Well folks, we made it. I’m not sure where to start on the day, because there is so much to say. We got off in Miami without a hitch—Jason with guitar in tow, me checking and rechecking that I hadn’t left anything behind, as usual.

Jason and his new guitar!

We ended up with 2 full empty rows to ourselves on the plane, so we caught up on the sleep lost in anticipation last night, then read a magazine article or two and landed in Trinidad just after 2 p.m.

I spotted my first foreign bird about 15 minutes out of the terminal, called a kiskadee. It’s a yellow chested one with a white crest on its head, and while I didn’t hear it, they are reputed to have a call that sounds just like their name. We jumped in a cab with Members Only Taxi, and our driver Sterling whisked us off to Chaguaramas with a short stop for some Trini fast food in between. We had curried potato, rice pilau, and potato cake, plus a bottle each of sorrell shandy, a sort of mixed beer drink that has flavor from the sorrell fruit, which blooms here around Christmas. It was cold, red and sweet.

Once at TTSA in Chaguaramas, we met John, some of the TTSA locals, and Kijro. She’s definitely still undergoing some refitting, but she should be a seaworthy vessel for our journey. The refits will provide some creature comforts as well. We had dinner at a little Italian place, where John gave us the basic rundown on the “rules” of living in Trinidad, and John has promised us some of his special goat curry tomorrow evening. We’re sitting under the open-air pavilion touching base with the world right now, and in a few we’ll head to bed for our first night aboard.

I can’t believe we’re here!