Visiting and Eating inTrinidad

Last weekend we made a short but special trip to Trinidad. I'd never been there before so everything was new to me. We did lots of internet research before going and our friend and friends of friend showed us some of the surrounding areas....the ride up into the hills to visit Asa Wright Sancutary was just as much fun as seeing the birds and forest.

 On the way back to Port of Prince we made a quick stop at Maracas Bay....

We thought that finidng vegan food would be tough as all the restaurants that were advertised as vegan were only open for breakfast and lunch but we found a great restaurant for Friday evening, Veni Mange. An email inquiring about vegan options led to a special menu on our table, typed up just for us! The food was delicious, home cooked style with lots of flavor. We also found that the buffet at Asa Wright offered enough side dishes that were vegan including eggplant, rice with veggies and lentils. Our hotel was also very accomadating, ordering soy milk for our coffee and breakfast and letting us know what was in each of the intriguing dishes we had not seen before. I was very surprized to find some wonderful flavours as I'm not usually a fan of the hot spicy flavors of local Indian restaurants here in Florida.

     Our Saturday night dinner was also delicious at BUZO Osteria Italiana. I had the best pasta dish, simply pasta, tomatoes, basil and amazing flavour! And the coconut mint frozen dessert was the best.
     Before heading to the airport on Sunday we took a quick stroll around the Queen's Park Savannah near our hotel. The jacaranda trees were in bloom, first shot near the Botanical Gardens.

 Soccer in the Savannah...

 Some of the mansions around the Savannah....

One under going renovations or upkeep...

 Another waiting it's turn....

 Then there was the modern architecture....

 And just a fun shot for the color....

And another for the color.....

It was a fun whirlwind weekend!

Oh, anyone know the name of this bird? We saw several of them in the Savannah.
Update: Thank you to our friend Ronald from Trinidad for inquiring about this bird ... it is called a Southern Lapwing. Interesting reading about this bird at wikipedia.

Spring has Sprung!

The rains have arrived and today the first rain lilies are in bloom!

 A Bluejay seen through our family room window.

 The Mexican Flame vine will soon be going to seed again.

The coffee bushes are having their first flowers!

Spring may be very hot here but it's makes for beautiful blooms!

Egyptian Geese Visit Again!

As I was watering the garden this week two Egyptian Geese flew over and landed a couple houses down. They quickly made their way along the water's edge and I ran inside to grab my camera so I catch a few shots as they made their way through our yard.

Piping Plovers

When I opened an email with the blog post from Rolling Harbour Abaco I saw this adorable looking bird and was intrigued by some of the others photos, and as I began reading the article I learned that these birds are on the endangered list, their population has been diminishing and research has found that of course we are to blame ..... but we can help too. The Rolling Harbour Abaco blog post had a fun opening with a take from Paul Simon's song with "Fifty Ways to Please Your Plover"!


Piping Plovers make their nests in the sand just above the water line so people often unknowingly run over them with vehicles, dogs not on leashes destroy the eggs and nests, we simply walk on them oblivious to their being there and we also destroy their nesting areas by building seawalls, dredging the beaches, etc.

Two things Piping Plovers cannot live without are tidal flats and roosting sites above high tide. Often Plovers return from their migration to find their resting grounds destroyed, whether it be on the beach or an inlet that has been walled up, dredged or mined for sand. Hence more Plovers won't survive and again their numbers dwindle as humans take over their homes, often unknowingly. We need to educate ourselves about the life of other animals on this planet so that we can act responsibly and respectfully.

To see some beautiful film clips and learn more about the Piping Plovers check out the links from Rolling Harbour Abaco's post. and near the end of the post you can click on a link to a video by the photographer Danny Sauvageau at Kickstarter.

Eagle .....

I was thrilled to catch a few photos of an eagle taking flight ....

West Coast Turkeys

Evening Eagle

So glad my camera was handy when I looked up to see this eagle in the arbutus/madrona limbs ......

It was just about dusk but I was hopeful the photos would turn out as I did have my new camera and I just set it at automatic. The next couple photos I lightened up so I could see the eagle better. 

 Then I caught him (or her?) just as she flew off for the evening......

 Ahhhhhh.... it feels so awesome to see these incredible birds spread their wings and fly ......

Summer Holdiays .... Oh Canada!

Summer vacation! The last weekend in June my husband and I flew up to Victoria, Canada and the weather was gorgeous for our week together on Vancouver Island. I took a few photos the morning we wandered about downtown Victoria near the harbour .....

 The Empress Hotel .... love that ivy and old architecture.....

Next to our hotel was a little plaza area with fountain and the emblems of Canada and its 10 provinces and 3 territories. The last one on the right is of the newest territory, Nunavut. Doris from True Blue Canadian told me how she pronounces this, "Noo-na-vut". I was living in the US when Nunavut was created and didn't hear the news as it happened back in 1999. Here is a bit of basics from Wikipedia "Nunavut /ˈnuːnəˌvʊt/ (from Inuktitut) is the largest, northernmost and newest territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999 via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the boundaries had been contemplatively drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map since the incorporation of the new province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949."

I couldn't resist catching a couple bird photos .....

 Hope you're enjoying a wonderful July where ever you are!