Up to the north

We hired a car for a few days and drove up to the north of Trinidad to Grande Riviere, hoping to see some turtle hatchlings. It’s the tail end of the leatherback laying season, but now the hatchlings are emerging. And we got lucky. We went for a walk along the beach in the late afternoon and came across a local who had gathered about 70 hatchlings. He kept them safely away from the exposed shoreline because the frigate birds and black vultures circle around, and they love a little hatchling snack. He apparently does this every day out of the kindness of his heart. We saw a couple more babies emerge and, once it was a bit darker, the little darlings were released. The hatchlings raced frantically (some quite clumsily) towards the surf and were swallowed up by the waves. It takes your breath away.Read more