St. Vincent Part 1

This post is a combination of two posts written independently (and miles apart) over Easter. Can you tell who wrote what?

With two weeks off at Easter, we were looking for somewhere new to explore. It had to be fairly close by, not too expensive and something we'd enjoy. When we booked our Christmas break trip to St Lucia we'd learned that Liat airlines offers a very cheap rate for early booking. At that time we knew that we had a 2 week Easter break and that we'd need to "renew" our driving permits at the beginning of April. (We've managed to work the system by leaving the country every 90 days to avoid the hassle of getting a licence). St. Vincent won out, and after our 5 day visit, it certainly didn't disappoint. I dare say it was a vacation made for Paul and Gayle!

We began our research to find a place to stay and things to do.  We found the Richmond Vale hiking center. This place hosts a climate change and international aid school called the Richmond Vale Academy. It seemed like a perfect fit for us!

Our trip started with a 6 am early flight from Trinidad to Kingstown, St. Vincent. Why waste the day, right? After landing around 7 am, 5 minutes in a taxi and we were waiting for a bus with about 25 locals at the leeward terminal. We felt significantly out of place with our large backpacks as we examined the crowd to determine who to ask about which bus traveled to Chateaubelair.  After about 25 minutes, a flurry of activity started as minivans of different colours sped into the lot one after another honking loudly. Each had a conductor who slid open the door and yelled the destination. As the busses stopped passengers got off and paid. While we knew where we were going, we had difficulty understanding the local dialect and asked a young man which bus to take. We checked in with a driver and loaded our stuff.  In another 15 minutes,the bus was full enough to leave.  

We listened to the locals chatting, laughing and joking and quickly realized that there were similarities with the trinny slang, but we were going to struggle to understand for sure!

Soon we were en route (along a VERY windy road) in a lively minibus to Chateaubelair , a small fishing village on the leeward side of St. Vincent. After an hour and 15 minutes of windy mountain road we arrived at the end of the route.  Almost everyone got off the bus at an small "store" in a little fishing village on the west coast. We we relieved to be able to stretch our legs!  There were a few locals on the streets who pointed us in the direction of Richmond Vale. I guess we were not the first white people with backpacks who got off a minibus...

During our 40 minute walk to the Richmond Vale Academy (our digs for the next 4 days), we met two Vinny farmers. The first, in rubber boots who was carrying a machete was heading in our direction and he said he'd walk with us.  Honestly, we were both a little nervous as we were expecting to be asked for a guiding fee for his help. However our fears were proven wrong.

As Casper walked with us, he pointed out local trees and plants and told us some of the history of the area. We soon caught up to his farming partner, Charlie, who, it turns out has grown children living in Canada. They took us "the back way" to see the plantains they would be harvesting later that day. On the way, we saw the remains of a long defunct Arrowroot mill. They took us under their wings, answering our questions, showing us roadside plants and then giving us a tour of their vegetable farm, as well as inviting us back on Wednesday to help them plant sweet potatoes, by hand, on the steep side of a terraced mountain.  After about 40 minutes of walking, our farmer guides bid us farewell and invited us back on Wednesday to see them breaking new ground. Too bad we wouldn't be able to make it!

We felt very safe and welcome in St. Vincent as we trekked the last 500 m to our destination. 

Fast forward a bit to the highlights of our stay at the Richmond Vale Academy, a center/school that runs educational programs about climate change. It was a super cool experience to be surrounded by people with such strong beliefs about the environment who are committed to living lightly on our Earth. We were able to converse with people from around the world and hear their stories and ideas about sustainable living, while at the same time living lightly as well. Breakfast, lunch and dinner mainly consisted of local, organic foods that were yummy and healthy. We feasted on an invasive species called lion fish for supper one night, caught by local spear fishing. We also got to pick and eat fresh fruit from the fruit garden.

A highlight for me, aside from the fresh guava, papaya, star fruit and applepears, was reconnecting to ideals that are important for me. I really do believe in living lightly and taking action to reduce my impact on the Earth. After 8 months in Trinidad somehow I've managed to put these things on the back burner. It was refreshing and inspirational to see and hear how 2 people have encouraged and motivated numerous others to take action.

 

Maple Leaf Sports Day

Early in the school year I found out that Sports Day would be one of the most important events of the year for me. Many students recounted how it was a highlight for them and that they looked forward to it this year. One even demanded that it become a full day event held off site at a "proper" sports facility. I learned that it had traditionally been a half day event for secondary students that was held at the school.

At the end of January, following a PTA meeting, I learned that since it was the 20th Anniversary, the PTA would like the Sports day to include the entire school AND to be a full day of events AND to be held off-site.  Wow -- This was about to take on a whole new life of it's own. (and take over most of my time!)

