ittam

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." - Helen Keller

Tonight we went to visit a friend of Steve's who runs a re-forestation project in Port-of-Spain. Within the organisation she is part of they try to bring the forest back to its unexploited original state.

She showed us around and we did a hike at sunset up the hill with a nice view. It was good fun, us 5 stumbling up and down the hill making fun about deadly snakes and ocelots which are actually to be found around there. Anyway, we suvived and live to tell the tale :-)

After seeing the steelpan bands yesterday we hurried to the movie theater "Globe" to watch a double feature. The first movie was a highly suspenseful movie called "The Stepfather". All in all a movie one not has to see, actually don't! It was amazing though how many times you got a scare despite knowing that something would happen. The ending was also good and reminded me of "No country for old men".

The second one was "The Book of Eli". "Mad Max" meets "Once upon a time in the west", "Children of Men" with a bit of a "Lara Croft" in the very end. A post-apocalyptic western walkabout. My expectations were quite high after seeing the movie trailer a while ago. Sadly it was a bit disappointing that the potential of the topic/theme was not utilized to a greater extent. The beginning was so good with showing how hard it was to live in a world like this. Sadly there was for example no background knowledge of how it came to this or on the characters. This could have been easily done by doing flashbacks at certain moments. There was also no real originality. I liked the many of the camera settings and that the whole movie was filmed with a beige/brown filter giving it a dusty, desert like appeal which plays well with the theme.

Today we made our way to Chaguaramas next to Port-of-Spain to get our Ferry tickets. Everything went well and so we have our tickets for the wednesday ferry to Giuria :-) 

The steelpan is an instrument invented here in Trinidad (see for more details here).

Yesterday we went to see the preliminaries of the competition for the best steelpan band in the country. It was fascinating and at the beginning I did not like it that much, but hey there are differences in quality. Some bands really stood out for being better. A real delight to see an hear.

The competition will culminate during the carnival in mid-february, where the best bands (different categories) will be nominated.

Thanks to our couchsurfing host Steve, who works at the Toco Foundation (see the Websites section), we got to meet many people of the Toco Foundation and got to now about it first hand. Very interesting and very successful. They founded a radio station, provide free legal advice, support the community with family matters among many other things. For more information check out their website.

What should be a little excursion came to be a 3.5 hours hike trough a spider infested forest. Along the coast to the east we wanted to go so the first maxi taxi in that direction we took. At the village of Sans Souci its driver told us that he would turn around there and we should get off. Sitting on the beach and looking at the waves breaking. This should be the local surf spot our guide told us and it really looked that way. The waves they were all breaking and you could imagine a surfer speeding along, though none were present.

After trying out a really disgusting chinese mango snack that left my mouth and fingers all red we decided to make our way towards Grande Riviere, the next big village with a nice beach. Remembering something from the guide we set out to hike there follwoing a dotted line on the map that was as long as my thumb is wide. At first the way was good but it soon became a thin line in the dense undergrowth. Despite this we did not need a machete to path through to Grand Riviere but we were happy to have a long stick to remove the spiderwebs spanning across our trail. We encountered two kinds of spiders in webs. The first ones were of the hive kind. In one web there were hundreds of these tiny spiders and the whole web was vast and made up of many smaller ones. At one time the fibre of the web was so strong I had difficulty ripping through it to make a path. The other kind of spider was about 8 centimeters (approx. 3 inch) in diameter with 8 legs in pairs of two. No desire to pet this animal did rise so we made our way.

Finally we encountered a rubber booted local hurrying along and crossing our way. He told us that it would only be 30 Minutes at his "walking" speed until we would reach our destination. 45 Minutes later we walked out of the woods and onto the paved road. The sun was already far down so no swimming today. After talking to some locals on how to get back one gave us a lift all the way back. He collected all various kind of people. One guy who had to be at the other end of Trinidad by tomorrow noon, a mother with her child, a hard looking, beret wearing guy with his black dog, an elderly woman and the occasional guy who hopped on and off. He was a good driver thank god, the street was narrow and winding along the coast. It was quite a ride of accelerating, breaking, evading of potholes, honking before turns, honking at people to attract them to get on board, honking at other cars as greetings. The occasional stop where the driver got out for a chat was also included. I don't know how long it was that the ride took but when we reached Toco I let go of the doorhandle and got out into the night.

