Category Archives: Nature

Orange-winged amazons outside our window in Port of Spain; warnings around the world from well-meaning older ladies

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Today was our last morning in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as our last day of this trip before flying home. From our hotel window, I watched as many orange-winged amazons flew in pairs around the large trees along Queen’s Park Savannah. From what I can remember, this is likely the most fascinating bird watching area of the world I’ve ever been in. I’ve already lost count of the number of different, colorful, and gorgeous bird species I’ve been lucky to see here. Even Kaia has gotten into it: she also loved watching the orange-winged amazons fly around in Port of Spain. In Grenada, she pointed out new birds she noticed. And just two days ago, she excitedly pointed out a little kiskadee, which is considered the best known bird of Trinidad.

“It’s yellow! It’s yellow!” Kaia kept shrieking delightfully.

Kaia noticed the little kiskadee because of its bright yellow breast. It had a black and white streaked face with a brown back. These birds are known to be very loud chirpers and have fearless behavior; it didn’t seem to mind us being so close. I’m not that excited to go back to New York and mostly see pigeons and seagulls again — the freaking rats and roaches of the bird world. I suppose the sparrows and the occasional American robin are fine.

We had limited time in the morning before we had to head to the airport, so we took a quick trip to Charlotte Street, the main drag of Port of Spain Chinatown, to browse and also finally buy a magnet for this segment of our trip. Saturday morning is a great time to be in Port of Spain Chinatown, as all the fruit and vegetable vendors have their little stalls set up so you can buy their fresh produce. Lots of people were walking the streets to buy food; it felt like we may have been the only tourists there. We saw piles and piles of scotch bonnets, pimento peppers, papayas, multiple mango varieties, and other fresh fruit and vegetables waiting to be purchased. I crossed a street to take a look at a bakery I noticed, and as I was leaving the bakery, an older Trini woman, likely in her late 60s, stopped me and got close to my face.

“I’m a Trini woman, born and raised here,” the older lady started with me. “And I can tell you that these streets are not safe for someone like you. Why are you here? There are other places for you to go and see!”

I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been stopped by well meaning older women who tell me that I shouldn’t be in a certain area, with my phone or camera in my hand. They’ve told me that I should stay and walk close to my husband, that someone will easily hurt or rob me in a given place.

“Why am I here?” I wrinkled my brow at her. “I wanted to come see the fruit! What’s wrong with this area? I am perfectly fine!”

“You want to buy fruit? Then you should go down that street over there!” She responded, pointing out Independence Square. There were very, very few fruit vendors on that next street…

I told her I was walking across the street, and she said that she would walk with me. I had no idea what she wanted from me and why she was being so forceful. When she saw that I was meeting Chris and Pookie, she started telling Chris to not let me walk on my own, to always stay close to me, that it was dangerous to let me walk by myself along that street. Chris insisted to her that I was fine and everything was good. She finally relented and walked off.

I know all these ladies around the world mean well. But what they may not realize they could be doing is inadvertently perpetuating the potential perceived notions of their countries being dangerous places to be or visit. That’s not really a great way to market your town or country.

Last stop on our Caribbean island-hopping summer trip: Trinidad & Tobago

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Before this trip, I knew very little about Trinidad & Tobago. In the pandemic year of 2020, Chris and I started exploring more neighborhoods across the five boroughs of New York City. Since we were blocked from traveling internationally, we figured that given the unique diversity of our city of residence, we could go to different neighborhoods and still get exposed to different cultures; that would be our “international travel” within our own city. During that year, we visited a Trinidadian roti shop in Crown Heights, and my eating life changed forever: I had one taste of doubles, a beloved street food of Trinidad and Tobago, and it was like love at first bite. Doubles are two small, quickly fried little chewy flatbreads (baras) served with a hearty, savory, spiced filling of curried chickpeas (channa), oftentimes topped with different types of chutneys and a hot pepper sauce. Sometimes, shops give the option of adding different curried meats, like chicken, beef, or goat, to your doubles for an extra charge. The filling is wrapped with two little baras (hence the name “doubles), and you eat it like a mini sandwich/tiny burrito. They are usually filled to order, then wrapped and twisted up with a piece of paper and handed over to you; they are best eaten AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. At that point in time, of course I’d eaten lots of different Indian foods, but this curried chickpea mix, coupled with the two little fluffy baras, was just different to me, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint why. The spice blend of the channa was not the same as what I’d had before. The chewiness and pillowy texture of the bara was incredibly addictive. And from that one experience, I knew if given the option, I could eat doubles every single day and be happy!

