Sunday, September 30, 2012

Macqueripe Bay



Every Saturday, some cruisers organize a hike at Macqueripe, on the north coast of the Chaguaramas peninsula, about a twenty minute drive from the marinas. We’ve been wanting to go, and finally made the time for it this week. We hiked through the forest up and down some steep hills – beautiful views off of the north coast from the top – beside a golf course, and through a bamboo forest called the Bamboo Cathedral. A wedding reception was going on there – what a nice setting. We felt a pretty grungy in our sweaty clothes and muddy sneakers, walking by the canopies and beautifully attired people, but they were friendly. We ended up at the bay, where we went for a welcome swim in the beautifully cool water (Okay, cool is relative. The water was cooler than at Chacachacare, but still in the high 80s), before meeting for the ride home. This made for a nice, inexpensive afternoon of exercise and socializing. The only required cost was for the maxi taxi ride, $12 TT ($2 US) per person round trip. Our optional cost was for a cold libation at the golf course, Schwepps grapefruit drink. Trinidad is the only place we’ve found this, and it’s terrific – refreshing, not too sweet, and delicious!

P.S. I was going to attach a nice picture, but internet access is so slow that it wouldn't upload. Next time!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Back in Trinidad, Back in the Water



That's Venezuela over there under the clouds!


Sun-lit window in the old nuns' quarters
Shore-side ruin
Finally! Boat work is all done, and we’re back in the water. For the past few days we’ve been on a mooring at Chaguaramas. At only $5 US per day, it’s a pretty good deal for being close to shore, stores, and wifi. However, we rock and roll on the wakes of the fishing pirogues that zoom by, so we’re ready for a little peace and quiet out at Chacachacare for a few days. If you haven’t seen my previous posts on Chacachacare, it’s a small island about five miles west of Chaguaramas, a former leper colony with interesting ruins to explore and, the best part, water that’s nice to swim in! The water at Chaguaramas is really yucky, and we miss being able to jump off the boat to get refreshed. Especially since it’s been sooo hot and humid lately. Of course, there’s no wifi at Chacachacare, but I’ll write up some blogs to post when we get back!
Pre-dawn cloud formation