Famous Faces, Famous Places and Famous Foods
Wise Guides
Trinidad's rainforest is a complex world of horror and splendor. Stephen King would relish the blood sucking vampire bats, palm-sized tarantulas and poisonous coral snakes. Black soldier ants bite ferociously, while 92 species of mosquitoes compete for your face. In the eat-or-be-eaten rainforest, humans are just bags of bones wrapped in useless skin.
But exploring Trinidad's rainforest is an amazing experience, a trip to the original Garden of Eden. Just put your life in the hands of an expert guide, and even snake wrestling sounds fun.
"I caught a small anaconda yesterday," says my guide Courtenay Rooks matter of factly. "Dove into a ditch, grabbed him by the mouth and tail, pulled him out. A very nice snake, only eight feet long." (I'm impressed.)
This mellow, brown-eyed, fortysomething Indiana Jones speaking the King's English with a Caribbean lilt isn't crazy. Just a naturalist who loves his job.
"Showed the anaconda to two herpetologists, then took him to a far away swamp," Courtenay smiles. " Didn't want him to end up somebody's dinner." Now that's a guide you can trust....
RIVER WALKING THE RAINFOREST
"Everything you're wearing will get wet," Courtenay warns, "so just bring essentials. We're walking the rainforest in the Marianne River." In a river? What about that anaconda story? Obediently I wear only a swim suit and water shoes, keeping my fears unspoken.
Turns out the Marianne River is one foot deep, a gorgeous slice of clarity meandering through 100-foot trees. Bamboos curve like giant needles over the river, sandpipers flit about catching insects, giant Blue Emperor butterflies flutter on leaves longer than my body.
"Trinidad has over four hundred bird species," Courtenay says. "We were part of the South American mainland up 'til about 10,000 years ago, so we've got plants, animals, and birds not found on other Caribbean islands." Courtenay points out golden-headed manakins, blue-capped tanagers, and bearded bellbirds. He shows us critters on the trail: lantern bugs, stick insects, armies of marching leaf cutter ants.
"Leaf cutters can defoliate an entire tree in one night," Courtenay continues. "They mix chopped leaves with their own excreta, and on that grows the fungus they eat. You can see why they're in a mad rush." Resting my hand on a tree, I feel something distinctly unbarklike. It's a Hercules Beetle; a grotesque character right out of Star Wars with a sharp toothed black claw helmet face. Fortunately he's decided my hand is not worth eating. Courtenay laughs at my squeamishness.
"Sharon I hate to tell you, but 80 percent of the 1.1 million described animals on earth are insects. And more than a quarter of a million species are beetles. So say hello to your brother." I say goodbye to my brother and wade back in the river, now waist deep.
"You'll have to swim this next part," he grins. "It's over your head, just for a few minutes. Then there's a Big Surprise." This must be how Tarzan and Jane got started. A warm Jacuzzi, the river is perfumed by intoxicating eau de Earth. Birds and insects perform a soothing cantata. It's so delightful; who cares if an eight-foot snake drags me under?
A few laps, I'm knee-deep again, resting on a car-sized rock. There's my surprise: a four story white waterfall, crashing into a clear green pool. I laugh at all my silly rainforest nightmares. I'm Eve in the Garden of Eden. Nothing is going to devour my soggy carcass....
"Care for a dip?" Courtenay calls out, diving into the pool, surfacing under the waterfall for a heart throbbing massage. Indiana Jones enjoying Mother Nature's Spa.
MOUNTAIN BIKING THE RAINFOREST
"Today, we cycle to Trinidad's highest point in the Northern Range Forest Reserve," says Wendy Yawching. "Views from 1,950 feet are pretty spectacular." The petite founder/director of Wildways Caribbean Adventure Travel Ltd. is no stranger to adventure: she's trekked the Himalayas, Swiss Alps, and New Zealand's Southern Alps, not to mention that she is an avid diver, canoeist, and kayaker. Her partner Andrew Whitwell, also a global wild man, revs us for the challenge.
