Day 513 - Trinidad

Today was a pretty day. I managed to score a ticket on a tour to a bird sanctuary. I didn't realize it was a bird sanctuary until I got there! We drove in a small bus for a good hour. I am not so great at staying awake in a bus. I dozed off & on as we wound our way up a narrow mountain road. At one point, we slowed down to see the steep hillsides covered in a mesh/netting type thing. All along the netting grew a vine & some strange kind of plant that produced a green vegetable. It looked a little like an avocado, but wasn't. I couldn't imagine harvesting all the vegetables by hand on those steep hillsides!


Arriving at the Ava Wright sanctuary, I walked out onto the platform & there were OODLES of pretty birds. Hummingbirds, purple birds, green birds, yellow... I have never seen so many different colours in one place before! It was fantastic! There were also a few large lizards that weren't so cool, but luckily they kept their distance.


Our group took a walk through the rainforest & found several different 'hangouts' where different species of birds could be found. Naturally, I don't remember their names, but you can see the photos of them below. There was a 'bell bird' that sounded like a cowbell ringing whenever the bird would 'chirp'. It was loud & the sound would really travel! If I had only wrote down the names of the other birds... darn. 


Oh & there was one passenger who told me off. For using my flash. Yeah. I commented to him how wonderful the tour was & how beautiful the birds were. He asked me where I was from. I told him Canada. He said he figured I was from the Americas because I was using my flash. He carried on to quip that using a flash is 'taboo' in Europe & no serious Photographer would be caught dead using a flash for wildlife. I explained that the flash actually helps the colours 'pop' on the birds & that I don't normally use a flash for outdoor photography. WIthout it, the hummingbirds look flat & dull. With a flash, their colours come alive & they looks incredibly vibrant. He didn't agree with me & I figured maybe I couldn't teach this Old Dog a new trick, so I did my best to avoid him for the rest of the trip. I was happy with my shots!


When I got back to the terminal, it was nearly sailaway. I had a bit of loose ends to tie up. Tonight was the leaving night for Bronwyn & Leana. I had arranged their leaving gifts. Usually the team will pitch in $10 or so to buy the leaver a gift. Often it is something from the shops & not always something the leaver wants or has room for in the luggage. 


I put on my creative hat & decided to suss out a spa in South Africa that would be close to either girl & get a gift certificate for a massage once they were at home. After that, I created a leaving card that everyone could sign & wish them well on their way. Of course, we arranged for some champagne toasts in the cabin, Amarula (a South African liqueur) as well as some snack food for our little get together. We went for dinner in the mess, as it was Leana's favourite meal tonight. After dinner, we gathered in the cabin, sat around & had some laughs, chats & good times. Eddie brought us some special Philippino salad he'd made. It will be really strange to have them gone tomorrow night. They will be missed!


Tomorrow we're back to Barbados. I wonder what the little island of perfection will bring...


xxxxMaria

 This struck me funny. I don't often see an Indian headdress outside of Canada!

 The netting to hold up the vines/vegetables

 The steep hillsides were covered in them!

 Pretty orchid

 Real Cacao pod!

 Hummingbirds... and plenty of other birds

 Apparently this is a really rare bird to see. I was the only one who saw it!

 Scarlet capped or something or other woodpecker

Nelis 

 Bronwyn tries red for a minute

 Becky tries red for a minute

 Nelis gets in touch with his Bob Marley side

Leana goes Britney for a minute