spooky chacachacare

the idea to visit the island first popped into my head while flying to tobago - the inflight BWIA magazine featured an article about an installation piece by a T&T artist which takes place in a building on chacachacare. it is the furthest west of the islands that form the northwestern limit of Trinidad and the last point of land before Venezuela; the building is part of an abandoned leper colony.

it wasn't until the following weekend that the idea came back to me as i enjoyed a 'mousse' with my friend françois after having completed a hash (a sort of racehikescavengerhuntexcusetodrinkbeer) in a forest reserve near cumuto. françois is a specialist in carbon fibre and fibreglass and he works in one of the marinas repairing hugely expensive luxury catamarans and the like. he also lives in a great old boat where he has great views of the sunset and sleeps in the control room (is there a real name for that?). and of course, he uses a little zodiac to get to and from the boat that he lives on.

françois suggested that we might sometime embark upon a little zodiac excursion to the bocas (the 'mouths') - at this i immediately suggested that we visit chacachacare. i wasn't quite sure if his little craft could negotiate the somewhat notorious seas of the bocas - after all the aren't named the dragon's mouth for nothing - but he assured me that an early start would ensure a smooth ride (at least the way there...)

so we set off early on sunday morning on waters smooth as promised. we zipped around the islands and in no time (well, 45 minutes really) we arrived at chacachacare. we weren't too sure where exactly we needed to go to see the old colony and were turned back from our first landing by a locked gate. we then made our way across the bay to another cove where we spotted a few buildings. after tying off the zodiac we walked up to the first building that we spotted - the main hospital area complete with decaying beds and medical instruments.

thinking light thoughts, we delicately mounted the rotting stairs to the second level of the building which once housed the laboratory and pharmacy. the place has obviously and unfortunately seen a considerable amount of vandalism and looting - broken and unopened bottles of medications were strewn about with old scripts and diagnostic charts dating anywhere from 1941 to 1978. the mood was somber to say the least.

we carried on to explore numerous other buildings, probably close to twenty in all. as far as we could ascertain these included a church, a chapel, an eating/cooking area, the laundry (you be the judge - françois thought it was an incinerator, i say an industrial washing machine), nurse's (nuns?) quarters and numerous private cabins. it was an extensive facility and it seemed that each time we decided that we had seen the last building and should turn back we would spot another. better yet to let the photos speak for themselves...

after our explorations we ate what little food we had and swam in the sea. we then began our 'degustation de plages' (beach tasting ?) as we visited the salt lake and la tinta bay. on our way back to POS we stopped at a small beach to switch gas tanks and fed/amused ourselves by hacking open coconuts with françois' machete - have to love the tropics.

of course our ride back to the marina was choppy and i did my best impression of a rugged cowboy on a buckin' bronco as i held on in the bow of the tiny boat. my legs and back would remind me of our escapades for a couple of days afterwards...

somewhat related to this story is one of those funny twist-of-fate type tales. while back at work that week i discovered a weekly film screening that occurs at an art studio facility. i really had no idea where to find the place yet luck guided my there and i was treated to a screening of dig!, a film about the rock bands the dandy warhols and the brian jonestown massacre.

after the screening i limed for a bit with some of the other attendees, many of whom were artists with studios of the building. and of course, who did i meet but the artist who was featured in the BWIA mag...