looking for madamas

On the 6th of August my friend Olivia and I set out from Brasso Seco to find Madamas Falls. It is of course only in hindsight that I realize that there are no fewer than three waterfalls which might be so named, depending on the source. This, as you might imagine, lent a bit of confusion to our hike.

My principal piece of information came from an outdated T&T hiking book that I have used to get lost in various parts of Trinidad. In short, we did reasonably well in deciphering it's cryptic descriptions and even managed to find some flagging which led us to a river. At this point we lost all trails despite a fair bit of hunting around. I consulted the topo map and bravely declared that we were standing in (really, our feet were soaking) the Miguel river, which joins with the Madamas at a later point. Reasoning that it is difficult (though not impossible) to get lost while walking in a river we planned to head downstream, find the junction with the Madamas river, then head up the Madamas to find the fabled waterfall.

After a considerable amount of wading and some detours to avoid full-on swimming we decided to turn back - we had now been hiking for about 4 hours. On the hike back we decided to check out a side trail, about a half hour walk from where we parked. Sure enough the trail led us to the spectacular Madamas waterfall pictured below.

But the mystery remains and I do need to return (perhaps with a GPS) someday to try to find the other. Doing a bit more digging I have also realized (and perhaps should have realized sooner) that another waterfall named Madamas is usually accessed from Matelot, a long way from Brasso Seco.



the miguel river. maybe. 

looking for madamas falls

Me looking particularly white in front of what we think must be Madamas falls


Bamboo


Our friend Lennox has a great spot in Brasso Seco - check out the giant silk cotton tree that fell, narrowly missing his house. ask him and he may tell you about the seven foot long snake he discovered in his couch.


Sunset over the North Coast Mountains, seen from Brasso Seco

Icacos

The morning of Emancipation Day (august 1) Alastair and I arrived back from Tobago early in the morning. I then picked up my friend Terry and the two of us made the trek to Icacos at the southwestern tip of Trinidad. Having made the journey I can now say that I have truly visited the four corners of Trinidad.

Being a holiday there were lots of 'limes' going on and the normally deserted beaches were full of partygoers. Although this meant less 'tranquility' it also meant interesting times getting to know people in the area.

Icacos

Occro and rice at a beach lime


Basdeo the fisherman - he has a great place 'in the area'


milesandmilesandmilesandmiles of coconut trees


de excursion bus 

Cycling in Tobago

One of the great advantages of living in Trinidad is the fact that the country has the second highest number of public holidays in the world, topped only by Sri Lanka. So when yet another holiday approached (Emancipation Day on August 1) my friend Alastair decided to head to Tobago for a long weekend of cycle touring.

As you might imagine, we weren't the only people heading to the sister island and the last minute nature of our decision meant that the best flight we could get to Tobago was at 2:30pm on the Saturday. I was disappointed in the prospect of missing the Saturday, so we decided to leave for the airport an hour and a half earlier than required in order to try our hand at a standby flight. The road works that slowed us down foreshadowed events to come and we arrived at the airport just in time to check-in for our flight, having lost our early start sitting in traffic.

After a frantic check-in we rushed over to security where we learned that our flight was actually almost two hours late.

A few beers and a quick flight later we arrived in Tobago around 5pm, a bit concerned about the prospect of riding in the dark to Castara, over two hours away by bike. We assembled our bikes, dropped off some kit at a hotel in Crown Point and hustled towards Castara.

Around 6:30 we sped down a hill as we arrived in the village of Black Rock - Alastair hit a road cut and suddenly his rear tire had a strange wobble. I tried to alert him to the ensuing flat but before the message got through his tire exploded with a loud bang which attracted several curious glances from people nearby.

After a speedy tube change we were back on the road and climbing into the mountains as the sun crept below the horizon. Riding uphill in the dark was not a real concern, although we were confronted with some very steep hills. Riding downhill in the dark was a bit of a problem as we road the brakes the entire way.

After what seemed like a long and tiring ride we arrived in Castara and settled into our guesthouse. After a beachside dinner we sauntered over to the local bar to demonstrate our incredible prowess at billiards before quickly calling it a night and crashing into bed.

Sunday morning we awoke and embarked upon our quest for breakfast, never an easy task on this part of the island. We did eventually find something but didn't finish eating until after 10am, meaning a late start to cycling in the hot sun. We had decided to leave our gear in Castara and ride to Charlotteville and back in one day. Looking at a map this does not appear to be a great feat as the horizontal distance is a measly 40 or 50km. Of course the vertical element was considerable...

We had a great ride, including several stops for water and gatorade. One kind shopkeeper even offered us shots of rum! The hill up to l'Anse fourmi proved to be the killer and shortly thereafter we decided to turn back to Castara due to fatigue and cramping brought on by dehydration and a lack of salts.

the monday was mellow - took our time riding back to crown point. Upon arrival we made our way to store bay to have a nice quiet dip in the ocean only to discover that a significant portion of the under 20 year old population of Trinidad had the same idea.

me and my friends at store bay. can you tell where the water gets deep?




My preferred mechanic helps prepare my bike for the upcoming trip.

Alastair negotiates one of the many hills

The village of Parlatuvier

Cycling in Tobago

 

Hiking El Tucuche

On July 23 my friend Olivia and I hiked El Tucuche, the second highest mountain in Trinidad at 936m. Cerro del Aripo is the highest at 940m and this small difference has led to some debate regarding which is actually the highest on the island. Considering the proximity of the summit to the ocean the change in elevation is quite abrupt and yields a relatively steep mountain carpeted in lush rainforest.

The summit can be approached from the north or the south and we trudged in from the south (near St. Joseph). The hike itself is along well maintained trail and is mostly in forest except near the summit where clearings normally provide spectacular views of the north coast - the day we climbed the skies were overcast and we found ourselves in cloud which obscured the views. Due to the recent rains the trail was saturated and made incredible sucking sounds as we walked, leading both of us to suspect the water bottles in our backpacks... another phenomena that I had never seen before was the huge number of crabs littering the trail - a long way from the nearest ocean or stream.

Along the trail we met a young Biology PhD candidate named Stevlin who was spending the night on the summit in order to search out the golden tree frog, whom he hopes to study as part of his thesis. This little frog is endemic to Trinidad and is only found near the summits of El Tucuche and Cerro del Aripo due to the relatively temperate climate at the higher elevations.

After a quick nap at the summit we descended back to the car about 8 hours after leaving. Another good day out.

Hiking El Tucuche