These are the days when you feel far away....

Meet Kieran Joseph Henderson.

Kieran is our grandson, born today, Tuesday, May 29th at 11:26 am in Calgary.  He came into the world at a trim 7 lbs 7 oz.

His father Jake, mother Kelli and big sister, Sienna are all doing well as is his Gran (Mimi).

I celebrated by having bubbles with Kieran on the terrace here in Port of Spain. 

When asked what she thought of having a new baby brother....

Sienna Grace said 'More waffles please'.

I am blessed to share the same middle name as Kieran.  Such pride and such joy!

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Lunch with the GG

I was invited to a luncheon with the Canadian Governor General, the Right Honourable David Johnston.

The invitation came from the T&T Prime Minister....

It was pretty cool to be included.

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Signage

This sign as written says '10 km per per hour'. 

You get the point but no one drives that slow here.

B.

The commute

My commute to work is 75 minutes each way. I spend a lot of time on the highways and in traffic.  There are 1.3 million people in Trinidad and there are about 800,000 (registered) vehicles here. That is a lot of cars in a small place. 
There are speed limits here but they are rarely enforced. It has some downsides. There are some horrendous car wrecks here.  


This one was on the way home last week in 'rush' hour. 

There are public service messages along the roads but they regularly go unheeded.

This sign was 10 metres from the accident site.

B.

Flat Stanley visits Trinidad...again

A young lady from Calgary sent us a Flat Stanley. While he was here, we took him on a few adventures.   

Out to one of our rigs to spend time with the crew....

and to meet members of the security team.. 

To see the ferry that goes to Tobago....

Stanley went to a fete to see what the girls wear during Carnival...

 

 Up to Maracas Beach...

To meet the monkey that lives next door to our office...

And to enjoy a very popular meal here in Trinidad - KFC.
  

B.

Work

It is not all golf and photography here. I actually do some work...
We have been drilling exploration wells onshore here.

In one field, we name our wells after hummingbirds. Here we are drilling at Firecrown.   




 Here we are drilling at Green Hermit.....

B.

Golfing with the local fauna

I do drag my camera out to the golf course.

   

My pictures have been better than my golf game lately.... 

 The local animals do cut into my ball supply as I dont wander too close to the hazards when I lose a ball.

 We do see a fair number of caimans and they range in size.   

This guy (one of the bigger ones) hangs out in the pond between the 11th and 12th hole.

And then if you get a bit too close, they just turn and head back to the pond...

most of the time. 

B.

Leatherback turtle nesting at Grande Riviere

We went for an adventure this week. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive up around the northeast corner of Trinidad to Grande Riviere from our apartment just west of Port of Spain.
For a couple of months each spring, leatherback turtles come on shore to lay thier eggs.

There is an interpretive centre and then when it is dark, you head out onto the beach with your turtle watching permit, a guide and your red bulbed flashlight. 

The guide explains the process the turtles follow to dig the proper size hole, laying the eggs, covering them up and then make thier way back to the ocean.

They come under the cover of darkness to avoid the birds who will eat the eggs.

These pictures were taken at dawn when the last of the turtles are just finishing laying eggs before returning to the sea.    

These were the smaller of the turtles ~ 600 lbs.

Some were probably around 900 lbs.

They are impressive creatures.

B.

Art imitates life

This guy hangs on the wall at our apartment..........              

This poor guy got stuck in the mailbox at my office.

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