"Yeah the ride's kind of tough," laughs Andrew. "Four miles uphill....then five miles straight down. Watch your speed, don't fly off the cliff." Great news for a first time mountain biker, but Wendy coaches me on gear changing, making sure I don't crash to my death.
"Just enjoy the scenery," she encourages. "We're only fifteen miles east of Port of Spain. But it's a different galaxy out here." The rainforest by bike is just a blur of dense green impenetrable foliage. But after a few miles I'm seeing a dozen shades of green, dotted by yellow orchids and red heliconias.
"Did you know Mora hardwood trees take three hundred years to grow sixty feet?" Wendy quizzes. At the Mount Bleu lookout, our botany lesson continues. The panorama of plants includes pink Mountain cabbage, silvery leafed cecropia, clumps of 40-foot bamboo, feathery tree ferns, acres of cocoa trees. "The Latin name for cocoa, 'theobroma,' means food for the gods," Wendy says, handing out a chocolate snack. We stop to rest at a black and brown rock wall, covered in transparent white gauze.
"What's all this white stuff?" I ask. Wendy and Andy exchange grins. Looking closer, I see hundreds of palm sized tarantulas nestled in thick, cottony webs. A city of tarantulas waiting patiently for... whoever stops by.
Suddenly, biking five miles downhill along sheer cliffs sounds just fine.
PARTYING IN THE RAIN FOREST
An exhilarating hour later, we arrive in Brasso Seco, a village in Paria Springs, where Augustina Pacheco greets us. A dark-haired woman in a blue skirt and floral blouse, she proudly tours us through her exquisite garden of orange and grapefruit trees, red hibiscus, pink ginger lilies, magenta bougainvillea. Scraggy dogs with protruding ribs doze under every plant, watching me with one sleepy eye.
"I've just squeezed some fresh orange juice," Augustina invites me into the quiet wooden house. Ivory curtains are the front door, walls are bare except for a cross and one parrot painting, the plain wooden table is set with juice and cookies. Augustina shows me my bedroom for the night, cozy with a double bed, armoire and ceiling fan. Out the window are the rainforest mountains we've just biked. Augustina's soft-spoken hospitality is a warm welcome.
That night, Brasso Seco villagers serve a feast of stewed chicken in beans and rice at the Recreation Center. A mix of Spanish, French, African and East Indians, these folks know how to party.
"We are always happy to do what is nice for you," Pepe DeRamos serenades with his guitar, "we welcome you to Trinidad."
Although the Rec Center is just a concrete box with bare bulbs, everyone has a blast: women in flower dresses dance with abandon, scraggy dogs howl in the moonlight with delight. It's a unique experience to see how well 600 villagers share one church, one school, one recreation club, and plenty of contentment.
What a week: walking a rainforest river with Courtenay, mountain biking with Wendy and Andy. Wise guides who showed me Trinidad's Garden of Eden. Guess Adam and Eve had it pretty good after all.
© 2000 Sharon Lloyd Spence
When you go:
For hiking tours and information on homestay visits to Paria Springs contact Courtenay Rooks. #44 La Selva Road, Maraval, Trinidad
Telephone: 868-622-8826. Fax: 868-628-1525.
email: rooks@pariasprings.com web: www.pariasprings.com
For mountain biking and kayaking tours contact Wendy Yawching or Andy Whitwell, Directors, Wildways Caribbean Adventure Travel, 10 Idlewild Road, Knightsbridge, Cascade, Port of Spain Trinidad. Telephone/Fax: 868-623-7332.
email: wildways@trinidad.net web: www.wildways.org
For hiking, camping and photography tours contact Stephen Broadbridge, Caribbean Discovery Tours, 9B Fondes Amandes Road,
St. Anns, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Telephone/Fax: 868-624-7281.
web: www.tradepoint.tidco.co.tt/cdt
Trinidad Fast Facts:
Trinidad is 7 miles north of Venezuela, with a population of 1.25 million.
