Sunday 1 June 2008

Evening glory

The sight of the sun setting on the South American mainland never fails to amaze me. The mountains in the background are not Trinidad, but Venezuela. Less than seven miles away. It's surprising that there is not more movement between the two countries but language barriers persist.
There are several small islands that hug the northern peninsula of Trinidad and each of these islands has a distinct history. Our family has an island home on Monos.
This pirogue (local name for these solid fishing boats) was bustling on its way when we passed each other.

Just off the tip of Gasparee, one of the largest of these off shore islands, we were lucky to see the wild dolphins that are so common in our waters.

This was a particularly big pod and they frolicked (they really do frolic, because that's not a word I use lightly) around for a long time. They love to run with the bow of the boat so all the children hang over the edge to watch these magnificent creatures criss cross as they run alongside and under the boat. They often travel in pairs and sometimes we are lucky enough to see a baby. I don't presume the benevolence of dolphins because they are wild animals and interact according to the rules of their pack. I will never underestimate their intelligence but see no reason to impose my Hollywood "Flipper" assumptions on them.


3 comments:

Stuart Morris said...

Wow, very nice. I spent a glorious weekend at Scotland Bay once a long time ago, and fished several times at Chaguaramas, but never saw dolphins. Thanks.

Barbara said...

What a warm feeling to see the sun again.... We have had a lot of rain the last few days, so I need some sunshine now. Everytime I visit your blog a lot of wonderful colours are welcoming me. You take amazing pictures of all the exotic plants (at least they are it for me!), beautiful landscapes and people. It's always a pleasure to return to your blog. Thank you for all the information you give!
Have a nice weekend,
Barbara

Millie said...

Sharon I'm so glad I found your blog - these pictures are wonderful & your life in T&T looks amazing! I'll definitely be back to read more. I've tagged you today - details are on my Blog page. Please don't feel obligated to participate, but it would be lovely to learn more about you.
From Millie in Australia ^_^