Trinidad-Tobago Report 10/08 (1 Viewer)

[Jaeger01]

We're baccccck! After 10 days in Trinidad/Tobago from late September through the first week of October. For our fifty year of marriage celebration, 10 days of birding at Asa Wright Nature Center and Cuffie River Lodge on Tobago.

Some general comments, never felt any threat of any kind but they say to stay out of Port of Spain unless you're looking for trouble. We spent one night there but didn't leave our B&B except to eat late lunch/Dinner at place recommended by our hosts.

This is the rainy season but we have very little rain except at night and one day on Tobago and that was a rain!

Asa Wright NC had great accommodations and the only complaint was too much lamb and bar-b-que sauce, they put it on all meat but plenty of vegetables. Drinks other than the rum punch which was gratis were very reasonable.

Cuffie River is newer and the rooms show it, food was excellent and varied from seafood to lamb with tons of vegetables and salads and no bar-b-que sauce. Drinks were the same except no rum punch but beer and wine were cheap by US standards, about US$1.50.

Tobago has better roads than Trinidad which were not bad for the most part.

Next issue follows shortly.

 

[Dave B Smith]

Jaeger,
Looking forward to your report. We were at Cuffie River for two nights recently and really enjoyed it. My wife's favorite part of the trip was finding an albino hummingbird there!

 

[Jaeger01]

Jaeger,
Looking forward to your report. We were at Cuffie River for two nights recently and really enjoyed it. My wife's favorite part of the trip was finding an albino hummingbird there!

Dave, we saw the hummer too. Across the river and down the road.

 

[Jaeger01]

Day One and Two

DAY ONE
Arrived at Port of Spain's Piarco International Airport about 11:30 at night, we were dead tired from getting up at 4:00 AM to get ready and catch our flight to Miami where we had a layover until the plane for Port of Spain left. We were met by Mahase Ramlal who was to be our guide (and a fine one he turned out to be, excellent birder) and driver for all off site field trips from Asa Wright Nature Center, he loaded our luggage in his van and off we went for about an hours trip to AWNC to arrive about midnight or a little after. We were escorted to our cottage by a member of AWNC's staff, where we did some basic unpacking and hit the sack.

DAY TWO
Awoke this morning to the loud burst of many birds cry and songs. We skipped the orientation tour to sleep a bit late after our late arrival last night. We then headed over to the veranda for coffee and a little birding watching their feeders. I had been looking forward to fresh roasted coffee after the super coffee we had every place in Costa Rica. Trinidadian coffee is more like expresso than coffee, no more decent coffee until we got on the plane for home. Birding off the veranda was very good with the expected like Green and Purple Honeycreepers, Crested Oropendola, Violaceous Trogon, Channel-billed Toucan, White-bearded Manakin, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Palm Tanager, White-lined Tanager, Silver-beaked Tanager, Turquoise and Bay-headed Tanager.
The Center is situated in a valley of Trinidad's Northern Range. The center was once a plantation and raised coffee, cocoa, and citrus. Natural second-growth has taken over and covered the abandoned plantation vegetation with vines and a host of epiphytes. The whole effect is one of being deep in a tropical rainforest. That afternoon was free to allow us to relax, enjoy the trails and adjust to the tropical sun and heat. Birding from the veranda of the Asa Wright Nature Centre is one of the world's most pleasant, and exciting, ornithological experiences with the Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Tufted Coquette and Barred Antshrike, among the many species that were easily seen. Bugs were almost non existent, almost no mosquitos, only chiggers in the high grass and that was easily avoided. Lots of hummers like Rufous-breasted Hermit, Little Hermit, Green Hermit and Green-throated Mango. Many birds were seen but I didn't keep a list except for what was new to us.