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.

B.

Short hike

We went for a hike on the weekend... It was a relatively short hike....just 45 minutes to our destination. I hadnt paid much attention to the sign at the road (I took the picture after we got back to the truck). I knew we were going through the Bamboo Cathedral. The Bamboo Cathedral is just 10 minutes off the road. We had been there before but we hadnt ventured up the trail beyond that. Along the way, this little critter fluttered by and landed just long enough to get his picture taken. We came up on the North Coast. There was this lookout point----actually a rest stop on this uphill hike for us elite athletes. Just another kilometer up the path we came around a corner and voila, there was...just what the sign said...the (satellite) tracking station. It hasnt been used in quite some time. We walked around for a bit. It's a cool spot. While were up there we noticed this guy on the top of the dish...

On the walk back down, he came up behind us riding his mountain bike. We had a nice chat. I gave him my business card - he wanted a picture of himself up on the dish. Easy walk - 45 minutes up and 20 minutes down....and a 3 beer lunch afterwards.

B.

New Year's Day Walk

With little ones at your New Year's Eve fete and two pregnant women (Kelli & Katie) there as well, you dont stay up too late - it meant we had a full New Year's day to enjoy time with everyone. We went for a nice long walk with the whole gang. The weather was perfect - no need for all-wheel drive on the strollers.

Jake with Kelli and Sienna..Devin & Katie with Rebecca and Cooper....
Fathers with daughters: Devin with Bex - she does love her pipe. Jake with Sienna...Rebecca and Sienna are great pals and hugs are popular. So are smiles...B.