2011 British Virgin Islands August Festival Parade

British Virgin Islands annual August Festival is held in August 1-3.  These photos were taken  at the parade that was held in East End, Tortola BVI on Wednesday August 3, 2011.  I live a few steps from this location.

Masquerader at East End BVI August Festival parade

This first masquerader caught my attention with her boots.  She also wore a beautiful costume.

It is a tradition that the moko jumbies aka stick walkers partake in the parade each year.  There is a moko jumbie school in the territory that teaches young people to walk on sticks.  This guy is one of the senior stick walkers.  He walked on the longest sticks.

Photos taken with Nikon D60 DSLR Camera

Trip To Mayaro, Trinidad And Tobago

Oh yes, another road trip to Mayaro, Trinidad! This time it was my daughter, her boyfriend and myself.  My husband had to return to Tortola British Virgin Islands - back to work.  

It was a beautiful day and I have not been to Mayaro in years!!!  Nothing has changed though and I had no problems finding my way to our destination.

This is my daughter behind the boats at the village in Mayaro.  I really like this photo, quite unique in my opinion.  It was in this area that we stopped for a while and had some lunch.

This is a river that flows into the Manzanilla Beach.  You have to pass Manzanilla Beach before you get to Mayaro.

This is BBQ pigtails, we stopped and got some on our way home after leaving Mayaro.  They were really good.  The sweetness of the BBQ sauce and the saltiness of the pigtails really went down well!

For the BBQ pigtails recipe CLICK HERE

Photo taken with Nikon D60 DSLR Camera

La Brea Pitch Lake, Trinidad And Tobago

In June of this year, my husband, daughter, her boyfriend and I drove down to the pitch lake in La Brea, Trinidad.   La Brea is situated in the southern part of the island - past San Fernando.

The roads in La Brea as basically impossible to repair. As the pitch continues to grow, it unlevels the roads in the area. Whenever I travel to La Brea, I always know when I have arrived in the area. The roads are like a roller coaster. There is one house that is basically destroyed by the ever growing pitch in the owners yard and would you believe, the owner still lives in the house!

I noticed this beautiful patch of lilies as we approached the heart of the pitch lake.

We were guided into the pitch lake by our tour guide. He told us about the history the lake etc, he was very thorough, informative and answered all our questions.

The tour took about 30 - 45 minutes to go around the lake. As we were standing in the center of the Pitch Lake, our guide stuck a piece of stick into the ground and then pulled it out. A black liquid, sticky thing was on the stick - pitch in its liquid form.

Eventhough we walked on the Pitch Lake it was a little soft. Some spots were in its liquid form. We were unable to walk without our shoes as the lake was a bit to hot to bear without foot wear.

A wide view of the pitch lake (this is just part of it).  It was a beautiful day!  You can see the processing plant in the horizon.

This is my husband holding a piece of raw pitch.