Time has been marching steadily on – an endless round of doing some work/shopping/laundry during the day and having “Happy Hour” on the terrace outside the hotel in the evening – it’s a hard life!!
Chris finally managed to fit the new echo sounder (depth sounder) we had bought over from England but it was hard going as the cable runs at the back of 3 lockers so these needed to be emptied and refilled (there’s no space to leave much out!) to remove the old cable and emptied and refilled after putting the new one in. Of course, the lockers are quite small and always at really odd angles making everything far more exacting than it sounds. Still it’s now all in place and fingers crossed will work OK when we get back in the water.
He is now working on the rust on the deck and saloon hatch. When we left the boat in Cape Verdes our stanchions were bent by the fishing boats on either side of us as the hull flared out and the fenders used where not sufficient. This has meant that the paint at the bottom where they joined the deck cracked and of course has developed quite a lot of rust. One of the guys who helped us when were here before is helping with that while Chris gets on with the hatch.
To do this he has had to take the hatch off. Inevitably within 2 minutes of taking it off there was a tremendous downpour – probably the worst we’ve seen. Luckily he had had the sense to get some plastic ready to cover the gap but couldn’t stick it down as the deck was soaking wet in seconds. The rain was running off the coach roof and could get under the edge of the plastic but it was really only drips so not too bad. Even though the rain did not last that long it was so humid after that it did not dry enough to be sealed and sure enough it rained again overnight making a small puddle on the floor when we woke up.
I’ve been making myself fairly scarce as it was easier for him to work without me around and luckily Jesse James (the general arranger of all things for yotties) arranged some trips that interested me more than Chris so I felt happy to go off and leave him working!
The first trip was a multi-venue trip!
A minibus driven by Jesse with about 10 other yachties setoff at around 9.00 o’clock stopping on the way for “doubles” and 2 other local delicious snacks.
We're hoping to go on the “Taste of Trini” trip where Jesse takes us round the island tasting LOADS of local road foods so I’ll leave food part for now.
We're hoping to go on the “Taste of Trini” trip where Jesse takes us round the island tasting LOADS of local road foods so I’ll leave food part for now.
First, we went to visit the 85 feet tall statue of the Hindu god, Lord Hanuman, situated on the west coast about a third of the way down the island and the Temple in the Sea.
Hanuman is known as the best warrior among the Hindu gods since he protected the others from evil. Devotees pray to him for strength, courage and protection. The statue, consecrated in 2003, is the tallest in the Western hemisphere and second tallest in the world – the largest Hanuman murti outside India.
First, we went to visit the 85 feet tall statue of the Hindu god, Lord Hanuman, situated on the west coast about a third of the way down the island and the Temple in the Sea.
Hanuman is known as the best warrior among the Hindu gods since he protected the others from evil. Devotees pray to him for strength, courage and protection. The statue, consecrated in 2003, is the tallest in the Western hemisphere and second tallest in the world – the largest Hanuman murti outside India.
A few miles further on, we arrived at the Temple in the Sea.
The Temple at Waterloo in Carapichaima better known as the Temple in the Sea was built single-handed by Siewdass Sadhu.
After slavery was abolished many indentured labourers were brought over from India to work but there were no public temples.
(Interestingly, Jesse, who as well as organising everything loves to act as guide, is 5th generation East Indian in Trinidad and his forefathers were indentured labourers. They were offered work in Trinidad for 7 years and at the end of their period of work were either given land in Trinidad or a paid passage back to India. As they had travelled over here for a better life most chose to stay in Trinidad.)
The Temple at Waterloo in Carapichaima better known as the Temple in the Sea was built single-handed by Siewdass Sadhu.
After slavery was abolished many indentured labourers were brought over from India to work but there were no public temples.
(Interestingly, Jesse, who as well as organising everything loves to act as guide, is 5th generation East Indian in Trinidad and his forefathers were indentured labourers. They were offered work in Trinidad for 7 years and at the end of their period of work were either given land in Trinidad or a paid passage back to India. As they had travelled over here for a better life most chose to stay in Trinidad.)
