Election update

The ruling party, the PNM was defeated by the People's Partnership, a coalition of the opposition parties, led by the leader of the UNC party who will become the first female PM in Trinidad & Tobago's history. We will see what the future brings.....

B.

End of the road

I drove out past Maracas Beach and just kept driving along the North Coast Road that turns into Paria Main Rd......until the road ran out of road.
It is a pretty (and windy) drive. You drive through small communities along the coast and through bamboo 'forests'. It is a long way from the 8 ft long bamboo 'poles' we used to set up spectator fence at Lake Louise. At the end of the road, there is one of two spring bridges in Trinidad. It crosses the Marianne River. You can continue past the bridge on a hike.

On the drive back through Blanchisseuese (french for 'washer woman'), there is fisherman's depot. The fishermen had landed their boats for the day. Ok, the pink boat was still out there. This is a very lush country (especially in the rainy season), things will grow anywhere.

B.

The TwiLite in it's twilight

Near my office in Marabella are the remnants of the TwiLite Drive In. I have no idea how long ago it showed its last movie. I am amazed that the large parking area hasnt been developed. A grass fire went through the area a month ago. What it did was expose what was in the parking area and in the last couple of weeks, someone has recovered/recycled all the posts that held the speakers. That would have been a lot of metal.
You can still see the left upright covered in vines that held the screen still standing but the rainy season lush growth it is quickly reclaiming the Twilite. B.

Election Fever

Election fever here is an understatement!
On the drive back to the apartment today, I was stuck in a traffic jam for an hour. The crowds were heading to political rallies. In the last month there has been an assault of speeches, newspaper articles & ads and countless election promises...

There are lots of big signs.... Most of the ads on the radio are political messages and the sound trucks drive through neighborhoods all day long playing speeches and political party songs....

The opposition has lots to say about the current ruling party (and vice versa).

The billboard signs were relatively safe but anything closer to the ground was subject to being torn down or destroyed. This sign near our office is actually protected with razor wire after it had been torn down twice.

The $2MM flag is quite something and has been a lightning rod of ridicule against the government. It is located at the Hasely Crawford Stadium (and I believe cost the Minister of Sport his job).

Election day is this Monday and yes, when you vote they dip your finger in dye so you don't vote twice.

B.

Bits and BOP's

Well , what are we doing in Trinidad? We are exploring for oil and/or gas.

After being here just 5 months, we have just started our 2010 drilling campaign. In the first field, we have named our wells after hummingbirds.

Our first well is called Firecrown. There has been a lot of talk about BOP's given the unfortunate BP blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. BOP's are Blowout Preventers. They are used to control a release from the well.
Here it the one we have installed under the rig floor.

Here it is removed from the rig.
It is made up of 3 major closing components and on the rig we are using, it stands about 11 feet high. Note the reason it has been removed is that we have changed the size of equipment we are using as we go deeper so the associated BOP need to be changed out as well.

Our operations continue 24/7 with crews on rotation. We are entering the rainy season here but it wont stop our activity - things might get muddy but they wont stop.

Drill bits come in many sizes and a number of designs. Depending on the diameter of hole we want to drill or the type of rock we encounter that will decide which kind of bit we use. Here are some of the ones in our inventory.....

Drill pipe racked waiting to be used as we drill deeper....

We have a ways to go yet on this well but things are going well so far.

B.

Day at the beach

We went to Maracas Beach today.
The rainy season officially started on Friday so it was no surprise that we got rained on at the beach today.

Mimi was well protected during the first rainshower.
Later on with each short rain shower, we would scurry to a tent next to one of the Bake & Shark vendors. The rent on staying dry under the tent was that we had to buy a beer.....such a good deal.

Another good deal was the cotton candy being sold on the beach. Followed closely by the ice cream vendor.

Beers at the beach are a popular item.

So is littering.

B.