Paria Springs Trinidad and Tobago Adventures

Adventures in Parenting

Well today was a day where my children excelled at driving me insane.  It started within a minute of getting out of bed; I go to the bathroom and am sitting on the throne, which I did not realize was a public event until I had kids.  I have sang ABCs, corrected homework, recited poems, directed dramas all while taking a dump.  They wait until you cannot move to descend like vultures.  So while I am incapacitated my daughter, Gabby, rushes in, spins around, bends over to take off her clothes to go bathe and farts in my face; I actually felt the gaceous breeze it made on my face.  That was a wake up call.

The day went well other than usual insanity, then I get home and my son, CJ starts up.  He is leaning over into the front seat blocking my access to the passenger front door, so I ask; "CJ, can you please open that door".  "This door daddy?".  "Yes".  CJ leans over, unlocks the door then, locks it back.  "CJ, unlock the Door!".  "This door?"  I stare at him harshly, he gets in the back and locks the back door.  "CJ, UNLOCK, the front DOOR!"  He locks the other back door.  I unlock the back door, grab him by the foot, pull him along the seat and glare at him two inches from his eyes, "Will you just open the front door!"  I go inside to put some stuff down and Gabby shouts to me, "Daddy now he has locked all the doors".  Angry now I march back, open the doors and put CJ in punishment.  I ask him why he is in punishment and he has NO CLUE!  I could see him looking at me like Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes, CJ is obviously on planet Zork battling space aliens.

Within the next hour he goes through a pantomime of misbehaviour, crowned with:  I send him to wash his hands for dinner, wich he does well as reported by Gabby, then comes to the kitchen where I am serving his dinner and he stands behind me.  I turn to find CJ shoulder deep into the garbage bag full of icky, stinky stuff that smells fairly putrid from left overs that was in the fridge for over two weeks.  "CJ WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"  "I am playing Daddy."  He says quite innocently.  Later my wife questioned him about it and he seemed to think there was no problem playing in the garbage.

This is where I fully agree with Bill Cosby; they are brain damaged!

Crayfish (Crawdads)

Recently I have taken several photos of crayfish feeding on the dead skin on my feet and legs.  For some reason my feet seem to be entirely attractive and delicious to crayfish, kind of like lobster to humans.  One actually swam past two people (thats four feet) to get to my feet.  Not sure what that means, either my feet are really stinky or I have lots of dead skin. My theory its because I walk around with bear feet quite a lot, so I have lots of dead skin. 

I can tell you that it took quite an effort to leave my feet for these big suckers to bite on.  First they tickle, then the bite hard!!! 

Current News

Weather: Just to let all concerned know that so far while the dry season in Trinidad and Tobago has been mostly very dry we have had fairly heavy showers around the full and new moons.  This has kept things just wet enough to keep away the forest fires that have ravaged us in recent dry seasons.  I hope this continues until the wet season starts so we have a respite of the fires this year, we certainly need it.  This sunset is of Caroni yesterday

Mountain biking:  On Sunday 22nd April Trailing Edge will stage its first mountain biking race this year.  Its is on the Cuesa River course in Tucker Valley, Chaguaramas with the start at Saman Park.  For more info contact Wayne Filmalter wabak@tstt.net.tt

On Saturday 5th May I will be leading a clearing of the trail from Bancal Trace in Caurita to the Rest Hut on the El Tucuche trail and onto the La Fillette / Las Cuevas pass.  If you wish to help, and I am begging all to lend a hand, please email me at rooks@pariaspring.com or call 620-8240.  This is a great chance to give back to the development of mountain biking and ecotourism in Trinidad while riding or running a fantastic trail.

REI Adventures: I am busy this week with an REI Adventures tour, so call me if you need me.

Birds: Had a great two days of birding with Monica and Tony Peckham Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday we had a Ruby Topaz flashing us with red and yellow and about 30 Red bellied Macaws at Cumuto.  Friday we did dawn at Roussillac Swamp and had great views of Crimson crested Woodpeckers, Streaked headed Woodcreepers, Black crested Ant-shrikes, and a pair of male Green throated Mangos (Humming Birds) doing battle right infront of us.  Then the victor started to feed near us and when he hit the light the colours were unbelieveably bright.  That afternoon we had lots feeding in the mudflats including these Black tailed Skimmers.  The Scarlet Ibis in Caroni were fantastic as usual but it was noticeable that many were starting to head to the nesting area for the annual nesting season which starts about now.  They will return to their roost about November. 

Red bellied Macaws

This Tuesday I had a birding tour to the Aripo Savannas, it was a wet and overcast morning with occasional showers.  Birding started well with wonderful sightings of Violaceous Euphonia, Blue Dacnis, Tropical Parula, Bananaquit, Long billed Gnatwren, White bearded Manakin, Bay headed, Turquoise, Blue Grey, and Palm Tanagers among others, all feeding on the fruit of a ficus tree.

