Yesterday, the Diego Martin youth group went on a hike. We left our house around 6:30 a.m. to drive to Maracas Beach, where we met up with the rest of the group. Then we drove about another 30-45 minutes until our car and one of the other 3 vehicles wouldn't go any farther. There was an SUV and a pickup truck that could make it a little farther. So, everyone piled in the back of the pickup, except those that were riding in the SUV, and we went until the road completely ended. Then everyone got out, grabbed their bags and started walking. It took us about 3 hours, including some stops, to get to the beach where we stopped to play in the water. Then, it took us another 2 hours to get back. The hike included 7 big hills, and we stopped at 2 beaches, plus tried to find another one on the way there. By the time we went back to Maracas, got some bake and shark and drove home, it was 8:00 p.m. We all showered and went right to bed! Today, my legs are pretty stiff, and kind of sore, but I enjoyed myself on the hike very much yesterday!
~Olivia
Here is what I learned from the hike yesterday:
1. I am not as young as I used to be.
2. My children are in much better shape than I am.
3. I am grateful to have a husband who walked at my pace and offered me a hand on the depth perception necessary parts.
I am also grateful to have had the experience, the fellowship, the exercise, the beautiful views and the personal challenges that a hike like that offers. I am glad to have gotten to meet and begin to know still more youth. There were 9 youth and 8 adults on this particular outing. God is quite an extraordinary artist as seen both in the fabulous diversity of nature and of people!
~Barb
The north coast of Trinidad is where the best beaches on the island are located. There is, however, no road that runs all along the north shore. There is a road that goes along the western part of the coast, which includes Maracas Beach--the most popular beach on the island, and one that we've been to a couple of times. There is another road that covers the eastern part of the northern coast, an area that we have not yet visited. There is, however, no road that connects these two coastal roads. The only way to drive from one to the other is to go all the way around the mountains that run all along the north coast. It was into this area wit
hout roads that we hiked. The only way to access Paria Beach is by foot, as we did, or by boat.The ultimate destination of the hike was the beautiful Paria Waterfall. After hiking several hours through the forest, it was amazing to come to this place where the water came cascading down the rocks. It was also a very hot day, even by Trinidad standards. My shirt was literally drenched with sweat by the time we arrived at the falls. So the opportunity to soak in a refreshingly cool pool for a while was quite welcome.
~Richard
Along with all the water, my favorite part of the hike was the detours we took. One of them was optional. Basically, the adults and a few of the youth stayed where they were on the hike and just took a rest, and most of the youth went down the mountain a little on a detour. You see, we were trying to find a beach that the leader of the hike had told us was there, but after a little while, the path seemed to stop. We chose to keep going, trying to follow the sound of the ocean. We decided to stop when there was a long drop off that went down very far, and didn't even seem to end on the beach. It went down to a couple rocks, then into the ocean. We were pretty sure that this meant that we were on the wrong path. We doubled back to where the path ended, then turned farther right, where we thought the beach was, and tried again. The same thing happened, and again the beach looked much farther off to the right. So we just decided that this was the wrong way to the beach, and climbed back up the very steep way we had just come. When we got to the top, we told the group leader what had happened. Then he told us that, after we had gone down, he had remembered that you couldn
't actually get to the beach through that path. How convenient! It was a fun excursion, though. Another detour we took, which was probably my favourite, was out to "Turtle Rock". We took a turn off the path, and ended up on a very narrow path. At one point, I could see through the trees that there was water off to my left. A little while later, I turned to my right, and saw water on that side too! We were walking on a strip of land that led off to this "Turtle Rock". At the end of the path, there was a larger clearing which was essentially a large rock. All around it, on three sides, was water! It was almost a tiny island in the ocean, because of how thin the connection looked from there! They said that they called it Turtle Rock because sometimes you could see turtles swimming in the water around there, but I think only my dad saw one. The whole hike was nice, and I am actually surprised that by this afternoon I wasn't even sore!
~Roxy
't actually get to the beach through that path. How convenient! It was a fun excursion, though. Another detour we took, which was probably my favourite, was out to "Turtle Rock". We took a turn off the path, and ended up on a very narrow path. At one point, I could see through the trees that there was water off to my left. A little while later, I turned to my right, and saw water on that side too! We were walking on a strip of land that led off to this "Turtle Rock". At the end of the path, there was a larger clearing which was essentially a large rock. All around it, on three sides, was water! It was almost a tiny island in the ocean, because of how thin the connection looked from there! They said that they called it Turtle Rock because sometimes you could see turtles swimming in the water around there, but I think only my dad saw one. The whole hike was nice, and I am actually surprised that by this afternoon I wasn't even sore!
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