We flew out of North Carolina late Sunday morning.  Some of us left from RDU and the rest from New Bern.  We all met up in Atlanta and took the same flight down to Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago.  The Atlanta airport had several display cases that showed animals or animal parts that are illegal to carry on a flight due to their endangered status.  I spent most of the flight to Trinidad sleeping, trying to prepare myself for late nights on the beach.  Once we arrived in Trinidad, it took almost two hours for everyone to get through immigration and customs before we were ready to head out.  We piled our luggage into a big white truck and loaded ourselves into a huge van and set off for Matura.

The airport is located in the western part of the island of Trinidad and Matura is in the eastern part of the country.  We arrived at Suzan’s Guesthouse around 11pm and were greeted with delicious food and warm hospitality.  The guesthouse is owned by the chairman of Nature Seekers, the NGO we are working with here in Trinidad.

Many of us were exhausted from the day of travel and were ready to sleep after dinner.  I went to bed with full anticipation of the next day’s events.  It’s hard to believe that we are finally here.  I cannot wait to explore Matura and learn more about Nature Seekers.  Tomorrow night will be our first night on the beach to see the Leatherbacks.  This will be my first fieldwork experience with animals.  What better way to start then with these amazing creatures!