Wednesday, 31 August 2011
HUGE thanks...
Friday, 29 July 2011
Our Adventure up the Marieanne River
We parked the cars, just before a rickety suspension bridge crossing, which looked rather daunting, and began our journey (our next adventure would entail crossing this bridge, eeeks). Leaving most things behind; taking only waterproof cameras and a small collection tub, for possible findings of cool and interesting creatures to show you guys! Chloe used this tub as a floating device, pushed up the back of her top. Sadly we did not find any cool creatures, or at least any we could catch ahahaha...But we did get lots of nice photos of nature (below).
There were 1-2 groups of others heading in the same direction, but we seemed to be the only ones that took the more ‘non-tourist like’ route, and jumped straight into the river, with others taking the trail alongside the river – it’s way more fun in the water!!! The water was very cool, and quite clear, and it is lots of fun alternating between walking, climbing and swimming... And the weather slowly perked up as we walked becoming a nice sunny day
At the start of the river, there was a little pile of rocks, about 40cm high; all stacked up on top of each other very nicely. So our team added their own little rock, for Chris then to knock the entire pile over, causing us all to believe he was now cursed ahahaha, which later turned out to be true, as he nearly lost his glasses after jumping off a huge rock.
It took us approx. 1-1.5 hours to walk up as much as the river as we could. As mentioned, on the way up the river, we alternated between walking and swimming as some parts were quite deep, there was one particular stretch which was really hard because of the strength of the current. We continued up before reaching a section, which for our team, was not accessible further than this point. However this point was beautiful, with lots of canopy cover, insects flying past, (e.g. dragonflies, damselflies, and beautiful Blue Morpho butterflies) water rushing down small waterfalls, which we all had a slide down (with a local advising us about a big hidden rock, beneath the water), and all the time the sun shining down from above. The little waterfall we reached, which the team last year had visited, had jumble of rocks on the right hand side to climb up so you could go down the waterfall which was worn by years of flow so it was as smooth as a slide. FUN!
We also found this amazing, very large, fallen tree hanging over the river. The minute we saw it, we knew it was a photo opportunity for the team. However, with Mhairi unable to get up onto the slippery log, she took the team photo (below). After the photo, one or two of us were a bit unsure about jumping from the log into the river, but with some encouragement, we all managed to jump off safely back into the water to continue onto our next fun bit; jumping from a really high rock, though not all of the team took part in this event ahahaha. The brave ones were Liam, Chloe, Martin and Chris (photos below).
Whilst in this little pool of water, and with team members jumping from every rock possible, we came across Trinidad’s largest tree-frog – The Gladiator tree-frog (Hyla boans). The frog was clinging onto the side of a rock, until we got too close, to which he swam off in the other direction (quite an impressive swimmer, as the river current was strong). Chris was happy to see this species, as he had not done so since being on the island. Last year, Gillian left the island with only managing to see some individuals from a distance, and her aim this year was to see more up close and personal, so from experience she didn’t want anyone leaving Trinidad without seeing this amazing frog (thankfully Gillian has now seen plenty of Hyla boans, due to her continuous excursions to Lopinot stream, to collect Cane toads for Becky’s project; Hyla boans are quite abundant in this area).
After a while liming (local word for hanging out), we decided to head back down the river, before the sun started going down (we didn’t want to be in the river when it was dark, due to water snakes and other creatures lurking, waiting for darkness to fall). On the way back, most of the team had fun skimming stones. Chris is confident he got the most skims, with an impressive 7, sadly for him, no one saw this and so we do question his skills ahahaha. Finally we reached the cars, soaked to our bones and extremely hungry = home time!!
As we drove back home, we passed Las Cuevas bay and so decided to stop for a dip in the sea and a small snack before diner. However, only 3 of us (Gillian, Chris and Marie) actually got in the sea, as the others were expressing that they were too cold for a swim in the warm sea - what, in this weather? Ahahaha, but I guess we had been in water for quite a while, and Trinidad can be windy at times...So after a short stop at Las Cuevas, we headed home for a well deserved rest. Sadly empty handed (last year we discovered some amazing caterpillars) but plenty of photos to remind us of our adventure (below).
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Our Return Adventure to Simla
Saturday, 16 July 2011
The Adventure up El Tucuche...By Chris
El Tucuche is Trinidad’s second highest mountain at 936 meters above sea level, a mere 5 meters smaller than El Cerro del Aripo (Trinidad’s highest mountain). The mountain is deceptively small in appearance; after all it’s smaller than Ben Lomond but what it lacks in height it makes up for in shape. The initial ascent is to climb the ridge of the mountain chain making up the Northern Mountain Range, it is very steep, covered with thick rainforest, then the trail levels off a bit and becomes a series of switchbacks until the summit of the mountain.
We didn’t know this beforehand and so when we awoke on the morning we were in high spirits and quite excitable despite how early it was (6am is not a student’s normal wake up time). Our trusty guide up the mountain was none other than PhD student Stevland Charles, who had accompanied us on numerous occasions beforehand and is a close friend of the group here in Trinidad. The group reached the foot of the mountain by about 7am and we prepared as per Stevland’s instructions; plenty of mosquito repellent and a quick safety lecture about Fer de Lance (watch where you place your feet).