Sadhu was a devote man and would save his wages to enable him to travel back to India on pilgrimage but after a while it became too expensive and Sadhu decided to create a holy place in Trinidad in the calm of the Gulf of Paria. He singlehandedly built a beautiful temple that became a centre for Hindus in Trinidad. However although the temple was on unused swamp land, with no commercial value, when the owner heard of it the ordered the temple to be demolished. Sadhu could not do this as he considered it a sin and was eventually sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined (approx. 2years wages!!) for trespassing.
As soon as he was released he returned to the site of his temple and started taking bricks down to the water’s edge – sometimes 2 buckets at a time hanging from the handlebars of his bike. Slowly but surely over 25 years a temple was built on no-man’s land - the sea.
As soon as he was released he returned to the site of his temple and started taking bricks down to the water’s edge – sometimes 2 buckets at a time hanging from the handlebars of his bike. Slowly but surely over 25 years a temple was built on no-man’s land - the sea.
The stories slightly vary here – in one account the temple was finished and many Hindus would visit on special occasions making it a focus for Hindus in Trinidad with Sadhu spending many hours there before he died in 1970. The area was then neglected and left to the care of the sea until 1994.
In another, in 1994, the government at the time helped finish the temple in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the coming of Indians to the country.
However both agree that in 1994 the temple was reconstructed, restoring it as a place of worship, with murtis of Lord Hanuman, Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva and Mother Durga adorned with flowers, a shrine and monument to the spirit of a remarkable man.
Eighteen months later, on December 10, 1995, the Siewdass Sadhu Shiv Mandir was consecrated, with Sadhu’s remaining family among the large crowds. In a sense, Siewdass Sadhu himself watched the festivities: for a handsome statue of him stands upon the shore.
All that just in the morning!!
In another, in 1994, the government at the time helped finish the temple in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the coming of Indians to the country.
However both agree that in 1994 the temple was reconstructed, restoring it as a place of worship, with murtis of Lord Hanuman, Lord Ganesh, Lord Shiva and Mother Durga adorned with flowers, a shrine and monument to the spirit of a remarkable man.
Eighteen months later, on December 10, 1995, the Siewdass Sadhu Shiv Mandir was consecrated, with Sadhu’s remaining family among the large crowds. In a sense, Siewdass Sadhu himself watched the festivities: for a handsome statue of him stands upon the shore.
All that just in the morning!!
From there, we travelled back towards Port of Spain and onto the northern mountainous region and the beautiful Maracus valley.
Here high up in the hills is “Yrette”; the Amerindian word for the ‘Place of the Hummingbird’ and home to Theo and Gloria Ferguson.
Here high up in the hills is “Yrette”; the Amerindian word for the ‘Place of the Hummingbird’ and home to Theo and Gloria Ferguson.
I am hoping to upload a video but at the mo its too big and takes too long to load so I'm working on it still - DONE IT!!!
Theo is an expert on hummingbirds and in his garden you can see 14 of the 18 species of hummingbirds there are in Trinidad. (Until last year it was thought there were only 17 but a species thought extinct, or at least no longer here, was seen and confirmed close by.) It was AMAZING!!! He had numerous sugar feeders hung along the balcony and under the eaves of his house and THOUSANDS –literally! – of hummingbirds were constantly flying in and out feeding. Also in the bushes around you could see them perched and resting or feeding off the flowers there. Theo started our time there talking about how it had all started; from his interest in photographing the birds, putting up the feeders, watching the birds with their morning coffee and wanting to share it until the time he persuaded his wife to open up to the public. He said that if it didn’t work they would stop - 9 years later they are still going! |
Gloria then served us lunch – a wonderful meal with soup, barbequed chicken, a delightful fish dish served with salad, rice and local vegetables. After digesting this with a cup of coffee Theo then gave a presentation (mostly with his brilliant photos!) showing all the different species of humming birds and we had great fun spotting all the ones we had seen. A short time to wander around take more photos etc and then we were back in the minibus and back home by about 6.00 o’clock.
What a wonderful day!
Amazing things to see, lovely people to travel with, new people to meet and really good food.
Amazing things to see, lovely people to travel with, new people to meet and really good food.