the Arima Valley towards Asa Wright Nature Center which was established in 1967 to promote the conservation of the native ecosystems and wildlife of this Valley. The hotel is built on a steep hill totally hidden in the dense jungle. We were in aws and oohs as we stood on the balcony overlooking the view down the valley. Below the balcony were birdfeeders full with the most colorful birds. We saw one Crested Oropendola all black with a fairly big beak and yellow tail, green honeycreepers, yellow Orioles, white necked Jacobine which is a hummingbird and red legged honeycreepers which are the color of a blue sapphire. We could have spent hours there, but we had long ways to go. From there the road wound around and up the steep mountain. We came by an area what looked like overgrown with vines, but a closer look revealed that it was manmade. As we got closer it looked like grapes and upon further inspection we noticed that the grapes hanging of these vines were Chayotes or also called Christophines a wonderful vegetable. Not just that, we saw the fullest mango trees some with purple mangoes, cashew trees, cocoa and of course lots and lots of banana plantations.

At one point a silver snake slithered across the street. The drive was long and the narrow road and blind corners needed a lot of attention and it was just so beautiful.
Here are some road photos:

It was a steep decline until we reached the first beach in Blanchiseusse. The next beach was Las Cuevas then Maracas Bay where we enjoyed the worlds famous Shark and Bake at Richard’s. (Fried bread, with fried shark and a bar full with lots of different toppings and sauces, not the healthiest by far but soooo yummy). I forgot to mention the road maps they use here in Tinidad it’s the kind for tourists with advertisement on them, so you have to guess which road might be the one to take you to ….. as most roads are not in on the map. So we took a wrong road and it went up and up the hill, the hill got so steep the car couldn’t make it. So we pulled over at a convenient store to ask for directions and pssssssssssssssssss within 5 seconds we had a flat tire. I tell you how friendly the people are here, as soon as Sid started to change the tire a Trini came and took over and changed the tire for us while a friend of his came over to watch and talk to us. Just a short distance away was a tire place and within 5 minutes the tire was fixed and on the car again for 15 TT about $2.50 and we were on our way home.

Look all the beautiful wild growing flours we found on this trip (click on photos to enlarge:

We had such a good time and truly needed a break from boat work as that is not going well at all. The work done is superb but the work ethnic sux big time. They told us the floor would take 3 weeks, we are at end of week six. Sid was told that he could start varnishing the floor, that would have been 12 days ago. Then they told us again the floor would be ready that was two weeks ago and last time the told me it would be ready before my Birthday, which was last Friday and we had to cancel our week car rental to travel the island. We managed to change the date on our reservation for the turtle watch, the rest we had to cancel. The galley counter was supposed to be done 3 weeks ago as well, last Thursday they finally finished the mold but had nobody to pick it up from the factory or deliver it. So the owner from Fortress (carpenter) went to pick it up himself on Friday didn’t like what they did and now they have to redo it. First we were told hat it would be done on Thursday (yesterday) but since it was a national holiday they changed the day to Wednesday. I tell you if I see it by the end of this week I will eat Sid’s underwear. For over three weeks now we’ve been living in the cockpit and during the day I have to find something to do as there is no place for me on the boat. Sid stays with the workers, don’t trust them to be alone besides they need tools which they don’t bring and if Sid wouldn’t be there they would search for one until they find it. It’s turning into a frustrating experience. I guess it doesn’t pay to be nice and patient, we will have to start showing our teeth to them.

On another not, there is a Trini Eric here that has been giving the weather on HAM to us cruisers. He broke his radio and is not able to give his reports anymore and since we have an older model radio that nobody wants Sid donated it to him. So yesterday he came over to pick it up. Here is a photo of Sid and Eric I don’t think anybody even knows what Eric looks like, we just hear him on the radio and by the way he gives really good weather reports.

Now some funny stories:

We had to send an important paper to a court in North Carolina. FedEx and DHL wouldn’t take it as they don’t send mail to P.O.Boxes and there is no physical address for it. So where did I go, to the local post office of course and wanted to mail it off with a tracking number. I couldn’t believe my ears when the postman told me that they can’t do that but that I had to go to the Tackle shop! Tackle shop, I don’t want to go fishing I want to send an important letter off!

Then my Swiss Passport has been expired for quite some time and since all my paperwork is in Atlanta I could never renew it in Switzerland. Kind of weird that one cannot renew a passport in his own country. Since there is a Swiss Consulate here I had all my paperwork sent to Trinidad. One week later I received an email letting me know that my paperwork had arrived……… in Caracas Venezuela???!!! I guess they are representing the whole Caribbean. So in order to get a passport I have to fill out forms submit them here they send it to Venezuela and 4 weeks later I will receive my passport, I don’t think so not with the postal system both countries have. The new passport is now out too the one with a special strip for national security, costs of $250 only, NOT, you have to go to a special office after applying not before 5 days and no later than 30 days. The special offices are in Hong Kong, Mexico, Sao Paulo, London, Sydney, Toronto, Paris and a few in Switzerland, I don’t think so.