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Long boat ride to nowhere
Today we had the choice of whether to go on a bike ride up to a sugar mill (a 50 km round trip), or to go out for a boat trip to a deserted island.About half the group decided on the cycle expedition, which was apparently quite fun and could have been arranged to coincide with a return to Trinidad on a steam train, cutting the saddle time down to a less bum-numbing 25km.The remainder of our group, us included, chose the catamaran & snorkelling option.Billed as an opportunity to visit a deserted island with iguanas and tree rats (an unfortunate name, as they look quite cute and rather like beavers without the long teeth), we climbed on board the boat with high hopes for a relaxing day away from our padded shorts and gel saddles.In hindsight, I wish I'd brought both.There were no cushions on board and we sat on the hard fibre-glass hull of the boat for a truly buttock-crunching and head-baking two and a half hours to get to our snorkelling destination.A brief moment of excitement came when one of the fishing lines stretched out behind the boat went taut.One of the guests on the boat was given the honour of reeling in the catch, he wrestled and reeled it in bit by bit, until we saw the occasional glimpse of fin jumping out of the water.One of the crew, grabbed it from the hook and handed it to the proud tourist.His grin was almost as wide as the mouth of the fish that he clutched, just over a foot long he held the barracuda aloft with visibly shaking hands; it was his first catch, he told us, and his joy was infectious.The captain brought along a plastic cup with rum and poured it into the fish's mouth (not a marinade as I immediately thought, but actually to kill the fish).The remaining half a glass of rum was handed to the trembling tourist, who struggled to steady his hands long enough to down the much-needed elixir.
Desperate to get off the boat and into the sea, we donned snorkels, masks and fins and lemming-like jumped one by one into the welcoming sea. The water was somewhat chilly at the start, but bobbing around in the water was a welcome relief.We looked under the sea at some corals and a few bored tropical fish hanging out around the edges, not doing much.Perhaps we are spoiled from our diving exploits, but it was frankly pretty ordinary and not worth the journey to this point.Things looked up when we pulled into the idyllic bay of the nearby MachoIsland.A welcoming committee of around 20 assorted size iguanas awaited our arrival.These pre-historic looking creatures posed shamelessly on the beach, turning their faces to provide a profile shot of their best-side for the camera.Many a supermodel could learn a thing or two on how to hold a pose from these creatures.We stepped onto the island, toes buried into the fine pale sand and rather unexpectedly, there was also a row of sun loungers in the shade of the palm trees - this was more like what we hoping for.A rather dry lunch (Jon had paella, I had dry white rice and very tough dry pork - I thought longingly of the fresh fish caught en route...) brought out more creatures, tiny hermit crabs tickled our toes as they made their way over the sand, the tree rats sat up meerkat-style hoping for food and iguanas scrambled for any tidbits that came their way.After an all too brief post-lunch relaxation on the beach, we reluctantly returned to the boat for the inexorable slog back to land.Strangely, both ways the rather disinterested crew put up the sail, but didn't use it to help move us along any faster, we just chugged oh so slowly along with the motor.Maybe the sail is just for decoration?
Hasta La Vista
Somewhat to José's confusion, the group had decided to have a night out in Trinidad and forego our free wristband-operated buffet dinner and drinks.However, he truly came up trumps; firstly arranging for Santos to take us to and from Trinidad in the coach, and then in the choice of restaurant.Near the main square, we headed up a steep cobbled street to the aptly named Vista Restaurant, from the rooftop terrace we ate delicious lobster, drank excellent wine from Chile and were entertained by local musicians and a magician, who also had the party trick of making paper roses from napkins, which he presented to all the females in our party.Heading back towards the main square, we went up the steps beside it and joined the throng who were gathered to watch a Buena Vista Social Club style group perform.They were of a similar age to the famous group and the large crowd joined in enthusiastically, some expertly able to salsa, others going free-style with whatever they felt like.With nowhere to sit though, we decided to move on to the 'Casa De La Trova' for mojitos and salsa dancing.Most of us gave it a go, the group who did the lesson the other night have the advantage, but even I can remember from watching them that as long as you can count to three, you can salsa.Finally, José shepherded his flock back to the coach and the ever reliable Santos returned a happy group to our green wrist-banded cocoon.
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