...trinidad is a lush caribbean island that is teeming with all kinds of life.
today our adventures took us to the Asa Wright Nature Centre. here we were treated to quite an assortment of birds. there are over 30 varieties of hummingbirds here.
to get here though, we traveled about two hours by bus. the highway we took is called "churchill-roosevelt". named for the two distinguished leaders of england and the US. this island nation was a very important strategic staging base for allied troops in the second world war.as we made our way, we passed lots of industry. the port immediately allows one to understand that a lot of commerce is underway here. but who would have guessed that "membership" stores would be here?
the government is parliamentary democracy and this island nation won its independence in august of 1962 from the UK. english is the official language; french, spanish and chinese are also spoken here--as well as caribbean hindustani (a dialect of hindi). the literacy rate here is over 98%. there are nearly 2 million people here -- between the two islands of trinidad and tobago. while these are considered developing nations, one thing is clear--they are gaining in prosperity due in large measure to petroleum and natural gas on the islands.
today our adventures took us to the Asa Wright Nature Centre. here we were treated to quite an assortment of birds. there are over 30 varieties of hummingbirds here.
to get here though, we traveled about two hours by bus. the highway we took is called "churchill-roosevelt". named for the two distinguished leaders of england and the US. this island nation was a very important strategic staging base for allied troops in the second world war.as we made our way, we passed lots of industry. the port immediately allows one to understand that a lot of commerce is underway here. but who would have guessed that "membership" stores would be here?
the government is parliamentary democracy and this island nation won its independence in august of 1962 from the UK. english is the official language; french, spanish and chinese are also spoken here--as well as caribbean hindustani (a dialect of hindi). the literacy rate here is over 98%. there are nearly 2 million people here -- between the two islands of trinidad and tobago. while these are considered developing nations, one thing is clear--they are gaining in prosperity due in large measure to petroleum and natural gas on the islands.
our driver, addison, gave us loads of information about the beginnings of this country. brought us up to speed on where things stand today. and even managed to make some remarks about "female therapy" centers (shopping malls) that would more than likely have been expected to be uttered by an american man.
our drive to the nature centre took us through an amazing rainforested area--so, so lush; there are 365 rivers on trinidad--one for every day of the week. over 300" of rain falls on trinidad each year. today was no exception. although we were told that generally speaking, the rain stops in december. we saw many butterflies and orchids along the way up the hill to the centre. trinidad boasts 622 species of butterfly and some 700 species of orchid. impressive termite mounds are attached to many of the trees and it seems that there is a beneficial symbiotic relationship taking place between the tree and the termite. without the termites, the trees would become far too heavy and would likely topple over in the drenched hillsides. the termites eat just enough of the tree to keep it "lighter". and in this
case, that is a good thing we were told.
the nature centre was once the estate of Asa Wright. she was a very wealthy woman and built the home as a residence. it is now used as a center for visitors--and people can even stay there as overnight guests...for a price of course.
from the veranda, we were able to observe many, many colorful birds feasting upon foods that were placed out for them. hummingbirds even paused to allow us the opportunity to capture their image. the hospitality offered was impressive: hot tea/coffee/chocolate; comfortable sitting chairs; umbrellas and walking sticks were provided for the nature walk.
about the time we were beginning our walk, the sky opened up and decided to rain. a light rain this time. along the way, our guide pointed out trees and plants of the forest. she even told us that if we found a termite mound, she would look for some termites to eat! and her word was good. we did happen upon a termite mound and she did poke a bit to find some termites. she told us they are eaten quite normally here on trinidad. according to her, they taste like carrots--but are in fact, a source of protein. she made sure all of us could see the termite before putting it in her mouth. she chomped down the first one; then instructed on proper termite eating. i won't be finding out the right or wrong way to eat a termite. i'll leave that to the trinidadians.after traversing the path as long as i could, i decided it would be best to turn back toward the center and return. just then, the sky opened up again. this time, full force. lots of rain. drenched is the word that comes to mind. i stepped as gingerly as possible to get back to our starting point--wary to not topple over myself and not to disturb too many of the army ants that toil away endlessly on the forest floor. those buggers bite--and of course, i got bit in spite of my best efforts. but this was a small price to pay for this very color-filled adventure.
The traveler was active: he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive: he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight seeing" - Daniel J. Boorstin, American author
