Aripo Documentary - Behind the Scenes
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Tales from the dark side - the Aripo experience
I don’t claim to be a country boy, and I don’t think I fit the mould of the city slicker. Nonetheless, I did find it a bit daunting when I was handed the assignment to direct and produce the latest installment of the Environmental Management Authority’s video series on Trinidad and Tobago's Environmentally Sensitive Species and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESS/ESAs). I’d already spent five days in the Matura forest seeking the Pawi, and seven nights in the Main Ridge forest documenting the White-Tailed Sabrewing Hummingbird. This time though, the film crew was hunting the country’s apex predator, and the only wildcat in the Caribbean archipelago… the ocelot. It meant that our task included living in the deep forests of the Aripo Savannas, hoping and praying for success where many have failed… and all in a very limited window of 15 days. Mission: Aripo Ocelot. First thing’s first… you can prepare all you want, but plans tend to go awry in the bush. The jour