Travel Log #3 — Caroni’s Bird Sanctuary
Caroni is one of the two areas of the country where the land evolves into a swamp. While swamps might conjure up images of dark, foreboding vistas punctuated by the off evil witch or two, Caroni is different. We went there last Saturday and I’m only now updating this log because it was a hell of an adventure.
A Pretty Wide River
At least by Trinidad and Tobago’s standards. The two rivers that seem to get this wide are the Caroni and the Ortoire (Which I mentioned in our Manzanilla trip last week). The Caroni flows across the river, exiting out of the Gulf of Paria. On our adventure, we sailed down the river to where the Scarlet Ibis nesting grounds were located.
Row, Row, Row Your Boat…
We left the mooring at the edge of the river with a few people for the river boat tour. There were cameras aplenty and the sky was relatively clear (a portent of doom if I ever saw one). We started motoring down the river with the guide informing us about the sights we’d be seeing on both sides of the boat.
The wildlife was pretty amazing. In addition to the feature attraction, the Scarlet Ibis, we saw fiddler and spider crabs as well as a few Cook’s Tree Boa coiled right above our heads. Probably to scare the female passengers, the guide brought the boat all the way up to the snake so that we could see it firsthand.
There were also egrets and herons aplenty, as one would expect from a mudflat. Most of the journey was spent dodging overhanging branches and mangrove tendrils sinking into the swamp. The mangrove here comes in three varieties, the Read Mangrove, the White Mangrove and the Black Mangrove (coincidentally the national colors of the country, how patriotic!)
The mangrove serves as land-builders by capturing silt from runoff and fixing it to the river bed. Additionally, adapted species of mangrove like the black mangrove are able to filter fresh water out of the brackish salt water of the river’s mouth. If you lick one of the leaves of the black mangrove, you can taste the salt on it.
Eventually we rounded a bend and came to a lagoon that made you realize that the swamp is a pretty majestic backdrop. According to my companions, it would not be out of place to see this sort of thing in South America, like Ecuador or Peru, where the Andes forms a backdrop to the Amazon.
The Arrival of the Birds
The sun was about to go down when the birds started coming. We anchored in a lagoon just a little way off the edge of an island that we could get a really good vantage point from. The rays of the sun caught the birds as they came in to nest, a most vibrant red. The trees seemed to come to life as a thousand, then two thousand, then the entire island filled with the red of the Ibis.
The island itself wasn’t all Ibis though. There were herons and egrets aplenty populating the island as well, their raucous cries filling the air as they fought for space. The sunset was truly beautiful to behold in the swamp, but unfortunately, we got caught in an afternoon downpour. Luckily the boats had something to deal with the inclement weather. Umbrellas for boats anyone?
Worth a Visit
Most locals never visit the bird sanctuary in their lives. It might have something to do with how little they are in tune with the island they live with. I think it was a pretty decent trip for an evening’s travel. However, I suspect that it would have had a lot less people if we’d done this on a weekday. The weekend travel crowd is too much for me.
Until next time, no matter where you live, remember there’s an adventure right around the corner if you want it!
Originally published at http://shortdroptt.com.
