Trinidad 2 - Chacachacare - A deserted Leper colony

Written at  Scotland Bay, Trinidad

Oct. 18, 2006

Hi Folks,

We are back in Trinidad from the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela. We checked in with Customs and Immigration at Chaguaramus, and unfortunately stayed there for a night. I say unfortunately as over that night one of the ships leaked a considerable amount of crude oil which covered the surface of the entire anchorage, sliming Veleda's waterline our buoy line, the dinghy painter (we couldn't clean it and just garbaged it), the white plasticised locking wire, and the dinghy waterline with black gooey tar - a horrible mess.

We have heard the Coast Guard have some solvents they will distribute to cruisers that should help clean the mess. I'll let you know in my next log.

We will go back to Chaguaramus later today to check out of Trinidad for Grenada. I hope to be able to send this at that time as well as do a last bit of grocery shopping and stock up on beer, wines and rums at the Duty Free shop. This is a real "Duty Free" shop with prices a third of regular costs. A good quality rum would cost $85 TT (about $18.00 Canadian) but duty free it is only $23 TT (about $4.50 Canadian).

Scotland Bay is a well sheltered tranquil bay only four miles from Chaguaramus, with no habitation except howler monkeys, parrots and the covered ruins of the US navy recreation centre docks, walls and steps left over from the WW II base. We will spend more time here next year when we are back in Trini for the hurricane season. In the meantime we are looking forward to getting back to Grenada as we have some friends from Northern Ontario joining us for a while.

All the best,

Aubrey

Log #41f Trinidad 2 - Chacachacare - A deserted Leper colony

We escaped the turmoil of Chaguaramus for the cleaner quieter waters of Chacachacare, a former leper colony on an island 10 miles west, only 7 miles from Venezuela. But just as we approached the wide arms of Chacachacare Bay, we were hit by a blinding thunderstorm creating greatly reduced visibility. There is safety in sea room, and so we reversed course and rode out the storm for an hour in the Dragon's Mouth, the name given to this storm-tossed stretch of water between Trinidad and the offlying islands on its northwestern tip. After the storm eased off we arrived at the southern end of Sanders Bay (part of Chacachacare Bay) , anchoring between two other yachts in the bay, thinking it was the most sheltered area. However by early evening swells were rolling in, making life aboard untenable. Judy wanted to return to Chaguaramus even though it was nighttime now. Stanislas Bay on the opposite shore appealed to me, but navigating around a strange bay at night with no moon up yet, and dropping anchor close to an indistinct and unknown shoreline, was a precarious evolution.

We have no radar. Crossing the one mile wide stretch of the bay was no problem, but there was no distinct outline of the shore. It was shrouded in the black night as we picked our way towards the first notch in Stanislas Bay. As we approached we realized there was another boat at anchor, and there was no room that we could see where we could anchor that was not exposed to the swells or too deep. We then turned a couple of hundred yards to the west around another point which should provide shelter, hoping there were not rocks or shoals which could have been identified in daylight, but not at night. This bay was vacant, and I watched the depth sounder and the shoreline to get into the shelter of the point in about 20 feet of water, but far enough away that if we swung with tide or wind we would have sufficient room. The anchor held and we were in a quiet bay for a restful night.

It is interesting after making a night entrance to see what the area looks like for the first time in daylight. Steep tree-clad hills, with a small abandoned dock and a couple of rooftops protruding above the dense foliage, greeted us in this tranquil bay. However, unknown to us and unseen by us last night were some electric wires strung across the inner part of this notch. Had we gone in another 20 yards towards shore, our mast might have hit them. As it was, we were quite safe where we were.

I dinghied ashore to the abandoned dock and went up the overgrown path to the deserted and crumbling Nuns' Residence (authoritarian Dominican nuns, according to one pamphlet). The island was a leper colony from 1887 until the cure for leprosy was developed and the entire island was abandoned around 1964 or 1974, virtually everything left intact, to be looted over the years as the jungle overgrew the roads, buildings, cisterns, walls and foundations. The residence was open, the floors and stairs secure enough for me to explore through the entire set of buildings. Fixtures were torn off the walls, all the windows and external doors were missing, graffiti was scrawled on most of the walls, but there were bits of white "gingerbread" filigree still left on some of the roof top alcoves. The upper balcony had a fantastic view across the bay. The cook house still had remnants of sinks and shelves. Some of the rooms on the dorm had rusted bed frames, broken sinks and toilets, and remnants of electrical fittings dangling from the walls and ceilings. I was surprised at the good condition of the wooden flooring in the prayer hall. It was mahogany, and still had a shining dark patina, unmarred, and looked cleanly swept, in stark contrast to the desecrated dusty walls, almost as if saying "wouldn't this make a beautiful dance floor". (Pardon the sacrilege in a former nuns' residence.)

The outside paths were overgrown and impassable in many places. Nature is taking her own back. There are many other buildings and structures yet to explore on this deserted island. I'll write about them and have pictures as well next year.

We went on a couple of day tours around the island, the first to the Pitch Lake down on the southwestern extremity. This is a large bitumen lake from which the largest amount of paving tar is excavated in the western hemisphere. It was a hot day and the tar surface was very hot under foot, as well as soft and spongy, as we walked out onto this flat surfaced lake following the water runnels from rain water that covers part of the surface. The tar is covered by a spongy crust, but the depth of the tar is hundreds of feet. In some areas there were bubbles of black muck oozing to the surface. It was first known to Europeans through Sir Walter Raleigh, who used it to tar the seams of his ships. On our way back we stopped in San Fernando, the second largest city on the island just south of the oil fields in the middle of the Gulf of Paria coast. Another interesting stop was at the Caroni Swamp bird sanctuary where we motored through the channels to see thousands of Scarlet Ibis, as well as herons, egrets, pelicans and parrots. The Scarlet Ibis is the national bird of Trinidad, its flaming red plumage making it stand out in brilliant contrast to the green foliage of its nesting areas.

An interesting side trip was taken to the Ajoupa Pottery www.ajoupapottery.com  with a very creative technique of mosaic trays featuring local flora and fauna, as well as innovative vases and flower pots in flowing lines. The grounds were a former plantation with the plantation house restored in the midst of the tropical rain forest with extravagant exotic plants and trees overhanging gazebos and bowers around the grounds. It was quite a delightful visit.

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