Two women who arrived at Piarco International Airport last Sunday night found themselves in an awkward situation when they declared to Immigration officers that they would be staying and sleeping overnight at the Emperor Valley Zoo, for a week.
One of the women also gave her surname as “Owlett,” and Immigration officers concluded the women may have been monkeying around, and subjected the visitors to almost two hours of questioning. The officers informed the women that the local zoo, like all zoos, accommodated only animals.
However, the American women insisted that they planned staying at the Port-of-Spain zoo, even though they didn’t have the Zoo’s address. However, after a thorough investigation the women were eventually allowed entry into the country. The Emperor Valley Zoo does in fact have a visitor’s suite. The Emperor Valley Zoo also falls under the Ministry of Tourism.
The duo — Senior Bird Keeper, Athena Wilson and Animal Care Supervisor for Birds, Janice Owlett of the San Diego Zoo came to Trinidad as part of an ongoing collaboration with the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago. While here, they spent time working alongside the local zookeepers in readiness for the new exhibit opening soon under the first phase of the Emperor Valley Zoo upgrade project.
They have also joined their local counterparts in some research work on local hummingbirds, some of which are on display at the San Diego Zoo, and are huge attractions.
The visitors amid their busy schedule, made time to enjoy the natural beauty of Trinidad, taking trips to the Caroni Swamp Bird Sanctuary and Asa Wright Nature Centre, followed by a visit to Maracas where they enjoyed bake and shark. Zoo sources said that the women’s pleasant research experience in Trinidad assisted in erasing their experience upon arrival at the Piarco Airport, where their first interface with Trinidadians upon arriving on Continental Flight CO 0418, Sunday February 27 just about 8.28 pm forced them to bring into play their computer “savvyness” while maintaining their composure. Immigration officials were suspicious of their declaration that they were guests staying at the Zoo and it took close to two hours to convince the officials. This was after they used their cell phone to search the Internet for the Zoo’s address and contact number, which to their chagrin they had left behind in San Diego.
Owlett and Wilson, are expected to leave Trinidad today.
