The CoolBlue Adventures WNMHGB series has now officially become a Coasteering quest to circumnavigate the island of Trinidad. Part 5 of this series took us from Table Rock to Moruga. For this one we'll stress that as beautiful as the south coast is, it definitely should not be underestimated if it is to be a part of your Coasteering trek.
With a 'crack of dawn' start and a descent onto Table Rock... the sunrise, sea breeze and overall allurement of this unique feature, was enough to invigorate us for the proceeding 12 hour/45km, action packed journey!
The Galeota Jetty
Perhaps the most testing was the first segment, which without warning, gave us a 2km treacherous swim from 'the rock' around the Galeota Jetty and into the adjacent bay. Judging from the looks on the faces of the BP workmen, this is perhaps a restricted area.
At this point, we embraced getting back on our legs and navigating the only mangrove terrain we would encounter for the day. The terrain was quite manageable for this leg; 15km later, with a replenishment stop at Guayaguayare Fishing Depot, put us back on track for the rest of it.
The Sea Wall
The high tide made the subsequent sea wall segment a bit tricky, as it meant literally jogging along the top of the wall; not a high wall by any means, but still challenging nonetheless.
Isolation
From the end of this wall, the remainder of the mission was total isolation; not a human or manmade structure in sight for miles upon miles. The upside to this however was our encounters with Green Turtles and even a Leather Back on the swim segments.
Where's the Moruga Statue?
Night fall was now upon us and our trek was seemingly never-ending. Not even village lights in the distance! We donned our headlights and pressed on.
The swims around the coastal peaks which lacked a
shore line, started to feel a bit daunting. My trekking buddy and I had no choice but to press on and by absolutely any means necessary, as the saying goes.
Eventually there is was, just the lights though; we knew this was Moruga, but closing the gap between us, the village lights and the statue was an immense challenge.
Nothing however is too challenging for the CoolBlue team! Up next... Moruga to Quinam!