Millenium Golf

Golf really is 'a nice walk spoiled'.
The local Millenium course is quite beautiful.
On the course there are large areas of lotus flowers. There are also lots of lily pads. Lily pads mean lots of water....not good for my game.The two signs say 'Next Tee This Way' - they really do want to spoil your walk! My game sucked and I lost 6 golf balls but it was a lovely walk in Trindad.

B.

Canine Update

This pooch is named Danger. He belongs to friends of ours who have a place in Collins Bay. He watches over those that go for a swim.

These dogs are our security team at the office.
They remind us to close the gate to the parking lot otherwise they come in and crap all over the place.

B.

Chicken on De Way

If this truck full of chickens drove down the road in Canada, it would be frozen chicken pretty quickly. Here its half-cooked after a couple of hours on the road.

B.

Firemen on Parade

I was in Port of Spain when I saw bunch of firemen in full gear just walking down the street. I grabbed my camera out of the bag in the backseat and I dropped it. I took the picture anyways. I looked at the image and wondered why it was a little blurry......... This would explain why. When I dropped the camera, it landed right on the lens.

Luckily it was just the lens filter that broke.

B.

Lantern Festival

We went to a local celebration. Given the size of the island - when any kind of event comes up, you check it out.

It was the Lantern Festival and Chinese Que - what's a Que, you ask? It's short for Bar-B-Que (now you know).

Lots of lanterns hanging from the ceiling but then there were the ornate designed lanterns...

Farmers planting rice...

Dragons............

Monkeys......

Budha....

B.

Shut up and drive

Trinidad hasnt yet instituted no use of a phone will driving. But Digicel, a local communications company has an awareness campaign going on at the moment.



If there was a place where texting and driving is a really bad idea, it is here in Trinidad. You would end up driving into someone's back seat in a heartbeat if you arent paying attention.

The new government should have legislation in place by the end of the year.

B.

Maracas Road Block

About once a month we head up to Maracas Bay for a couple of hours at the beach. One Sunday, on our way home it started to rain - a classic rainy season storm. About 5 km from the beach we got stopped in a traffic jam. After about 15 minutes of not moving, I got out of the truck and walked up ahead. When I got to where the problem was, there were 8 guys all wielding cutlasses (what they call a machete here) chopping away at a tree that had fallen across the road.
For a few minutes, I helped pull debris out of the way but with all those guys whacking away with cutlasses, I figured I would step back.
Finally, a fire truck showed up to clear the tree away.
Here, I am thinking they would have a chainsaw. Nope. Three firemen starting chopping with their own cutlasses.

B.

Recycling

There is not a lot of recycling here in Trinidad but I did find one example.

This would a hospital bed now being used as a cart by a scrap collector.

B.

World Cup

The World Cup came to Trinidad this year. It was for U-17 Womens Soccer. Canada had a team competing. We went to their game against Brazil. The game was held in the Manny Ramjohn Stadium which is 5 minutes from my office in Marabella.

Mimi and some of our friends took the water taxi down from Port of Spain to San Fernando, where I met them. We went to Soong's Great Wall Restaurant for dinner (yes, chinese food) and then went to the game. They lost the match 3-0. Brazil was quite good. The celebrity in the stands was retired NHL'er Russ Courtnall. His daughter was playing for Canada.
That's her being carried off by her teammates at the end of the game.


B.

NAPA

NAPA is the National Academy for the Performing Arts here in Trinidad. We havent been in it yet. The building has been open for more than a year but the website for it is still 'under construction'.... so you cant find out what events may be scheduled inside it.

Too bad.

B.

Office with a view

Out the side windows of our office is the view of the Petrotrin Refinery. It is currently going through some upgrades. Hopefully the upgrades will reduce the amount of gas they are flaring. I count 8 flare stacks all burning off natural gas.

B.

Canadian Cricket

Cricket in the rainy season is subject to the weather. It is also the most popular sport here in Trinidad.
We tried to watch Canada play a cricket match here. They were here playing in a 20/20 cricket tournament. This match was against the Leeward Islands. A 20/20 cricket match can be played in ~ 3 hours instead of Test cricket which takes 5 days or something. Well, it wasn't raining when we got there but when it started, it never stopped. The locals are very patient when it comes to cricket. A deck of cards can come in handy. The match was cancelled.


B.

Scaffolding 101

Adjacent to our office there was some house painting going on. They had set up the scaffolding. I am pretty sure it is supposed to be parallel to the ground (and not parallel to the roof line) but I would be more concerned with someone opening the door on the right and having the whole thing come tumbling down. The painting was completed without incident.

B.

Peacock Moth

Along the wall of the campus of UTT... there are large signs showing off some of the local exotic flora and fauna of Trinidad. One of the signs shows off the Peacock Moth. It is about 4" across. Lo and behold we had one drop by our office and stayed on the window for most of the afternoon.

B.