As always, we are just taken back by the tranquil atmosphere of Laguna Grande. The nights are so quite that only occasionally we can here the chirping of cicada or the flapping of jumping fish. Early morning just before sunrise birds are starting to chant a lovely good morning serenade. On the near by shore a fox is yelping. Then the sun starts lighting up the high hill tops unfolding all the colors Laguna Grande has to offer, from red to orange, white, gray and right now the lush green bushes and cacti. As the shadow rolls down the hills and disappears in the flat calm water the most incredible mirror image on the water's surface takes our breath away. No matter how many pictures I have taken of this, photos just don't do justice. Around noon the winds starts picking up and depending on the trades can blow quite a bit. Around 3 o'clock puffy thunder clouds are starting to built and occasionally roll over us around 4 o'clock. For sunset it's nice a calm again and the mirror image matches the scenery and slowly disappears with the last ray of the sun showing off the most vibrant colors a sunset can offer. Yet at night as the calm starts all over again the water now reflects the stars that twinkle in the clear sky and now and then the water churns up with a luminescent light where a fish just swam by. This is by far one of the most beautiful anchorages anywhere.
Although that night the hatches had to be closed for the night as the ITCZ brought the clouds north and covered all of Trinidad up to St. Lucia to the North eastern part of Venezuela where we are and showered us with lots of rain in the late afternoon with an occasional drizzle after sunset. We heard on Eric's net that Trinidad was hit hard with rain and had flooding throughout the country. Downtown Port of Spain was under water. The police announced on the radio for everybody to stay at work and don't leave the house and result was a panic, everybody left to go home and created a huge gridlock. The ITCZ is still present in our area so we should get some more rain. For us the rain is welcomed as it cleans our rigging for us, also it cools down the hot day so that we almost have to get jackets out. ITCZ is the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone which lies mainly along the Ecuador in which weather systems from the southern and the northern hemispheres converge. These areas are basically over the ocean. Normally in this zone there is a lot of cloud activity with rain and little wind. The zone can travel north or south by as much as 10 to 15 degrees of latitude which enhances weather systems.
Although that night the hatches had to be closed for the night as the ITCZ brought the clouds north and covered all of Trinidad up to St. Lucia to the North eastern part of Venezuela where we are and showered us with lots of rain in the late afternoon with an occasional drizzle after sunset. We heard on Eric's net that Trinidad was hit hard with rain and had flooding throughout the country. Downtown Port of Spain was under water. The police announced on the radio for everybody to stay at work and don't leave the house and result was a panic, everybody left to go home and created a huge gridlock. The ITCZ is still present in our area so we should get some more rain. For us the rain is welcomed as it cleans our rigging for us, also it cools down the hot day so that we almost have to get jackets out. ITCZ is the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone which lies mainly along the Ecuador in which weather systems from the southern and the northern hemispheres converge. These areas are basically over the ocean. Normally in this zone there is a lot of cloud activity with rain and little wind. The zone can travel north or south by as much as 10 to 15 degrees of latitude which enhances weather systems.