Toco, a small sleepy town where only the kids going to and coming from the school in town bring a little life. It is very nice here, not much to do. To the nearby lighthouse we went, which had been erected in honour of the Queen Victoria of England. There were many scavenger birds there probably waiting on the next batch of sea turtle babies. The leatherback sea turtle lays its eggs on beaches around here. A thing to see if you should be around at the right time of year (which it isn't at the moment).

The way to come here by public transport seemed easy at first - take a bus from Port-of-Spain to Arima and then to Sangre Grande, then another from there to Toco.  Actually it was easy and we did not wait too long anywhere. The direct line is about 80 km - but the roads are never straight and no highway in between. It took us nearly 5 hours to get to our destination.

Soon we are heading to Toco by Bus and Maxi-Taxi. There we will do some hiking. Again by couchsurfing we found a guy who leaves us his flat to use while he is absent. Couchsurfing is a really good thing. Based on trust.

Today we were visiting a place called pitch lake. It is a kind of lake not with water but with asphalt coming out of the ground and forming a lake. A rubbery surface, hard enough to walk on, had formed so we got a guided tour across it. Fascinating. While the (unofficial) guide, was explaining something you could feel your feet slowly sinking into the not totally rigid surface. They export this stuff and really use it (after some processing) to cover their streets. 

To go there we had to pass through San Fernando, the second big city on this island. Nothing spectacular, just a place where people live. When we arrived there with our water taxi I noticed that one of the favorite places to emigrate to for them was Canada as once again we met someone who had lived the last 20 years up north.

Today we met up with a Brandon, an acquaintance of Annelie's from her studies at ISU. He showed us around town a bit in his car. We even went to a local market hall that was a bit outside. There we found fresh fruit and some vegetables (Papaya, Bananas, Grapes,...) which we will eat delightfully tomorrow for breakfast. He also took us for italian food which was astonishingly good, despite the long distance to the country south of Switzerland.

Later we met up with Elspeth, who we connected through Couchsurfing. She only had time to go out for a sandwich but nonetheless the time was full of interesting topics of who does what and so on. We might see her again, which would be nice.

At our guest house we met a german couple ("Bef" and "Nele"; not sure how to write their names) and we joined up to go to the St. James part of town to check out the local nightlife. No Public transport in sight we looked kind of lost on the sidewalk for a few minutes after which a car pulled up and the driver asked us where we wanted to go. This is normal procedure here and in Tobago, normal people just use their cars to do some taxi service. I don't know if they do it full time or just by occasion (I guess the second). In the car was already some other passenger, a woman we thought, who went to the same place. In the end it cost 16TT$ for the four of us which equals to 40 eurocents per person. The street was lined with bars, clubs and food stands selling some nourishment for the hungry party people. Cars were slowly patrolling up and down the road showing of their shiny rims or the power of their car stereo. After a bit of drink ("limin'" in the local tongue) and some sightseeing at a club to see how "Soca", the local reggaeton style music, was danced we again hitched a ride in a car to our guest house. So far our experience here has been very good, the locals very helpful. 

A walk through busy streets,

a search for a book exchange,

looking for a guide to venezuela but not finding,

buying food at a 24 hours gas station for breakfast next day,

chinese take away for dinner,

my tummy still is battling with me

Last night we got to Port of Spain and there he was, Sinan, the guy who would be our host for the next few hours. He was very friendly and took us out to eat and then for a drive through the nightly town. A very good experience. He is now on his way to travel south america, since this had been his last night here in Trinidad. How fortunate we were to still meet him.

For this night we are at "Pearl's Guest House". We walked by multiple times before spotting the house number since no sign showed the name only stated that we should beware of the dog(s).

After getting aquatinted with the town (buses, shops, food) we ended up in a "Starbucks" lookalike that also featured free Wifi :-)

Today we made our way back to Scarborough. After waiting for an hour for the 9 o'clock bus. We expected about a half an hour wait. Well, the sun was shining and we said hello to half of the town that walked by. So that was nice. Here in Scarborough we checked out the ferry to Trinidad. It leaves at 5 in the afternoon (three hours from now), so we are waiting here in the internet café/computer shop to do the stuff we do here. At the moment Annelie is gone to the market to see if they have a new hat for her since her yellow Mickey Mouse decided to stay behind.

I am quite interested to see the difference between the lain back Tobago and the faster paced Trinidad.

I wish all the people at home a merry time in the snow!

The popping sound of popcorn not unlike muffled shots from a action movie. The second time I did this, yesterday was the first. To much corn in the pan then so it expanded way beyond expectations and started to spread on the floor. A little salt added and then enjoy.