The second exposure I got to “Trini” culture was via my two night nurses. I got a reference through a parents group for my first night nurse, Cheryl, who happened to be Trinidadian. Since she spent a lot of time at our place, we talked a lot about how she grew up, her culture, and food. She talked a lot about the Indian influence on Trini culture and cuisine. She also told us about areas of Queens and Brooklyn to check out for Trini food and shops. Once, Cheryl brought us a bag of pickled, spiced pommecythere, also known as June plum or golden apple. I remember it being a really addictive combination of sweet, sour, salty, and a little spicy; the crunch was also delicious! She also told us about the whole network of Trini night nurses across the U.S. and how interconnected they are. When her time was up with us, she introduced us to a second Trini night nurse, who may have taken even better care of Kaia than she did!

So the little I was exposed to Trini culture before this trip was enough to get me to this presumption: I knew of the four islands we’d visit — Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and Trinidad & Tobago, that T&T would very likely be my most favorite place to eat on this trip. And after just a day here, I am willing to bet that assumption will not be wrong!

I guess when I think of Trinidad & Tobago, I think more about Trinidad than I do of Tobago, which is not entirely my own fault. Trinidad & Tobago as a single country has two names because it was formed by joining two completely separate islands. Trinidad is the larger, main island (hence why I always think about its culture and influence first). Even though it’s a Caribbean island, Trinidad feels more urban, multicultural, diverse, and commercial. Tobago is the smaller island that was, at least historically, economically weaker, but more village-centered, tied to fishing, folk traditions, harvest festivals, and a slower-paced island identity. Tobago has a more rural, Afro-Caribbean vibe.

This is a pretty good quick outline I found of the ethnic and religious diversity of Trinidad and Tobago, one of the Caribbean’s most culturally mixed islands: Its culture blends:

African heritage from slavery and emancipation, visible in Carnival, calypso, steelpan, stickfighting, Spiritual Baptist traditions, drumming, and foodways.

Indian heritage from indentureship, visible in roti, doubles, curry, choka, tassa, chutney, Hindu and Muslim festivals, and family/community traditions.

European colonial influences, especially Spanish, British, and French Creole, visible in place names, Catholic traditions, architecture, Carnival history, and social structures.

Chinese, Syrian/Lebanese, Portuguese, and Venezuelan/Latin American influences also shaped food, commerce, music, and migration patterns.

If you have that many cultures in a single place, the food is destined to be good.

For our meals thus far, for lunch today we ate at an open-air food center along Ariapita Avenue, a main drag for restaurants, bars, and nightlife. We had a steamed kingfish plate, a garlic shrimp plate, and all came with a mix of vegetables, coleslaw, coconut rice, and mashed potato. The garlic shrimp was perfectly cooked (Kaia was obsessed with it!), and the kingfish was well seasoned and had a little bit of house made green pepper sauce that had a fruity forward flavor with a tiny, tingly burn at the end.

Today, we did a sunset tour of Caroni Bird Sanctuary, which is supposed to be the number one tourist experience here in Trinidad. On our boat that went through swamps and marshes, we were able to see a snake, anteater, and some other indigenous animals in their sleepy state. And for the main highlight, we saw countless North American flamingos (“Americans!” Chris grumbled) as well as the national bird of Trinidad and Tobago: the scarlet ibis, hoards of them all flying high in the air and settling upon a specific little island in the marshes. The scarlet ibis is a huge bird with a large wingspan, long neck, and a nearly fluorescent, bright orangish-red hue. Originally, Chris was not very enthused at the idea of going on a bird watching boat tour (“What is this? Some overpriced tourist trap where I have to see a bunch of birds I don’t care about instead of actually getting to eat them?!)” But when he finally caved in and booked the tour for us (THIS MORNING for this late afternoon!) and we went out on the 2.5-hour boat tour, he actually seemed to enjoy it. He marveled at the dozens of flamingos we saw in their natural habitat, saying that this was, “like something you’d see on the Discovery Channel” but instead we were seeing it ourselves in real life. And he even seemed to get excited when he saw his first red ibises flying high in the air. Who would have thought that my very own Chris could have his own “birding” moments?