As I drove the gravel road I suddenly heard the raucous and distinctive calls of Red bellied Macaws near by, then a large flock flew  right in front of us.  So I stopped and saw the largest flock of macaws I have seen in a long time.  I counted over 60 in ove tree.  I estimate there were well over 200 birds in all.  We spent the morning enjoying them and many other birds in the area. 

Gorgeous Adventures with Courtenay

I have rescently had the pleasure of hiking Guanapo Gorge a couple times.  Its a great adventure starting with a rainforest hike, then we swim, hike and climb through the gorge.  Last time I cleared a hole through a large blockage of trees and and debris so its a lot of fun now.   The first hike I took Poly of Rough Guides with the wet boobs and orange top trying not to get wet in the "porn pool".  The second I had Catharine Livingston of National Geographic Adventure and "Joe" along, all had a great time.

Some Carnival 2007 Photos

Hi All, Courtenay Rooks here again.  This time I have a carnival Adventure, here are some photos I took this Carnival.  The first is a section leader of a band, the a part of Exodus Steel Orchestra showing bass pans, locally we call it steel pan, not steel drums.  Though steel drums is correct it will identify you as a foreigner.  The Devil is one of our traditional characters, this guy is completely oiled out in a mixture of black paint and oil, they also do red.  Often you find devils breathing fire and mixing with bats, of course there are devil bats.  This is strakly contrasted by the girls in the bikinis, feathers and beads. 

Trinidad's Amazing Nature

This time of year I am very busy with tours and one of my major joys of these tours is the sheer variety that Paria Springs offers.  This means that I can spend a couple days birding, then kayaking, followed by hiking, mountain biking and so on.  In the last couple of days I have kayaked in Blanchisseuse and to Gasparee Cave, by boat and car to Caroni Swamp where we were birding, more birding in Oropuche, Roussillac and Nariva Swamps, hiked Mon Bleu, Petty Marianne Waterfall and Tamana Cave and so much more.  All enjoyed in the company of various ecotourists on tour with me.  Here are some interesting tit bits along the way.

On Jan 29 I kayaked with Michael and Cindy Murray and Robert Coats, who is updating the Rough Guide to Trinidad and Tobago, to Gasparee Cave.  On the hike to the cave Elwin, the CDA guide, mentioned that the island gets some large centipedes, the words had hardly come out his mouth when a foot long centipede started strolling across the path.  I dropped everything (literally) and rushed over to photograph it.  I got some great photos of it body and head but completely forgot to get close ups of the tail, ah well.

In the cave I practiced with the night time mode on my camera and got some great shots including one of Cindy Murray posing for me in front the cenote.  Of course in night mode the camera takes about 20 seconds for each shot, so Cindy had to stay still but it does make the cave look brighter than it is brining out the color of the water.

Feb 1st I did a tour with two wonderful British (also somewhat Indian) ladies, Sue and Judith, to Plum Mitan for curry lunch then to Tamana Cave for the bats.  We had a great morning at the Aripo Livestock station where we had wonderful views of Red breasted Blackbirds, Orange Fronted Yellow Finches and Savanna Hawks (I have a theory that the length of bird names are inversely proportionate to its size, the smallest birds get the longest names.  On the way to Plum Mitan we stopped at Brigand Hill where we had fantastic views on Nariva swamp, we could also the Northern, Central and Southern Ranges, which is the length of Trinidad.  Once from Mon Bleu I could see Grenada, Trinidad's north, east and west coasts, the Northern, Central and Southern Ranges, I just could not see the Serpents Mouth. 

After a delicious "Bus-up-shot" we drove to Tamana, on the way we stopped at a flock of Yellow rumped Caciques that were nesting in a mango tree right next to the road.  The females were still building nests while the males were doing battle for who would be the alpha male.  So it was very noisy and active.  It was a true joy to see, especially since their calls include rattles, hisses, melodious songs, pops and whistles, all while fluffing out their feathers and wiggling the tails and wings; really very hilarious. 

We then headed to the trail head for the hike to the cave.  Since it had been drying up a bit recently the trail was not too slippery.  At the entrance of the cave I saw one of my favorite lizards, well really its a gecko called gonotodes ceciliae (it has no common name) and is very rare because it habitat it limited to cave entrances and other places near pitch darkness.  The males (photographed) are such magnificent combination of red, brown, green, yellow and black, if I was a female gecko I would dig him.  Enlarge the photo and look at the details.  In the cave it was the usual electrifying blend of bats, their ever deepening shit, cockroaches, other flying and crawling things and a smell far superior to the effect of smelling salts.  And the evenings end was the bats exiting the cave, always an exhilirating experience.  In this photo I count 26 bats, see if I am worng.

Happy Caiman

Now this is one very very happy Caiman.  

