Trinidad Vacation

Saturday/ Sunday

We arrived in Trinidad Saturday night after our 6 hour flight and Ellie did as well as can be expected for a 2 year old ;) . On Sunday we went to church with my parents and started to get a sense of the Caribbean culture I guess you could say. Everyone was very friendly and happy to come ask us questions as it was quite plain we were visitors (I'm pretty sure we were the only Caucasians in the congregation). Sunday afternoon was a little rainy but we drove over to a Hindu temple on the sea and a giant monkey statue.

Monday

 We started the day with a hike to Maracas Falls. Everything you would expect from the jungle was there, extreme humidity, mangoes & other unfamiliar fruit strewn about the ground, flowers, and all the sounds of the rain forest. I little less expected, we learned there are crabs that live on tropical mountains.

After the hike we drove straight to what I call 'the hummingbird house'. The man who owns the house, gives a sort of lecture on hummingbirds and allows you to walk through the gardens and property to observe. There were hundreds of hummingbirds there of all different species.

Monday evening Brett, my dad, & myself went on a boat tour of the Caroni Swamp. I liked seeing the four eyed fish, and the mangroves crawling with small crabs.

Tuesday/ Wednesday

Brett & I left Ellie with Grandma & Grandpa and took the 25 minute flight to Tobago. We got off the plane with just our backpacks and started walking. First, we walked to Pigeon Point Beach and spent a couple hours there relaxing and had some Kofta for lunch. After lunch we went on a glass bottom boat tour. This was one of my favorite things from this vacation. We were taken in the boat over Bucco Reef and allows to look at everything through the bottom of the boat, and then we got out of the boat and snorkeled for 20 minutes. I've never done anything like this and LOVED it! After snorkeling, the boat took us over to the Nylon Pool. They also call it the fountain of youth there. It's in the middle of the reef but only waist deep and the water is truly as clear as a chlorinated pool back home. The bottom of the 'pool' isn't sand, it's actually finely crushed coral so everyone encourages you to 'exfoliate' while you're there.

Pigeon Point Beach

Glass bottom boat over Bucco Reef

The Nylon Pool

After walking about 8 miles to save on cab fairs, and being in the sun all day Brett & I promptly collapsed at our hotel that evening. My birthday present was a 1 night stay at the all inclusive resort on Turtle Beach. We sipped virgin pina coladas, ate at the buffet, read books on the patio, and even got to watch a giant leather back turtle lay her eggs from a few feet away. It was heaven. 

Wednesday was a little bit of a let down. It was pouring rain so all flights to Trinidad were grounded; we sat in the tiny airport pretty much all day but at least we finished our books and got back that night.

Thursday

We got up and went to the Port of Spain zoo and afterwards went to the zip-line. While Brett, my dad & I went on the zip line; Ellie and my mom played together in a tree house & on the beach near the zip line. 

It's a little hard to tell, but she is laughing in these pictures, not crying.

Friday = Beach Day

We had been promising Ellie before we even left Temple that we would take her to the beach and we saved it for our last day in Trinidad. We went to Maracas Beach and had a blast. My only regret from the day is losing my sunglasses and hair tie to a particularly violent wave that sucked me under and made me do a few somersaults under water before I could get up. I think Ellie and the beach were made for each other; she spent all day playing in the waves and sand and we still had to drag her away crying for more.

  

Saturday

We got up early, said some sad goodbyes, and made the 13 hours of traveling back to temple. After a full week jam packed with fun we all feel a little like Ellie did in the airport.