Twice this year we've taken a boat trip to Chacachacare, which is one of the four islands that make up Trinidad's Bocas Islands.
The Bocas Islands lie between Trinidad and Venezuela and create a series of four straits off Trinidad’s northwest peninsula, which connect the Gulf of Paria to the Caribbean. These straights are known as the Bocas del Dragón — the Dragon’s Mouths. Back in the seafaring days, the "mouths" were the gateways to Trinidad from the Caribbean and each of the islands has an interesting history.
Nowadays the islands are spotted with holiday homes or day trippers and boats of all shapes, sizes and price tags touring up and down the islands. In fact, locally the trip is referred to as going "down the islands" or with Trini pronunciation more like - "dong d islands".
Chacachacare is the farthest of the four islands from Trinidad and only about 10 kilometres from Venezuela. In the old nautical map above it is the horseshoe shaped island almost half way between Trinidad and Venezuela. As the sign to the left explains, it was home to a leper colony from 1924 until as recently as 1984. It is now uninhabited and, other than a 19th century lighthouse, the only buildings on the islands are the crumbling structures that remain from the leprosarium. It's a fascinating place to explore and swimming in the green waters off its shores is a beautiful way to spend the day. On our two trips so far we have only explored the shore by the old hospital and chapel and the shore by the convent. There's a lot to discover still, including the lighthouse, many other ruins and a cemetery or two.
Trip 1 - Dong d Islands with Christoph, Herr Schlueter and Son
Our first trip down the islands came about when our dear friend Christoph (formerly of the German Embassy here) invited us out on a boat he'd chartered with the German Ambassador to Trinidad & Tobago and his son. I've got no idea what type of boat it was but it was a very comfortable fishing boat.
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Samuel boy enjoying the boat ride from
Chaguaramas to Chacachacare. |
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| Han and the little guy doing the same! |
Carrera Island - a prison or otherwise know around here as "a tax payer funded holiday resort". The latter description didn't seem to be too far from the truth when we cruised passed and saw prisoners in jumpsuits fishing for king fish of the pier.
Carrera from afar.
Arrival on Chacachacare. The building behind the pirogue was the infirmary of the leprosarium but it now an almost empty shell. A few items, including an old hospital bed, were still kicking around inside though.
The leprosarium's chapel.
It's probably vest to pray before you enter this chapel. See below.
We weren't alone in the Chacachacare bay. A number of other boats were moored with plenty of people liming on the boats and in the water.
Samuel even came across a class mate while swimming around.
Christoph with the boys.
Heading home.
Satisfyingly sunned....and sleepy
Trip 2 - Dong d Islands with Marly, Edo, Isabella and friends
Our second trip down the islands was on a much larger boat with three other families. Despite the number of people there was so, so much room on the boat. It had a kitchen and master bedroom MUCH bigger than our first apartment and two more bedrooms to boot.
This time we stopped near the leprosarium's convent and spent hours diving of the boat, swimming around and exploring the island near the convent.
Because the Orinoco River (the second largest river in South America) pours into the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad doesn't have the stunning azure blue waters that most would associate with Caribbean islands. Rather, the nutrient-rich water pulsing into the Gulf from the Orinoco means that it has amazingly green ocean water. It's still crystal clear, as this photos attests, but it is distinctly green and unlike any other ocean I've swum in.
The convent.
In this image you can see Chacachacare in the foreground and the much high mountain in the background is the eastern tip of Venezuela's Paria Peninsular. It shows just how close Trinidad is to Venezuela.
