Blogs from Trinidad, Trinidad & Tobago, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Mittwoch, 25. November / Das Bild ist anders. Es regnet nicht, der Himmel ist strahlend blau. Schon um 0700 grummelt der gelbe Planet grimmig. Um 0930 brüllt er wütend vom Himmel herunter. PoS wird dadurch nicht schöner, aber wegen dieses Wetters sind wir hierher gekommen. Um 1030 werden wir abgeholt. Horace, unser nächster Gastgeber, hat uns einen Fahrer geschickt, weil sein Auto kaputt ist. Wie sich später noch zeigen wird, macht Horace einiges für seine Gäste möglich. Es geht über die Berge der Northern Range (die ziemlich hoch sind) in engen Kurven an die Nordküste. Maracas Bay, den ersten karibischen Traumstrand, lassen wir links liegen und fahren weiter nach Osten. Die Straße wird zeitweise zu einem schlechten geteerten Feldweg. Überwiegend ist sie aber gut zu befahren. Blanchisseuse, unser Ziel, ist ein Dorf, das sich über einige ... read more

PORT OF SPAIN 27.9.-1.10.2009 Port of Spain - miten tarunhohtoinen nimi Trinidad & Tobagon pääkaupungilla, ja voi miten ruma se on. Mutta kaunista löytyy täältäkin. Koko kaupunki on täynnä voima- ja sähköjohtosyheröitä, joissa varoitetaan Danger! On haikeaa lähteä Karibialta pois. Tänään maanosa ja kieli vaihtuvat. Lennän iltapäivällä Quitoon, Ecuadoriin. Port of Spain on kuitenkin hyvin eläväinen ja inspiroiva kaupunki. Täältä on lähtöisin muun muassa calypso ja steel pan -musiikki. Jälkimmäinen sai alkunsa siitä, kun afrikkalaiset rummut kiellettiin. Nimensä mukaisesti musiikkia soitetaan öljytynnyreistä kehitetyillä soittimilla. Se on aivan uskomatonta. Eilen kuulin yhden bändin harjoittelevan Bachia, ja toisen Michael Jacksonia. Port of Spain on ainoa Karibian kaupunki, jossa olen tuntenut olevani alipukeutunut. Kaksi kuukautta olen käyttänyt samoja vaatteita, jotka ovat ke... read more

We arrived in Port of Spain (Trinidad) in the late evening. By the time we had gotten into the town centre and found a hotel we knew that our planned week-long trip here could be expensive compared with what we had been used to. We had pencilled in a few days here and the rest in Tobago, where Cecilia’s father was born. We left the hotel to get something to eat and have a first look at Trinidad. We had our first KFC (really quite bad) and ended up getting a cab to the lively quarter of St James. Being no stranger to Caribbean English in the UK, I was quite surprised on how different Caribbean English is in the Caribbean. ‘Ya wa'n gwa limin'?’ After Cecilia translated I realised the driver was asking if we ... read more

Time for another blog spot. There are those whom have been badgering me for some time now to post more of my travels. Now that my last wave of papers and presentations has past, I have the time. I do study and work while I’m down here, but do you really want me to talk about that? And so I will start with Easter. Carlos, Abbie and I went down to the Wild Foul Trust to stay with my roommate, Isaiah, at his second home. We left Port of Spain for Point-a-Pierre, the bus cost about 65 cents and took us all but 2 blocks from the place, it's a good drive too. We stayed in a nice little duplex on a lake with cayman and tons of birds. His home and the preserve are located ... read more

February 21, 2009 The other day I went up the mountain to make some reservations at the PAX guest house with another student for her grandparents. The owner is good friends with one of the professors at the UW – Madison. They’re both big ornithologists. Before we knew what was going on, he had invited us in for tea and cake and we were sitting on the back veranda. There are tons of birds, not quite hundreds, but a lot. Off in the distance various birds of prey are soaring the thermals. A little bit closer to us we saw a variety of humming birds, one of them the smallest in Trinidad, the Tufted Coquette. Brittany and I also saw a pregnant Black-throated Mango hummingbird. But the most amazing thing we did up there was feed ... read more