Mon Bleu Forgetfulness

My latest adventure was one where my constant forgetfulness plagued me.  It all started on Friday 19th January when I hiked Mon Bleu with Roger Goldsmith and his wife; two Brit clients.  The hike started wonderfully , on the way to the summit we saw Orange billed Nightingale Thrush, Yellow Legged Thrush, White Throated Spadebill and Speckled Tanager, we all took lots of photos while I chatted about the natural history of the habitat, which moves from Lower Montane Rain Forest into Upper Montane Rainforest with its varieties of palms, tall tree ferns, massive epiphytic anthuriums all heavily covered with mosses and ferns.  The hike went very well until about 3/4 the way to the summit when the heavens opened up and it poured cats, dogs, frogs, cows and other random animals.  We were soaked very quickly.  At the summit we just ate a quick bite and turned right around and hiked out in half the time with little conversation.  The basic idea was GET OUT THE FREAKIN RAIN!!!   

When dropping Roger off at Rosa's, a host home in Brasso Seco I realized that I forgot my "brand new top-of-the-line Garmin GPS which can actually get great reception below a heavy rain forest canopy" at Mon Bleu's summit.  I decided to hike back right then, but God and as importantly my wife were against doing that as surely dark would come while on the trail.  Those who know me will know Lizy would not be happy about me going alone in the forest at night.

So Saturday I awoke at 3:30am to hear the rain pouring down AGAIN!  Cussin blue murder to think I have to hit the forest at 5am in cold rain, I then realize that its just a busted pipe!  Phew!  So I drive out to Mon Bleu and start hiking at 5:30am and the clouds are a thick soup with channa and pumpkin so I have to go slow as my head lamp can only show about 5 feet in front of me.  But again for those who have followed my adventures you know that's PLENTY!  My deal gets worse as I take my first drink of whats in my hydration pack.  It has yesterday's freshly made lemon juice mixed with today's green and red gatorade with names like icy zest.  As I suck I realize that what I have in reality is yesterday's now turning to alcohol lemon juice mixed with unidentifiable gatorades; fairly disgusting.  No chance at returning now, so I suck on it and squinge my face.   

The bonus came as dawn started to break I turned off the light and saw an amazing sight of the early light breaking through forest's dancing leaves and heavy trucks piercing clouds with Ent like fashion; it gave a real sense of primordial evolutionary soup.  Just breath taking.  I had to force myself to get back to my mission and hit the summit in 50 minutes, found the GPS exactly where I knew its was, then turned right around and hit the trail back. 

I ran out in the dawn's ever brightening light while getting very wet from dew soaked leaves and moss covered trunks.  It took just 40 minutes, a few cuts, bruises and one stab of an errant shard of a broken branch into my index finger that I could feel every irregular part of as I extracted it.  Back at the van I chatted with some dawn birders and bathed in bottle water and hit Asa Wright at 8am to collect a couple for a birding tour.

More Birding with Ken

On Saturday I arrived at Pax to hear Ken had got great shots of White tailed Trogon and Tufted Cocquet right from his window.  We headed out to South West Trinidad for a start at Roussillac Swamp, this started with a slog through wet Razor (Saw) Grass and very tangled vines.  Once in the mangrove area the birds were quiet but about, using Pigmy Owl calls we attracted some birds in and chased them sloshing about in above the ancle mud, but nothing would sit still for more than a moment making filming very frustrating.  Since it is the end of the riany sesaon and the last two days did have serious showers the mud was not only deep but very soft and sticky.   

After about an hour we decided to throw in the towel, but as we are leaving a humming bird flys over and lands not too far away.  Its a Green throated Mango!  This bird is rarely seen and is only a resident of certain mangroves.  Fortunately it sits for 5 minutes, flys away and sits near by for another 5 minutes, so we chase it around.  The we get Streaked headed Woodcreeper and Prothronotory Warbler, my favorite Warbler.

Green Throated Mango

We do the razor grass dance again, clean mud off and on the drive a pair of Safron Finches drop in on the side of the road, so we jump out to film them, but after only a couple seconds of flim they fly off.  We look for them and never find them but in the persuit we find Yellow Oriole, Barred Antshrike calling incessantly and many others.                                 Barred Antshrike raising its Crest at me

We then hit the Sudama steps on the Oropuche River we very quickly find Spotted Tody Flycatcher, which is another favorite of mine, but only get a couple seconds.                        

So we spend the afternoon pursuing the Toddys up the banks of the river and after many tries we get great photage.  While chasing the Todys we find Red breasted blackbird, Green Kingfisher, Greater Anis, Jacanas, Long winged Harrier, and lots more.

                                                                

                                                                                                                                        Yellow Oriole

For the days final act we hit the mudflats by Bellair Laromain.  Here we spend the afternoon filming 5 Scarlet Ibis near to us feeding for crabs, shripm and worms on the mud.  In all there were about Ibises among                         

Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Gulls, Pelicans, Herons, Royal Terns, an Ospery, a Comorant eating a large catfish.