Today was another day of diving. A place with the promising sounding name of japanese garden was first on the list, the "black jack hole" second. The current down there was strong at times and against us. The visibility was great and the sun was shining above putting everything underneath in a good light for us to see. Many colored fish, plants and corals again - a joy for a stroll in the park of eden underwater. Places like this should preserved. There is a whole world down there and not many really now of it. Man goes to the stars and looks to other galaxies but forgets at times that there is more to this planet than meets the eye.

Kern Spencer is a nice guy, lain back and relaxed. His voice does not inspire confidence at first but his words and the way he comprehensibly explains makes you think that you are in good hands.

The waves are crashing down onto the beach as if the sea wants to prevent things from happening or to keep one out of the water. A colorful glass fiber 75 horse power twin engine (outboard) boat approaches the pick up point behind the little pink and blue two storied house of "Spencer's Underwater Adventures".

We hold our mask and regulator with our left hand and the other loose stuff with our right and on three we all tumble backwards into the cool blue sea. Down below after getting adjusted to the different environment of a liquid and air from a pressurized bottle (3000 psi the gauge reads) the visibility is good. A strong current pulls you along from time to time - to strong to battle it you go with it.

A huge coral looms ahead - tiny tiny yellow fishes graze over its surface. A curious barracuda comes near and passes beneath me, his scales reflecting the glittering sunlight from above. Loosing interest he moves away and I feel myself relax by the thought of it pointing it's sharp teeth in another direction. There a fish the size of my hand with scales like a mosaic, different colors. A pity the names of the fishes are not stored in my memory. How easier it would be to describe them to you.

Time is up and up we go - slowly but surely. Relaxing more and starting to shiver from the long time in the 28°C warm water - the trembling stops as I dry myself off after taking a shower at the dive center.

That was good and we walk off with thanks and a Pow Pow (Papaya) for a present. 

Setting up the mosquito net for the first time to have a quiet and undisturbed night. In Parlatuvier the little buggers kept coming and even the insect repellant didn't hold them off from buzzing around.

Being here is different from the previous place. It has the feel of much more going on. Nonetheless yesterday was sunday and everything was closed. But a fisherman does never rest so there they were coming in with todays catch and we got a 1.5 pound fish off them (some kind of salmon relative) for dinner.

Enjoying a stroll around the village and to the nearby "Pirate's bay" - well no pirates there, half expecting some Somali's to be there to take you hostage, only some tourists and locals playing soccer on the beach.

Doing a lot of reading again. First "Chocolat" from Joanne Harris and now "Black Notice" from Patricia Cornwell. The first book as you can imagine was a lot of fun to read. Me as a total chocolate fan really enjoyed every page - by the way I still got 3 bars of chocolate left from the start. Some years ago when I got the DVD of the movie there was even a box of chocolate with it :-).

"Cholson Chalets" is the guest house we are staying at. The rooms (of which we have two) are clean and well lit, the manager friendly and forthcoming. The price of 248 TT$ within our expectations.

The day before yesterday we coincidentally met the other two crew members from our sailing again at a BBQ in the town of "Castara". Lively talk, good food and dancing to various music filled the evening before we hitched a breathtaking ride on the back of a pick up truck to get us back to our guest house in Parlatuvier.

Today here in Charlotteville - Internet and checking out diving, then off to the beach.

New Year new place. Hopping on the bus we left Scarborough behind and arrived at a small fishing village called "Parlatuvier". There were maybe 8 tourists all in all there. No restaurant at all - well the one there was has not opened yet - the question remains if it ever will.

Buying fresh fish directly from the fishermen on the jetty got us our dinner (I think it was a red snapper). The guest house we got lucky to find in the middle of the settlement was located above the owners grocery store, where we got our supplies of food. No fresh fruit though - despite the presence of banana trees everywhere.

Here in Tobago it is perfect to do some holidays. The relaxed atmosphere, genuinely nice people and the beautiful weather really puts you at ease. On the other side the roads are in bad repair, many buildings and construction sites have been abandoned due to vanished funds I guess and a lot of trash is lying around everywhere. What can one say, it fits the picture well. You can not have a perfectly functioning place and a very easy going vibe.

Rastas, gold teeth and shiny rims.

Stuck in Scarborough for a few days due to my failing memory in respect to credit card code (the card got swallowed by am ATM). What an annoying thing. When you try to get it back you go to the bank right after and it is closed already - at two in the afternoon on a normal working day. The day after the message was to come back another day later, because the card has not yet been retrieved from the machine and only a specific security company was allowed to do this. So on the 31st - the last day of the year 2009 - I got my card back. My hope that it was not skimmed (e.g. copied) remains.