Capital city, Port of Spain.
"Just enjoy the scenery," she encourages. "We're only fifteen miles east of Port of Spain. But it's a different galaxy out here." The rainforest by bike is just a blur of dense green impenetrable foliage. But after a few miles I'm seeing a dozen shades of green, dotted by yellow orchids and red heliconias.
"Did you know Mora
hardwood trees take three hundred years to grow sixty feet?" Wendy quizzes. At the
Mount Bleu lookout, our botany lesson continues. The panorama of plants includes pink
Mountain cabbage, silvery leafed cecropia, clumps of 40-foot bamboo, feathery tree ferns,
acres of cocoa trees. "The Latin name for cocoa, 'theobroma,' means food for the
gods," Wendy says, handing out a chocolate snack. We stop to rest at a black and
brown rock wall, covered in transparent white gauze.
"What's all this white stuff?" I ask. Wendy and Andy exchange grins. Looking closer, I see hundreds of palm sized tarantulas nestled in thick, cottony webs. A city of tarantulas waiting patiently for... whoever stops by.
Suddenly, biking five miles downhill along sheer cliffs sounds just fine.
PARTYING IN THE RAIN FOREST
An exhilarating hour later, we arrive in Brasso Seco, a village in Paria Springs, where Augustina Pacheco greets us. A dark-haired woman in a blue skirt and floral blouse, she proudly tours us through her exquisite garden of orange and grapefruit trees, red hibiscus, pink ginger lilies, magenta bougainvillea. Scraggy dogs with protruding ribs doze under every plant, watching me with one sleepy eye.
"I've just squeezed some fresh orange juice," Augustina invites me into the quiet wooden house. Ivory curtains are the front door, walls are bare except for a cross and one parrot painting, the plain wooden table is set with juice and cookies. Augustina shows me my bedroom for the night, cozy with a double bed, armoire and ceiling fan. Out the window are the rainforest mountains we've just biked. Augustina's soft-spoken hospitality is a warm welcome.
That night, Brasso Seco villagers serve a feast of stewed chicken in beans and rice at the Recreation Center. A mix of Spanish, French, African and East Indians, these folks know how to party.
"We are always happy to do what is
nice for you," Pepe DeRamos serenades with his guitar, "we welcome you to
Trinidad."
Although the Rec Center is just a concrete box with bare bulbs, everyone has a blast: women in flower dresses dance with abandon, scraggy dogs howl in the moonlight with delight. It's a unique experience to see how well 600 villagers share one church, one school, one recreation club, and plenty of contentment.
What a week: walking a rainforest river with Courtenay, mountain biking with Wendy and
Andy. Wise guides who showed me Trinidad's Garden of Eden. Guess Adam and Eve had it
pretty good after all.
© 2000 Sharon Lloyd Spence
When you go:
For hiking tours and information on homestay visits to Paria Springs contact Courtenay
Rooks. #44 La Selva Road, Maraval, Trinidad
Telephone: 868-622-8826. Fax: 868-628-1525.
email: rooks@pariasprings.com web:
www.pariasprings.com
For mountain biking and kayaking tours contact Wendy Yawching or Andy Whitwell, Directors,
Wildways Caribbean Adventure Travel, 10 Idlewild Road, Knightsbridge, Cascade, Port of
Spain Trinidad. Telephone/Fax: 868-623-7332.
email: wildways@trinidad.net
web: www.wildways.org
For hiking, camping and photography tours contact Stephen Broadbridge, Caribbean Discovery
Tours, 9B Fondes Amandes Road,
St. Anns, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Telephone/Fax: 868-624-7281.
web: www.tradepoint.tidco.co.tt/cdt
Trinidad Fast Facts:
Trinidad is 7 miles north of Venezuela, with a population of 1.25 million.
Capital city, Port of Spain.