Definitely Out Of Shape

Today we took a 4 x 4 jeep safari around the island.The driver, Fabio, used old plantation roads to get us to a high overlook where we could see Pigeon Point and The Sisters, a large outcropping of volcanic rocks jutting from the ocean. From there, we went further into the interior where the driving got even more rough and stopped in a shady spot to prepare for what the lady at the orientation described as a leisurely walk into a lovely waterfall. The walk took about 30 minutes, wandered along the Courland River and finally came to the falls. Fabio apologized for the lack of water, this being the dry season. The Highland Falls were pretty enough but the effort I had to expel for that walk was almost too much for me. By the time we returned to the jeep, I was pretty sore. We had a light lunch of coconut bread with cheese and a freshly picked ripe mango Fabio had gathered along the way. He also served us a fruit juice mixture which didn’t set well on my stomach. Back in the jeep, the roads smoothed out for a bit and we traveled through tiny hamlets with names like Arnos Vale, Golden Lane and Black Rock. These villages are perched on the sides of steep hills and are a mixture of well manicured homes and one room shanties. From time to time we would drive through light rain showers, just enough to dampen everything and raise the humidity. As we traveled, there were large numbers of chickens and dogs wandering about. We even came across a few cattle and goats wandering the roads. Back onto the old plantation roads, we headed towards the Hillsborough Dam for a short walk into the reservoir. The walk was no more than 10 minutes along the southern edge of the Tobago Forest Reserve but I chose to stay in the jeep. Carl came back with a photo or two of some of the local cayman that hang out there but the waterfall at the Hillsborough Dam was dry. The last stop on our bumpy tour was an old sugar mill. Although the sugar industry relied heavily upon slavery, the history of the trade was interesting none the less. Fabio gave a pretty good demonstration of the process and then took his machete and hacked into a fallen rubber tree. The liquid white latex was used to seal the barrels before they were loaded on the ships headed for England or Europe. Then it was a twenty minute ride back to Sandy Point where both Carl and I noticed a pretty good sunburn acquired through the haze of the day as well as more than a few aching muscles.

Eco Dollars At Work

Last night , we did something extraordinary. Sadly, because of the nature of the event, I have but one picture to show for the experience. We went, with a nature guide to the beach where the Leatherback Turtles come out of the ocean and lay their eggs almost every night between April and June. We were instructed to keep all flash off when taking photos because the lights would disorient them. It was amazing to see this huge animal dig a 3 foot deep hole in the sand with it’s flippers. I wish they had given us all infrared headlamps like the biologist was wearing so we could have seen more clearly how she deposited anywhere from 80 to 200 eggs into this hole and then spent a huge amount of energy to fill it back in and disguise the site. She will repeat this 2 to 2 ½ hour ordeal every 10 days for two months and then will head back out to sea. It was amazing to discover the turtle knows just how much pressure to put on the sand, enough to break the bones of a grown man’s hand, to maintain the proper incubation temperature inside the nest. The guide told us if the eggs hatch during the day, the half dollar sized youngsters will be all males while the females will hatch out at night. I do have to comment on the driving skills of these island maniacs. They are on par with the cabbies of Cairo, all crazed maniacs controlling a ton of steel, beeping their horns to let people know they were passing, shifting, talking on the cell and explaining bits of information to his passengers at the same time. The only difference is these guys did use their headlights whereas the drivers in Cairo do not.

Arrival In Paradise

After more than 12 hours of travel yesterday, we awoke to a virtual paradise but even in paradise, there are “snakes”. You can find them in any number of places. For instance, everything in paradise comes with a cost. Your “knowledgeable guides can direct you for ONLY ### or you can enjoy our sumptuous buffet for ONLY ### and then there is my personal favorite, the heat. Yes, I know I’m only 11 degrees above the equator and it’s supposed to be hot so what am I doing in Paradise? And after the hustle and bustle of “got to check in no later than and get through security without any alarms and make sure you make this flight or arrive at the gate in plenty of time, then you arrive in the island which definitely runs on it’s own time. The case in point was made at the orientation breakfast this morning. Elvira, the activities director, tells us of African Drummers who will be here tonight at 7:00 but to come down at 8:30 and they will be ready to play then. Another example is the sauna. If you want to use it at 7:00 call the desk and allow time for them to turn it on and then allow 15 more minutes for the sauna to heat up. SO, I ask you, if the temperature is 95 and you are sweating by just opening your front door, why would you want to sweat some more in the sauna? Our unit is lovely and we have two outside patios to dine on. The main patio over looks a courtyard where beautiful flowering trees abound even though the management tell us that Tobago hasn’t had rain in three months and are in a “drought condition”. We have a garden villa but, if you stand in the triangular shaped dormer in the master bedroom, you can see the ocean from there.