The sea view guest house provided us with a roof over our head. this accommodation really stood up to its name - the view was definitely magnificent.

The nearby beach at "Bacolet Bay" provided respite from the oppressive heat that is here the rule and not the exception. The local guy on the beach being very friendly and offering coconuts was just overflowing with funny comments why it is good to get a coconut. We got one and it was an interesting taste - not like the "Bounty" bar or the coconut yoghurt you can buy at home.

The local wine we had with dinner was strange to say the least. The "white" wine had nothing in common with the wine you get in Europe or anywhere else I suppose. Why that is, is quickly said - it is not made from grapes but from cereal and sugar cane.

What does one do in a country where there is no champagne? You go to the nearby hotel bar to celebrate New Year. Cheers!

Yesterday after getting on to dry land, the back-packs on our back, we made our way to "Jeffrey's Guest House", which for 250 TTS$ provided us with room and bed.  

Since we had not really done any work out during the last month there was happiness in getting the heavy load off our backs. Next stop "House of Pancakes" to get some decent food into us and start reacquiring the weight lost (which I thought was impossible with my slim build). It was two pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs for me and a veggie omelette for Annelie. Bliss! The website also needed updating so after such a time of absence. Several hours later again the rumbling in the lower regions brought us to a nearby Pizzeria with a short detour for a drink at a roadside bar with vibrating Reggae music. There a guy starts talking to me and it turns out he had been in Switzerland many times (at Reggae festivals - what else :-).

Today we went to Scarborough to do the immigration and customs formalities. After having finished this interesting endeavor, we made our way to Fort King George on top of the nearby hill. Losing so much water on this uphill struggle made it clear that this fort was probably never captured, due to the fact that any invading force would be to exhausted to fight when they reached the fort. The view was magnificent over all of the nearby bays enabling to spot any approaching ships.

Back in Crown Point and after a short dip at the beach (the water was not deep enough there to swim) we went for multiple drinks and overpriced but decent food.

The mood here on the island is relaxed and it's a bit like a cliché with all the Rasta hairstyle and the english dialect they use. Also Reggae music in many places and pimped up cars on the road. The car seems to be a real status symbol and every single one of these steel carriages are gleaming in the sun, freshly polished. So far no sighting of any motorbike driven by locals which is a complete opposite to the far east experience (indonesia, thailand, laos,...).

Tomorrow we will go to Parlatuvier and then maybe to Charlotteville and Speyside for some diving. Since the Internetcafés are thinly spread around here it is not guaranteed that we will be online for the next few days.

Now that we have arrived here and are off the boat there is time to review the experience of having crossed the atlantic ocean on a sailboat. 

What started as a dream ended in a near nightmare. How could it come to that. The dream was always to go sailing for a long time, like around the globe. That being a big thing I deemed it prudent to start with crossing the vast space between Europe and the Americas by sailing. So there I was on a boat with five other people bound for good or bad to go forth. One of them was a known factor - my girlfriend - the four others an unknown.

To me it was clear beforehand that being in a small space with other people for a long time is a challenge but I always thought for my diplomatic character it would be manageable either way.

A short while after departure it showed that it would not be easy. The two proprietors of the boat, especially the woman had a character that took all the space there was and left nothing for the rest. This coupled with her inability to acknowledge any of the others' abilities / capabilities made it very hard for everyone on board.

Respecting the others by also leaving their personality enough space to breathe is essential for a long trip like this. If this is not given then people will be suppressed and the atmosphere worsens.

This is what happened in our case and at some point I just had to remove myself from the equation by reducing my participation enough to not retain myself. I do not talk very much so from that point it was not so difficult to achieve. Not to listen (listening is something I often do well) on the other hand was very hard.

I could now go on about what this person was like and so on, additionally after we went to eat lunch with the other two crew members who told us many things we did not know which worsened the bad impression we had even more, but there is no point in doing that. 

Being tremendously glad to be off that boat was not the emotion I was planning to have. Looking at the bright side - Tobago had the feel of the promised land before we even got here. And hey I even look forward to do some real sailing sometime soon - yeah unbelievable, it did not ruin my interest in sailing.

For anyone wanting to do something like this here is some advice:

- Meet the people beforehand

- Go on a short sailing turn with them (like 2 days).

- Evaluate the compatibility of their personality to yours very seriously. The sailing trip should be fun in general and not stress all the time. Can there be respect during the whole trip? Can you have enough space to breathe?