The hike started easily enough with a pleasant walk through old coco plantations and over small rivers but soon the slope of the mountain began to take its toll and within 30 minutes or so I was panting and sweating buckets (which washed off the liberal dose of mosquito repellent I had put on). For what seemed like the whole day but which was really only 2 hours, we climbed the initial ridge of the mountain and I personally was ready to quit just as we reached the top of it.
Eventually we reached the ridge of the mountain (much to the relief of my thighs) and had a short break before tackling the second part of the climb. After feasting on chocolate, cookies and heavy doses of water we started onto the switchbacks, the first few were very gentle almost rejuvenating walks allowing us to continue catching our breath and properly view the surrounding forest without impediment. The forest was very beautiful and occasionally we could see through a break in the canopy towards Las Cuevas, our favourite Trinidadian beach (and where the members of the expedition who could not climb the mountain were ‘liming’). The switchbacks were interspersed with waterfalls running across them ranging from small dribbles down a rock face to large cascades (although it hadn’t rained the day before so even the large ones weren’t in full flow), it was at one of these waterfalls that we took a picture of the group looking tired but pleased with themselves.
Eventually the switchbacks became rather monotonous (with the exception of the one with a Fer de Lance on it) and a feeling of drudgery came over me which was not helped by the 20 minute rain which managed to soak through our clothes and waterproofs (maybe I just ‘hit the wall’). Every new switchback I would look up the mountain to see a wall of trees and looked down to see the same, so I began to feel that the mountain was never-ending, luckily just as this feeling began to take hold we broke out of the thick forest into elfin woodland. This was a confirmation that the end was in sight and true enough after another 5 minutes of walking we had reached the summit where, overcome by exhaustion and relief, we collapsed. The summit was wreathed in clouds when we eventually reached it but after resting for a few minutes the sun literally burst through the clouds, and the skies cleared to provide an exceptionally view of the north coast (Las Cuevas) and the central plains.
Slowly I began to feel the achievement we had all just gone through, we climbed El Tucuche!! Everyone else must have felt similar as we all began to bubble with excitement and euphoria, so we sat to a hearty lunch (it was only 12pm!) of sandwiches (prepared the previous night by the delightful Emma Sergeant and Chloe Rossi). Overcome with our achievement we wanted to commemorate the event by making a human pyramid on top of El Tucuche (human pyramids are now a recurring feature in our group excursions).
Drunk on our success we happily opted for a shortcut down the mountain trusting ourselves to Stevland’s experience, then we found out that Stevland wasn’t terribly great with the side trails off of the main trail. Within half an hour we were thoroughly lost, much to the enjoyment of Veronica Sisson, the trail which we had took as a shortcut eventually degraded to a slope which we had to slide down. There were some points where we seriously thought we were so lost we were going to die in the jungle, ahahahaha, but we managed to enjoy ourselves despite the situation.
Sliding down a muddy hill certainly helped as it created a childish glee and Liam Templeton was comical to watch as he had picked up a large stick which he was semi-successfully using as a rudder. I was determined not to slide down on my rear but within an hour that promise to myself had been so thoroughly broken I wondered why I made it in the first place. Eventually after three hours of sliding or falling down this mountain we emerged from the tree line, covered in mud and leaves, right in front of someone having a relaxing sit in their back garden. Truly it must have looked almost cartoonish (and looking back on it, it was comical to say the least) to see eight university students and one Trinidadian coming out of the forest and looking around like tourists.
Monday, 4 July 2011
Our Tamana Hill adventure...By Chris
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Our Adventure to Caroni Swamp...By Mhairi
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
My thoughts so far...by Martin
My thoughts so far...
The words which describe my thoughts about my experiences so far and my first time in Trinidad are: amazing, breathtaking, beautiful and exciting. Unfortunately it has been really hot, though I am starting to get used to the heat, (it can be exhausting) and the mosquitoes are quite annoying as well though I don’t think I am as badly bitten as some of the others.
From the moment we stepped off the plane at Piarco International airport and were consumed by the scorching sun and the dry air it felt like an adventure. I have been staying here in St Augustine, Trinidad for just over a week now and the things we have seen and done from observing and collecting eggs, tadpoles and different amphibians in streams and rivers to bring back to the lab, visiting Aripo Savannah to look for amphibians and reptiles, looking for water snakes and other reptiles in the murky waters and dense vegetation of Caroni Swamp at night time while on a boat, climbing up Tamana Hill only to then descend into the dark bat-infested caves where more things than bats lived and finally traversing along the beach at Fishing pond observing Leatherback turtles, have all been life-changing experiences.
But it hasn’t all just been work, we have had days off were we visited the beaches of Las Cuevas Bay and Columbus Bay, taking in the sun and scenery, as well as spending a night at Mike Rutherford’s house, a University of West Indies museum curator and fellow ex-Glasgow Uni student, where we had a pool party and enjoyed pizza.
I have enjoyed trying the local cuisine and experiencing the local culture and music such as Soca and Calypso. All in all working and living with fun and enthusiastic expedition members everyday makes the days fly in. What I look forward to for the rest of the expedition is visiting exciting and stunning places new and old, meeting more interesting individuals and continuing to learn and understand more about amphibians and reptiles and in general more about the natural wildlife of Trinidad.
Wishes from, Martin