Trinidad is
a large island off the coast of Venezuela.
It’s a cruising destination mainly for boat maintenance and cultural
activities, as well as getting away from the hurricane belt. Cruisers don’t go to Trinidad for the beaches
or snorkeling because there really isn’t much of that. There are some beaches on the north side of
the island, but not nicely protected ones.
The ones on the east side of the island have no anchoring areas and people
go there by land mainly to see huge leatherback turtles lay eggs on the
beaches.
There are
two main anchorages, both in Chaguaramas.
One is at the Trinidad and Tobago Sailing Association. There are moorings there and room to anchor. The other area is off most of the marinas and
boatyards. There are also moorings there
as well as anchoring space. Other
anchorages are near the Yacht Club on the road to Port Of Spain and one at
Scotland Bay, which is a deep bay near the Boca coming into Trinidad.
The Trinidad
people are warm and friendly and it seems that when cruisers go to Trinidad,
there’s always something to keep them there longer than they think they will
be. It has some of the best provisioning
in the Eastern Caribbean and quick access to boat parts. It’s well out of the hurricane belt, so it
gets crowded in the summer. The food is
great and inexpensive, - but beware of the hot sauce. Trinis love HOT food! Most of the food is made mild and they add
sauce to it, so it’s usually not a problem at restaurants.
My favorite
is roti, a curried mix of chick peas, potatoes and chicken (or goat, shrimp, or
just more veggies) wrapped up in a roti shell, which is like a tortilla but
with a totally different texture and taste.
A Bake ‘N’ Shark is usually found at one of the northern beaches, carnival
or other events and is basically a fried fish sandwich. The combination of the freshly made bun and
fried fish with whatever else you want to put on it is just a wonderfully
unique flavor. Another staple usually
found at markets and on the streets is a “double”, another curry favorite. There are two small pieces of flat bread,
different from a roti skin, but similar, with curried chick peas on them and
rolled up. Sloppy to eat, but very good. Carnival is a great time of year and there are events for two weeks leading up to carnival. I tried to attend most of them, including J’Ouvert – which starts about 4 in the morning. Loud music, groups of people in costumes marching (they use the word chipping) down the street, some with painted faces, some covered in oil (yes, motor oil), and some with mud on them. We were told it was a “special” clean mud. Part of the fun of this event is knowing that sooner or later you will get mud, paint or oil (or all of it) on yourself. Everyone has been warned in advance, so we always wore clothes that were close to being rags anyway.
Carnival
music is blaring everywhere for weeks (months) before carnival and if you’re
there for any length of time, you’ll find a favorite or two. There’s new music every year and I have CDs from
the two times I was at carnival in Trinidad.
For the parade days, Monday and Tuesday, most businesses are closed and
streets are jammed with people, bands and parades. There’s really no way to see it all. But we always wore ourselves out trying to see
as much as we could.
I spent so
much time in Trinidad that I felt like it was home, and went back so much that
our usual maxi-taxi driver, Jesse James, always gave us hugs and told us
“welcome home”. It’s not your usual
tropical island that you think of when you think of Caribbean islands, but it’s
got almost anything you need.
Check out a
few of my slide shows of Trinidad…..
Trinidad
Flora and Fauna - http://youtu.be/xz86x05MdZk