Freddie, the young son of a local fisherman showed up again asking for a diving mask, which I thought we didn't have. Sid told me later that we do have one so Heidi and I took off in the dingy across the other side where Freddie lives. I also brought along some milk, black beans, veggies and sugar for his family. In the many times we've anchored in Laguna Grande we never went to see the fishermen. Upon arrival I asked one fisherman where Freddie's house was, he invited me to tie my dinghy to his shack and pointed into the direction where Freddie lives. We followed the path and passed more little shacks and asked again for directions. We finally found Freddie's house and with a huge smile he greeted us. You should have seen his eyes when he saw the dive mask and snorkel and couldn't believe that he finally got one. He then invited us to see his village and took as along a pebbled path which was entirely shaded by lush bushes. I never thought to find such a Paradise in this dried out desert landscape. We passed more houses that were built under the greenest of mango trees. Papaya trees were loaded with the biggest fruits I've ever seen. In front of every house pigs and chicken were roaming around and the laughter of little kids filled the air. Freddie told us that this is all one family living here. At least 20 homes are nestled under this green oasis. On the other side of town on a slight upward hill the greenery ends as the dry desert takes over again. From here we had a magnificent view over the area and to the local school which beyond lays another green oasis with yet another village, the village of another family. On the way he asked me if I liked goat, oh do I like goat. He then told us to wait, ran up to his uncles house, came back and told me that we'll get a goat later this afternoon. Before we headed back to the dinghy he told me to wait, minutes later he came back with his uncle and we had to tow them all the way across to were our boat was. They went and gathered oysters and after a while disappeared from our view. In the mean time I was worried about that goat, what was I going to do with a whole goat. After a few hours they came back and apologized that they didn't get a goat for us as they escaped running up the hill. He then said that they will try the next day. I told them both that it was OK and that we'll be back at Christmas time will have the goat then. Sigh….., got out of that one easy, by Christmas I'll be better prepared for a goat, including some presents for the kids and food items for the families. I gave them a tow back into town and as I had returned he sky was filled with dark clouds. I took a swim to cool off and to wash my hair and pretty much after I was back onboard, the sky let loose. It must have rained for over an hour with heavy rain and the cracks in the dried hills turned into rivers bringing clay colored waters into the bay changing the color from green to pink. It was really neat to watch. The pelicans in the near mangroves had a blast taking a bath in either the trees or in the water. What amazed me the most was them stretching their necks straight up into the air, opening their huge bills and let the rain water fill the bill up with fresh rain water. We had happy hour together with the pelicans, us sipping a Cuba Libre or Margarita, them shots of rainwater out of the sky, cheers.
The following night it was nice and clear again with the brightest starry sky and a wonderful morning awaited us. Around 10 am we brought the anchor up and headed out into the Golfo direction Medregal. We encountered many areas with working birds, but only occasionally saw a few dolphins. The mountains on the South side of the Golfo were covered with heavy, black clouds and it rained at places. Our side was fairly clear until we approached the anchorage, a huge cloud came over the hill and a vale of rain started heading our way. We guessed we had max 15 minutes before it hit us. We had just about enough time to anchor, get the sun awing up, button everything down before it hit us. It must have rained heavy for about 1 ½ hours. In no time did we fill a 5 gallon bucket of water. After the heavy rain stopped it drizzled way into the night.
Swen and Ilva (Ex Bloody Mary) now living ashore open their home on Monday and Thursday nights for Pizza. They now go by the name Coco Bongo. Moi the cook needed a night off so we enjoyed all the other cruisers at Coco Bongo. Swen built a huge pizza oven in his yard and the pizzas he made are just us thin and good as I remember them in Italy. We had a wonderful time. We we'll stay here for a few days and enjoy Jean Mark's pool and cooking and mingle with other cruisers. Pam, Wally and Mariah had just left Maremares and are now in Laguna Grande and will catch up with us soon.
The following night it was nice and clear again with the brightest starry sky and a wonderful morning awaited us. Around 10 am we brought the anchor up and headed out into the Golfo direction Medregal. We encountered many areas with working birds, but only occasionally saw a few dolphins. The mountains on the South side of the Golfo were covered with heavy, black clouds and it rained at places. Our side was fairly clear until we approached the anchorage, a huge cloud came over the hill and a vale of rain started heading our way. We guessed we had max 15 minutes before it hit us. We had just about enough time to anchor, get the sun awing up, button everything down before it hit us. It must have rained heavy for about 1 ½ hours. In no time did we fill a 5 gallon bucket of water. After the heavy rain stopped it drizzled way into the night.
Swen and Ilva (Ex Bloody Mary) now living ashore open their home on Monday and Thursday nights for Pizza. They now go by the name Coco Bongo. Moi the cook needed a night off so we enjoyed all the other cruisers at Coco Bongo. Swen built a huge pizza oven in his yard and the pizzas he made are just us thin and good as I remember them in Italy. We had a wonderful time. We we'll stay here for a few days and enjoy Jean Mark's pool and cooking and mingle with other cruisers. Pam, Wally and Mariah had just left Maremares and are now in Laguna Grande and will catch up with us soon.
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