"Leaving On A Jet Plane"

To paraphrase Peter, Paul and Mary, " All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go..." Tomorrow is the big day. We head for Boston by way of Concord to catch the bus. We'll stay one night in the big city of Boston ( no slander intended here. Whitefield is a population of 2,500 in the summer, 1,000 in the winter if you count dogs ) and then catch a 5:30AM plane out of Logan bound for the beautiful and sometimes very humid island of Tobago. It's only 11 degrees above the equator so I have packed my 300+ sunblock and every piece of clothing I can find that will just barely keep me covered and not once ounce of thread more than I need. Tobago is a deeply religious island and topless even if I was prone to that sort of thing IS NOT AN OPTION. We'll spend a wonderful week there, hunting for waterfalls, sunrises and sets and anything else that attracts my camera lens. That's the idea behind going there. And if you believe that one, I have some swamp land in FL I will sell you cheap. The truth of the matter is, it's a beautiful tropical paradise with bath water warm oceans to swim in, gorgeous scenery and an exchange rate to die for. One US dollar will get you $6.00 Tobagon. This is a place where gas is about $1.35 per gallon and you can buy a beer at a hotel bar for about $1.28. Of course the people who serve you that beer make about $80.00 per week. And Paradise wouldn't be worth going to if there wasn't some risk involved. They drive on the left, on roads that would make our cars groan and there is a very real threat of Malaria and Dengue Fever so along with the super sunblock, they recommend a bug repellent on steroids. One last thing about "Paradise", they let you in with no trouble at all, stay as long as you like but you must show a return ticket and when you leave you must pay a departure fee. In this case, its TT100 or about $16.00 US. I plan on posting every day with a new and even more beautiful photo than the last, but truthfully, I haven't a clue if they have internet there so I will post blogs when I can and date them when i wrote them and not when they actually got posted. We'll see you all at the end of May in North Conway for our first show of the season. It's going to be a good one, I can just tell.

Suitcases Dusted Off

With our departure on May 6th just around the corner, I felt compelled to give everyone in the house the illusion, at least, of my organizational and packing skills. The truth is, I am pretty near ready. I only have to charge all the batteries for my camera, pack the tripod and chargers, get the medications from the pharmacy, haul out the shorts, tee shirts and bathing suits, make sure our sneakers and sandals are in good order, pull together the laptop and card reader, make sure my husband's blazer, tie and my dress are clean, decide which earrings are going, remember to put any liquids and creams over a couple of ounces in the checked luggage, decide what goes in the carry on and last but not least, grab the passports and directions to the Wolf Sanctuary. Now, to some people, it may seem like a lot left to do, but the truth is, the suitcase is in the bedroom and every time I think of something that will be needed, I grab it and toss it in. We'll be a week in Tobago, a week in Florida and 4 days at sea. I plan on having quite a few photos of waterfalls, rain forests, sunrises and sets from Tobago. I am really hoping the wolves will cooperate in Naples, FL and all I really care about on the cruise is that my drinks are cold and my food is hot. I will be flexible with everything else. I do expect my yard to be in a much more photogenic condition when I return. For now, I have to be satisfied with another nice image of grape hyacinth.

The Greening Of ..., Well, Everything!

I just had to get out of the house this afternoon. The sun was coming through the windows so strongly, I felt compelled to grab my camera and go take pictures. It was a shock to find out the sunshine was not as strong as it seemed. And the wind was no gentle fan either. Anyway, I started at one corner of my yard and wandered about for a worthwhile subject to "focus" on. Imagine my surprise when I realized the weeds are actually much more advanced in my husband's gardens than any of the spring blossoms he has placed there. Over in one corner of the yard is a healthy patch of dandelion greens, in another a rather large lambs tongue has popped through the surface. The leaves on the wild berry brambles are looking fine and even the Poplar trees are sending off their first seed strands. The slope of weed filled expanse we call a lawn is fairly thick, with all sorts of wild grasses, some of which, you might even consider actual grass. In all of this observation, I found just this, a couple of lonely little grape hyacinths and a rather sparsely blooming forsythia bush which is probably older than my grandson. The grandson is doing better, trust me. No where could I find my beautiful tulips, or the countless daffodils, paper narcissus and lily of the valley. Everywhere I looked, the yard was green and even though all those long winter months I longed for things to be green, now I wish for there to be other colors, lots of brilliant reds, blues, yellows, pinks, and purples. All this proves is two things. We, as humans, are never satisfied and always want more than we have and the last is that we are never happy with just sitting back and living in the moment. I know this because here I am finally ready to sit back and smell the roses and there isn't a single blooming rose out there..... YET!

Didn't Think It Through

I was talking with a gentleman, on the phone, a couple of days ago and he asked about my web site. I proceeded to tell him how to access it so he could look through the gallery of images I have for sale. I'm not sure if it was my early morning huskiness or a bad connection but the man wasn't sure what I was say so I proceeded to spell out the words, P-H-O- and so on. By the time I got to the second part after the very important hyphen instead of an underscore, well we were both confused. I really didn't think through the spelling of photo-sensitivity. It's a hand full of i's and t's, all needing to be dotted and crossed. I was more concerned with choosing a company name that told people what I did and how I felt about the environment. He and I eventually got it all straight and I hope he enjoyed looking through the site. And, just so there are no twisted letters, here's the link in case you, too, would like to check out the web site: http://www.photo-sensitivity.com/ Oh, BTW, we're working on a trip to the island of Tobago in May. Can't wait to get to some place warm and green. The view from my window is muddy and brown with shades of deep puddles....