We had a real cruiser adventure this weekend, renting a car and driving (on the left side of narrow roads up against experienced local drivers) and found our way up in the mountains to one of the Caribbean's first nature preserves. The beautiful house was originally made for a coffee plantation but now houses a hotel and headquarters for a large bird sanctuary in the Arima valley in the northern mountains of Trinidad. Carrie and I, along with our trusty sidekicks Robin and Cheryl Wilson trekked up the winding mountain road and into the preserve where we had lunch and then walked a guided tour through the woods in the afternoon. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the local plants, flowers, leaf cutter ants, and various birds in the area, but the best part was chillin' the rest of the afternoon away on the veranda enjoying the parade of birds (many hummingbirds and other species we are still identifying) raid the many feeders the center has laid out. Not looking forward to the drive back we lingered longer. Next time we might let someone local do the driving. Costs more but less stress.