Caroni Bird Sanctuary " My Third Nature Trip with my sister"

This was my third nature tour guide trip with my sister since she came for vacation with her husband. She haven't been home in almost fourteen years, its her first visit since she left in 2000.

I made reservations for my sister, her husband and some other family members, along with my best friend to visit the Caroni Bird Sanctuary on Saturday 16^th August 2014. I wanted to visit this bird sanctuary for years now but never did because I am petrified of rivers, lakes, seas etc. for some strange reason I always feel the boat will turn over and i will drown ha ha ha.

I've always wanted to learn to swim ,but because of my fear for the water I could never see myself doing it. That's the reason why I keep my distance from the water . I enjoy the lovely sceneries from the shore, however for this adventure I decided to challenge my fear and make the trip on the boat through the swamp. I’d tell you a little secret though I still asked my friend to walk with her life jacket, just in case something went wrong. Shhh please don’t tell anyone!!!

We had to be there like 3:40 p.m. for the latest as the boat was leaving 4:00 p.m. The trip would be like two and a half hours. My sisters, mother, nephew, brother-in-law and I reached on time, however my grandparents was a bit late they were bring my friend. While waiting to get unto the boat I kept seeing vehicles coming into the sanctuary car park, I was getting worried. I was wondering how all these people will fit on the six boats i saw in the water.

To my surprise everyone fitted and the boat left from the jetty ,for some strange reason I was calmer than I thought I would have been, my fear for the water/drowning left me but not quite, lol. We sailed through the mangrove, which around this time of the year have crabs by the millions hatching. The swamp water is very dirty so you cannot see the fishes etc in it really.

We saw one snake which was coiled over head while the boat passed under it. The ride was lengthy but cool, sometimes the sun was very hot but because it’s the mangrove and we have to pass under trees at times. We were unable to open our umbrellas all the way. This trip was really to see the birds, especially the Scarlet Ibis which is our country’s National Bird they usually fly to Venezuela everyday to feed and head back to Trinidad around 6:00 p.m where they spend the rest of the night in the sanctuary.

The boat eventually anchored and the captain was telling us about the different types of birds that live in the sanctuary. While he was speaking we kept seeing the Scarlet Ibis birds and some white ones flying in and taking their positions on the trees. We were asked to keep quiet or speak softly because if we make noise the birds will fly away. The site was so pretty from seeing a pure green tree being decorated red and white.

I must admit i thought the trip would have been more adventurous because sometimes there are more huge snakes wrapped up in the trees and caymans can be seen in the water. However the day we choose to go did not have any. I am afraid of snakes but just wanted the excitement of seeing them so up close and personal on the boat. My little sister is afraid of a lot of animals and insects so i wanted to see her reaction

~Joanna Chandler copyright © 2014 all rights reserved