As I began to work with the committee, I discovered that a whole school day had never been done! In fact, we were breaking new ground in a lot of ways - new venue, adding the middle school students, a whole day for secondary... I also decided that it was time to shake things up even more by changing the structure of the day to achieve to goals -- i. get everyone moving more; and ii. give the senior students an opportunity to practice leading.

As it turns out, these two goals were much bigger that I anticipated.  Tradition at Maple Leaf (and in most other schools here) is that the Sport Day events are a mix of "church picnic" style things (sack races) and athletics (50 m dash).  A few students from each grade and house are selected to compete in each event. So a student might compete in two or three events over the course of the day. Medals and house points were awarded at the end of the day. My idea of changing to a day of events where everyone participated (students would rotate from event to event) and secondary students lead (organized and lead events, as well as leading teams of little ones) was met with skepticism by some on the organizing committee. It was surprisingly easy to achieve consensus that we could move away from awarding medals. In addition, I set my sites a little higher and contacted a local company that organizes kids adventure races to see if they could provide some events. They suggested a few things and were really keen on an obstacle course!

The culmination of all this change and planning was March 27th. A day like never before at Maple Leaf!  Over 40 students were given leadership positions -- supported by an unbelievably caring staff! Over the course of the day we had 16 events for students, 5 whole house events, a series of tugs of war, a water slide, a bouncy castle, football games and most importantly, a ton of FUN.

The pictures and smiles speak in a way that is much better than my story telling!
You can see lots more pictures by clicking here!

Special Guest Blogger -- Krista Gordon

I’ll begin with a BIG thank-you to Paul and Gayle for hosting not one, not two, but five houseguests over the Ontario March Break! Not only did Paul and Gayle welcome all of us into their Trini home, they also made sure we captured as many Trinidad experiences as we could in our short time visiting this beautiful country. From hashing, doubles, bake and shark, caves, swamps, hiking, KFC and even some liming, we jammed as much as possible into the trip!

A reoccurring theme of this adventure was that “life begins on the edge of your comfort zone!” Being the incredible teachers that they are, Paul and Gayle provided ample opportunities for all of us travellers to venture into unfamiliar territory at some point along the trip. Whether it was jumping off high rocks into deep cave pools, starting out in a mob of runners crossing a creek in a hash, completing a six-hour trek down a river in the rainforest or driving the roads of Trinidad, we all got a chance to experience an adventure outside of our comfort zones!!

Highlights of the week included catching waves at Maracas Beach, trying bake and shark, swimming in the caves, watching a four-eyed fish in the Caroni Swamp, seeing the biodiversity of the hills and forests, operating a car on the right side of the vehicle (windshield wipers do not work so great for indicating a turn!), driving the narrow, winding roads of Trinidad, and meeting new friends to share fun conversation and laughter with over dinner at Paul and Gayle’s apartment!

Thanks again Paul and Gayle for sharing your Trini experiences with us, and hosting us for an amazing adventure in Trinidad!

BAT-tastic

Growing up in a century farm house meant that usually every year we'd have a "bat incident". A bat would somehow enter the kitchen, we'd all scream and run around frantically, and then a badminton racket would appear much to the demise of the harmless bat. Combine those scarring memories and the fact that in French bats are called chauve-souris (bald mouse), I was pretty excited about a hike to the Tamana bat caves, housing the second largest colony of bats in the world.

Ok, to be honest, I WAS excited to trek out to the caves. Bats are such fascinating creatures, and our hike yesterday proved it.

The caves are located in the central region of Trinidad, about a 2 hour drive from our place, given stop and go traffic, narrow windy roads, with pot-holes the size of small craters. With Emile (our guide) and 12 hikers,we eventually reached the trailhead at 4:30 pm. A short uphill climb brought us to the cave exit, which at 5 pm was quiet and unassuming. Emile agreed to a quick climb down into the cave, which was nothing like we'd ever experienced before. The cave entrance was large, and what we considered to be bat filled. Well, how wrong were we.

Emile pointed to a small hole, and when I say small, I mean small, and said, "Ok, that's where we crawl through to get into the cave." Pardon? Paul led the way, slithering through this very tight tunnel passage. When he called out to Emile, "Are you sure about this?", confidence was not high on the meter. Somehow all 12 of us mustered the confidence to crawl through the tunnel, landing in a smelly, dark, humid and bat infested cavern. IT WAS SUPER COOL!


The Tamana caves are home to 1.5 million bats consisting of 12 different species. After exploring one of the small caverns, we re-surfaced to the cave exit. As it was dusk, the bats were exiting for their nightly feeding ritual. We stood directly in the path of thousands of bats, and let me tell you it was surreal. It didn't even look real. Bats flew directly at us, and then in the last millisecond, they'd swoop up, left or right to avoid us. The pictures don't do it justice, but if you ever get the chance to do something like this, do it. You'll gain a new appreciation for bats.

There are morepictures in the gallery!