I thought Kaia would enjoy the boat tour more, but she actually got bored after a while and kept asking when we were going to go back. She was likely getting hungry and tired, as the boat tour ended at 6:30, and on her usual schedule, she would have eaten by this time. While she did enjoy seeing the many flamingos and scarlet ibises, as well as the catfish in the water, we couldn’t hold her attention span the full 2.5 hours. We had many moments of moaning, whining, and crying. I guess she really is a 4.5-year-old after all…

Our tour included pickup and drop-off, so we asked our driver to take us back to Ariapita Avenue, the main food and bar drag, so we could grab a quick bite before heading back to the hotel. While on the avenue, she pointed out a doubles truck parked and set up with a small line forming and asked if we’d be interested in stopping there. I saw the doubles sign, the truck setup, and the little crowd forming, and I knew this was exactly what we wanted… and needed! So we got out and ordered four “regular” doubles (channa/chickpeas), two chicken, and two goat (the last two with pepper sauce). The total for eight doubles was only 70 TTD, about $10.32 USD — a bargain for our takeout dinner for three! We picked up some drinks from a little market and headed back to the hotel to eat. And this dinner was what dreams are made of: everything was just as good, if not better, than the doubles we’d had in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The paras were fluffy, pillowy, and addictive. The channa was spiced and super savory. The goat and chicken were tender, well seasoned, and had a nice little kick with the pepper sauce. This was the best first dinner in Trinidad!

And for our dessert, we washed and cut cutlass mangoes, a local variety of mango, that we got along Ariapita Avenue this morning — for free! A really warm, friendly man who owns a smoothie shop saw us admiring the hanging fruit in front of his shop, and so he took a red-netted bag of five cutlass mangoes and just handed them to us as a gift, and thanked us for visiting his country! We ended up sitting on his little deck for a while, chatting with him, and bought a smoothie he made for us to order — cutlass mangoes, watermelon, and dragonfruit. Kaia loved the fact that both of us were distracted chatting with the owner, so she likely got more sips of this smoothie than any other fresh juice/smoothie we’ve ever ordered! She kept chuckling her little cheeky laugh when she knows she’s doing something she’s not really supposed to…

As for the cutlass mango, a variety we’d never heard of before, it is a long, flat, fiberless mango that originates from Trinidad and Tobago. It is distinctive in appearance because it is curved with two pointy tips. The three we cut were perfectly ripe: sweet, tropical, a tiny bit tart, and extremely juicy. I squirted juice in few directions just cutting into these mangoes! The flesh is fiberless, smooth, and almost melts in your mouth. On this trip, this is now the FIFTH mango variety we’ve tried!

The kindness and hospitality we’ve experienced during our short time in Port of Spain have really exceeded any expectations I may have had. The smoothie guy was extremely warm and generous — we got FIVE free mangoes because of him — all because we told him we love mangoes and trying new ones. A ride-app driver who took us to a coffee shop this morning couldn’t find the Michi Coffee Shop where he was supposed to drop us off, so he not only wouldn’t let us get out of the car until he was certain we knew were going, but he even called his coffee loving sister to make sure this area really had a coffee shop around it (to his credit, the coffee shop was a little weird and hidden, as it was in the midst of insurance, furniture, and car repair stores). The lunch spot at the food center had a server who proactively gave me tips about food and local juices since I asked about fruit. And our driver to and from the bird sanctuary gave us tips about local food spots we should check out.

This segment of our Caribbean trip has felt the most interactive with local people and day to day life, as I imagined it would be. But it’s been even better and more enjoyable and fun than I had hoped!

