My husband made this
trip with me and I was very curious about what his experience would be like. He longed to go to Trinidad for many years
and when we finally got there neither he nor I could believe that he was truly
there. He saw one of the places where I
lived, the hospital where I was born and places where I had eaten when I lived
in Trinidad. He loved Trinidad very much
and is already looking forward to going back.
His only wish is that the heat would not be as intense as it is.
Our hotel, in the heart
of Port of Spain, has a panoramic view of the ocean. This great location also offered the best
sunsets I’ve seen anywhere. The colors
that the sky takes on during dusk are mesmerizing. My husband especially enjoyed the view from
the pool, where we watched boats and ships as they sailed by. I enjoyed the same view from the room. We could get to all major points from this
location, many of them by foot (albeit slow due to the heat), or by a short car
ride.
My husband loves zoos, and
we always go to the zoo in any new city we visit. So of course, we visited the Emperor Valley
Zoo at the Queen’s Park Savannah, which has a great collection of exotic animal
exhibits, birds and aquatic life, including a 16-foot anaconda found in the
swamps in Caroni, Trinidad. This is
currently one of the zoo’s main attractions.
We also walked around the Savannah (the world’s largest roundabout) and visited
the Botanical Gardens where we saw horticulture beyond our imagination. There were very old trees, very tall trees,
brightly coloured plants and flowers, some of them strange looking and ones we
had never seen before.
Walking around the
capital city of Port-of-Spain brought back so many memories of my
childhood. The sights, sounds and smells
were all still there as if I had never left.
The sidewalk vendors are a permanent fixture in Trinidad and tell of the
entrepreneurial spirit of many Trinidadians.
They still sell many of the treats I grew up loving and realized that I
still love. My husband tried only
minimal local cuisine (not risking upsetting his stomach with intense
seasonings and spicy heat that he’s not used to), but I got my fill of the
foods I grew up eating, that were so fresh and finger-licking good. A popular place near the docks in Port of
Spain is called the Breakfast Shed. But,
if you imagine order bacon and eggs or waffles and syrup, you can forget about
it. The Shed serves heavy duty meals that
are sure to sustain you throughout the day.
It is a good place to get a true taste of the local cuisine (pepper
sauce on the side).
Independence day was
only a couple of weeks before we arrived in Trinidad and the city was still
draped with every size of the national flag hanging from every building, street
lamp, tree or pole that was in sight. The
city was beautiful to see covered in the national colours of red, white and
black. It gave me a real sense of pride to be there during this time and my
husband was proud to be there with me.
We did not make it to
Tobago, but we hope to get there on our next trip so stay tuned for part two of
this blog.
Written by Screenname
TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R) on 10/10/13. All photos taken by and are property of
TriniDiva (a.k.a. NSL-R)
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