The following day began in a similarly relaxed fashion, but that afternoon, after liming with the neighbors for a while, my brother and I decided to explore the more immediate vicinity a bit. We were accompanied by one of the next-door neighbors, Wendy's cousin Natalie.

We were led to a drainage canal behind the street, which passed through a somewhat undeveloped, lightly forested area behind the neighborhood. Things that must have seemed mundane to a resident were fascinating to me. The area seemed to be bursting with life in a way that only the tropics can be. I remember thinking to myself that it would be hard for anyone to go hungry in Trinidad, as fruit-bearing trees seemed to be everywhere, offering their produce freely.

We hadn't been walking long before we stumbled across an incredible find: a huge (some five inches or so), stunning caterpillar, which I was later able to easily identify as a frangipani hornworm, larva of the tetrio sphinx moth (Pseudosphinx tetrio). It sat on the giant leaf of what Natalie identified as a dasheen bush, the roots of which are used in some traditional Trini dishes. I later learned that this was the same plant that I knew as taro (Colocasia esculenta).

We carefully brought the caterpillar and its leaf perch back to the house for further examination, and were greeted by a cacophony of people driving slowly through the streets, shouting political messages through megaphones and handing out flyers. After investigating to see what all the fuss was about, my mother, Wendy and some family members who had continued to lime after we set off came to see our find, and we were quickly joined for a second miniature expedition.

Seen but not photographed were countless other botanical wonders. Our guides pointed out a calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), the gourd-like fruits of which are carved and decorated to make small purses, musical instruments, cups and other items. Flowering birds of paradise and fruiting guava trees flourished along our path. At one point on our walk, Wendy and Natalie excitedly stepped off the trail to visit a fruiting tree that they simply referred to as "plum." The fruits were very unlike the sweet plums that I was familiar with (they were much more tart), and I was later able to identify the tree as a Spanish plum or mombin (Spondias sp.), not at all related. The bountiful nature of the area was apparently enjoyed by more than just the human denizens, as I heard several times the raucous calls of parrots unseen in the treetops.

We arrived back at the house after our short but highly rewarding adventure and were intercepted by one of the neighbors from across the street, who had seen that my brother and I were carrying cameras and kindly invited us into her garden to take pictures. She had numerous plumeria trees, on which we saw several other frangipani hornworms.

We spent the rest of the evening uneventfully at the house, but our introduction to the rich backyard flora and fauna was more than enough to make for an exciting day.