Beautiful birds of the Caribbean – more birding on our last day in Grenada

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Since we’ve arrived in the Caribbean, I’ve tried to keep my eye out for interesting bird species. While I didn’t get to see many unusual birds in Barbados, I was able to see one in St. Lucia, the Antillean crested hummingbird, while on the Tet Paul Nature Trail in Soufriere. And in Grenada, I was lucky to see quite a handful of different birds — just on our hotel property, the Royalton Grenada Resort. The hotel is right on Magazine Beach, so it has a combination of beach coastline, coastal vegetation, and landscaped gardens and man-made lakes that attract all types of birds. A number of the birds I was able to see were either right from our balcony or just sitting around on the property and looking out the window.

On our first day, I got to see a very happy and hyper bananaquit, with its cute bright yellow belly. In front of our hotel, I saw a chipper little Caribbean elaenia, a little flycatcher bird that measures no taller than 14 cm. They have olive-brown backs and grayish white underbellies. The one I saw had a pale yellow wash on its belly. And after dropping Kaia off at the Kids Club for a couple hours this morning (she insisted she wanted to go back; I guess the activities and care providers were that fun and good to her!), I walked to the man-made lake of the property, which has several large trees that attract birds. There, I saw over two dozen cattle egret, which are small white herons that are about 46-56 cm/18-22 in in length and weigh between 270-512 grams/0.6-1.1 lb). One of them caught my eye because it was not only white, but the top of its head, neck, and wings were colored with a pale-pinkish orange hue. I watched them for a while and wondered if this was actually a different bird species from the rest. Later, after Claude correctly identified what bird species these were, it also told me that this specific pinkish-orange winged one was colored as such because it was in its breeding stage of life and “showing” it off. I never knew that a bird’s appearance could change in this way due to breeding stage; it’s actually called “breeding plumage!”

I went back to our room to look up more birding facts and parked myself on the balcony to enjoy my balcony access, enjoy the view of the beach, and savor our last few hours in Grenada. While there and stationary, I saw even more local birds:

Lesser Antillean bullfinch: A small, dark bird endemic to the region. The males are entirely black with a neat patch of rufous-red directly under their chin. I saw a male one! The little red throat was so adorable. The guide I read said that the Grenada subspecies is uniquely smaller than those on neighboring Caribbean islands.

Grey Kingbird: Another flycatcher, grey kingbirds are often seen around towns and mangroves in coastal areas. It is grey above and white below and has a dark mask—a distinctive, but faint, black band extending from the base of the beak through the eye. These little guys are known as “energetic insectivores” and can get quite feisty fighting birds, dogs, and even humans if they get too close to their nests!

Broad-winged hawk: The Royalton has lots of beautiful flamboyant trees, also known as Royal Poinciana or Flame Trees. Given we are here in the summer, this is the peak season to see these trees in all their “flaming” floral glory, as at this time of year, they explode with large, vibrant blooms that range in hue from scarlet red to reddish-bright orange. When I look out our balcony here, I can see these trees directly outside our window, then the beach. As I looked closer into one of the trees this late morning, I noticed a larger bird eating… a small animal that may have been a frog? It was hard to tell given the distance, but whatever animal it was eating definitely had two legs. Based on my description, Claude thinks this bird was a broad-winged hawk, which is the most common bird of prey in Grenada. It actively hunts during the day and is notorious for sitting quietly on a tree branch, hidden by leaves, before dropping down or reaching out to snatch a meal. The broad-winged hawk is a relatively small Buteo (medium to fairly large, wide-ranging raptors; I used to have this misconception that hawks were all very large!), with a body size from 32 to 44 cm (13 to 17 in) in length and weighing 265 to 560 g (9.3 to 19.8 oz). I am not sure why, but it’s always a little engrossing to watch an animal eat another animal. Maybe it’s because of innate human instinct, how satisfying it is to see one type of animal dominate another?

When I saw this hawk eat what I think was a frog, it reminded me of our first full day in Grenada when we dropped Kaia off at the Kids Club in the morning. The caregiver took her out to feed the birds by the water. While Kaia enjoyed this process, she was especially engrossed watching a bird eat the fish. She kept talking about it over and over after we picked her up. It clearly fascinated her and piqued something in her mind, as it was likely the very first time she had watched an animal eat another animal. Even my sweet Kaia Pookie at 4.5 years of age gets this fascination!