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Our Trinidad Story, Page 2
Anne Kiehl and David Krieg
Time to return to the city B&B. Dinner at a food court mall was a deafening experience loud drum music and it seemed like thousands of Saturday night shoppers.
At 10 AM Piero Guerrinini, the Italian owner of Mt. Plaisir Estate collected us for the 3 hour drive that wraps around the Northern Range of Trinidad, offering 360 degree views of mountains, valleys and coastlines. From his remote lodge we looked out on a short, golden sand beach broken by 50 foot cliffs. We would define the 13 room lodge as funky. It was converted from the largest cocoa plantation in the area, built in the 1800's. The furnishings were handmade and art objects were everywhere old paintings of tigers, lions, turtles, etc., hung at random, relics of art workshops Piero had hosted. The walls featured paintings of scenery, local color of villagers at work and play, even huge water lilies decorated the bath room. Mosquito netting hung over every bed. As we didn't notice any insects we didn't use the net until the last night, after red spots had appeared.
We beach walked, hiked the rain forest , and toured
with a pair of British visitors staying nearby. We saw
Brown Pelicans and Frigate Birds along the coast. We went on two birding walks with Nicholas, a local guide. He was so excellent and the prey so intriguing that we forgave his insistence we arise at 5:30. Still pitch dark! Our primary goal was to see a large turkey-like, endemic, highly endangered Piping Guan, known to the locals as "Pawi." At first we feared
disappointment, but Nicholas kept whistling the bird's
call and eventually we saw a big black glob in a high
tree. Little by little the Guan's details of his silhouette became
discernable at the very top of the tree, complete with long blue
waddle and blue bill. Dave quickly snapped his picture (right),
fuzzy in the dim light. He also recorded the White-tailed and
Violaceous Trogons, among other birds. We love to see
Trogons, ever since we saw our first one, years ago, in Arizona.
They are big, colorful birds that tend to sit still on tree limbs,
once you find them. Trinidad has three species, all new to us,
and we got to see all of them. Here is a picture
of the white-tailed Trogon (left). When not
birding, we mostly lazed the 5 days, enjoying
three super Italian or seafood meals every day
served by local dark-skinned ladies with
surprising names: Michelle, Alice, Bernette,
Locitta, Suzette, and Lydia.
Trinidad has the largest nesting colony of Leatherbacked Turtles in the world. Usually they arrive in March, but we were shown a few off-schedule 6" babies cute. Their parents might weigh a ton! They are very protected during the season.
Our last three days were spent at The Pax Guest House,
established in 1912 on the grounds of the oldest Benedictine
Monastery in the Caribbean. Most of the other guests there were
a tour group from Britain. Located on a mountainside 800 feet
above the plains, the capital city lay spread out below us. It really
sparkled at night. We took our most exciting adventure of all from
there: a boat trip thru Caroni Swamp. It is a protected wildlife area of tidal lagoons, marshlands, and mangrove forest. We boarded an open motor boat seating about 35 excited birders. We began at about 4:30 PM in order to see the birds returning to their roosts for the night. We moved slowly
through the brackish water for 5 miles and saw snowy
Egrets., Little blue herons, and a Boa Constrictor tightly
wrapped around a tree. As the sun started to go down
the Scarlet Ibis started swooping over our heads and
landing in a grove of Mangrove trees directly in front or
us. The Ibis is a gregarious, heron-like bird 25 " in
length with a 38" wing spread, with a long slender bill
that curves downward. They fly with their long neck and
legs fully extended. The chicks are born black and
mature to brilliant scarlet by the second fall. Dark wing
tips of the primaries are visible only in flight. First a
few flew in, then a dozen, and then nearly a hundred in a
flock. So graceful and controlled. We gasped as each new group landed in the trees. The thousands of birds made it look like a giant scarlet and green Christmas display. This vision of flaming scarlet will never be forgotten. No wonder the Scarlet Ibis is Trinidad's national bird.
Home again Jan 23rd after two weeks of delightful enjoyment and having viewed 60 new species of birds.
