Trinidad to Grenada

PHOTOS click here —–>>Trinidad and Grenada heading north

For some of our last days of our time in Trinidad we hired a car. We were
then able to finish provisioning plus visit a few places we wanted to see.

The Temple in the Sea

We drove south and finally, after a few wrong turns found the Temple in the Sea.

This is a Hindu Temple, which was built by an Indian indentured servant. His name was Siewdass Sadhu and as he was not allowed to build a Temple on the Colonial land he made an island in the sea in the Bay of Praia and built the temple. It took him decades of hard work and dedication to finish the temple.

The temple was at the end of a causeway that was lined with flowerbeds and shrubs. We found it to be a lovely peaceful setting.

From there we wandered towards the cremation site where there just happened to be a

Hindu funeral taking place.

We were both amazed by the ceremony. First of all I was welcomed into
the group of mourners and asked if I had ever attended a Hindu funeral before. “Oh no never,” I responded. I was then told to feel free to watch, ask any questions and take any pictures I wanted to. The funeral was for Benji who was a father, uncle, brother and friend to those present. He was dressed in a beautiful traditional costume with a headpiece crowning his head. The whole atmosphere was welcoming and accepting and not an atmosphere of great sorrow, but more a final farewell. Hindus believe that life and death are part of the concept of samsara, or rebirth.

A car preceded the service with a loud speaker that had Indian music playing, followed by the hearse with the body. The drive way was lined with little prayer candles. The body and open coffin were removed from the hearse, set on the ground and certain rites were performed. From there they took Benji in his coffin to just in front of the pyre where more special rites were performed. These rites consisted mainly of foods like breadcrumbs and butter (ghee) and other materials such as flower petals that were smeared, sprinkled and scattered on the body.

The men performing the rites were all dressed in long, white robes and

were the Benji’s close male family members. These attendants also bowed with their hands clasped and said quiet chants: mantras. Then layers of wood were placed on the body, however the face was left untouched and so exposed. The male attendants then lifted Benji and his coffin and slid him feet first into the pyre. A further rite was performed and a tray of offerings was left at the mouth of the pyre too. A flame was lit and each man was given a flaming cloth torch, which he then carried as they, the attendants circled the pyre 7 times as is necessary in this Hindu cremation service. On completing the final circle they put the torch into the pyre, thus igniting the cremation. The pyre then slowly became ablaze.

I was told the family would return early the next morning and Benji’s ashes would be collected and strewn into the sea just near the pyre. Before we left the next Hindu cremation had started, there are 4 cremations a day and they happen pretty much everyday.

Driving away, just down the road we saw a beautiful Mosque and a variety of Christian Churches. Trinidad is so diverse and everybody seems

accepting of these differences living and letting live without squabbling over who is right and who is wrong.

Our next stop was the Pitch Lake:

Upon arriving we looked out across an area that really looked like an old, abandoned asphalt car park that had become over grown with trees and weeds. This however was the pitch lake. It is the only pitch lake in the world and of course it is the primary source of pitch…..asphalt for roads.

Our guide Leslie led us down the trail, which was of course covered in pitch and as we progressed the path was covered in water too. Areas along the way were rich in iron and so appeared red or rich in sulphur and so were yellow to white colours through the water. This water is excellent for any skin condition and people bathe in it for medicinal reasons.

The feel of the pitch on our feet was spongy, like walking on a bouncy rubbery mat. Although it was dark in colour and exposed to the sun the surface was not piping hot, but just warm. This was due to the water that was layered below the surface. Where there were lumps poking up Leslie showed us that this was water pushing the surface up, he popped one and water just bubbled up and out. The lake itself is below sea level and so naturally covered in water, but for the mining purposes there is a pump that extracts the water so the industry can take place. They surface mine different areas daily. At that time they were working on orders for China and Germany.

They don’t know the depth of the lake but it’s estimated to be enough pitch for the next 400 years. Spurs of the pitch lake are found to be connected to the under ground pitch in Venezuela. The lake impressed John and me both, it really was quite incredible. Leslie showed us area where the pitch looked to be melting; this he said was called the mother of the lake as it was indeed soft enough that anything on its surface would be engulfed by the pitch ……. Sucked down into its depths. So yes you did need a guide that knew his way in and off the lake’s surface. Leslie was 64; he had been a guide since he had left school at 15.

Here we are back in Grenada anchored at the St George anchorage waiting for a tropical wave to pass so we can move north. We arrived here just over a week ago after a lovely overnight passage from Trinidad. It was just after the full moon so we had a bright waning moon for most of our trip. When I was on watch I had dolphins accompanying us
for several hours. They swam alongside the boat, jumping and playing in waves. It was very lovely to behold. This was a wonderful passage for the 1st one of the season.

In Grenada we anchored in Prickly Bay, checked in and felt quite at home. We caught the bus into St George and visited the market for fruit and veg and then the fish market
for 2lbs of yellow fin at 15EC, which is about 7.00US$. We went for walks around the lanes and out to the lighthouse at the point. And we swam in the clean, warm water, which was what we missed the most when we were in Trinidad.

On the Saturday we went on the Hash.

This was held in Munich, a small village on the eastern side of Grenada. They held an October fest hash so there were German foods available after our hash through the trees. This hash was a steep slippery one for a fair part of the trail. John and I both slipped and fell; I got well covered in the red, clay like mud. Overall we both enjoyed the hash, but we realized we had covered much of the territory in a previous hash last year.

The Sunday afternoon we ventured along the shoreline to a far bay where there was a dinghy concert.

We estimated that 60 or more dinghies attended with most being fully loaded. We tied off another dinghy, buddies Sue and Graham joined us and we spent the time, chatting, people watching and listening to the group perform. They were a local group and were very good. There was a stage on one barge being attached to barges on both side for a bar and seating for those arriving by water taxi. All this was anchored out in the bay. As it was a lovely clear day with vivid, white mackerel cloud formations the whole concert was a great success.

Chico’s news……..

In the last week he has taken 2 accidental swims in the sea. Chico was quite taken with
curiosity when he saw us jump in the water and swim. He was stalking us from the side, I was just off the starboard stern when he was flitting around, jumping and weaving by the lifelines and bikes. When ooooppps he miscalculated and took a nose-dive into the sea. SPLASH!!

Well he was under for quite a while, came to the surface and swam straight for
me. I directed him towards the ladder where we already had some cloth-covered fenders hanging especially for him. He clung on and hauled himself up, sat at the top just stunned. Never a meow did he make…I hosed him off dried him up and he was just fine.

We headed to St George

from Prickly Bay. There we waited for the latest tropical wave to blow through. And it was quite a fierce blow with a full day of rain. Then we took Chico to the vet to get his latest shots. That being done meant we were free to move on. Off we went to

Carricou, Tyrell Bay.

The passage there was easy. We have been spending our time going for lovely walks, swimming in the clean water and doing necessary chores.

Our walks have taken us to the ends of both peninsulars that encompass the bay. These are walks we were familiar with but still enjoy.

On one we came across a very unusual home that was being built. It was moulded into an almost cave like dwelling and the roof was also moulded but almost in the form of waves. We wondered what it will be like when finished. We took a bus into Hillsbourough which must be the sleepiest village ever. The shoreline faces the Grenadines which seemed to almost beckon to us.