Monday/Tuesday
I am getting ready to go to bed for my second night in Trinidad. The first day was absolutely phenomenal. When we descended into the airport we watch the temperature go from -50 degrees Celsius (this was at 35,000 feet) to 25 degrees Celsius on the ground. We landed at 7:00 AM and had to wait for a while to go through customs, but even the long lines couldn’t get us down – we’re in TRINIDAD! We flew in to Port of Spain, and we are staying in Chaguanas.
Shane was there to greet us at the airport, it was so nice to have a familiar face on the other end. When we walked out of the air conditioned airport that’s when it really hit. It was a full ~30 degrees once you count in the humidity. There were palm trees, and we could see the northern mountains. The whole package of landing and arriving was surreal.
On our way home we stopped for doubles, which is this breakfast dish that has awesome spices and chickpeas in this bready stuff. Shane’s dad was super nice and bought them for us. Once we got home we sat down and had our first authentic Trinidad meal – it was absolutely amazing. After breakfast we all went down for naps – there was not much sleep to be had on the plane ride here.
Later on we took the maxi taxi to the beach – with stops at the side road stands for sweets and we stopped at two places for beers. Here you can drink on the street, in the cab, at the beach... it is a very different culture from Canada. Also, if you pick up a beer it’s $10 Trinidad and Tobago Dollars (TTD), which is about $2 US. I am not a big beer drinker, so I usually pick up a Smirnoff for $15 TTD (~$3). Yes, I know what you may be thinking, but this is almost LCBO prices, but at a small bar on the side of the street and you can take it to go. That’s right.... welcome to Trinidad. I got some really cool stuff called sugar cake at the sweet shop – it’s sugar and coconut and who knows what else, I don’t because it was awesome.
The beach was better than any photo can make you visualize. The sand and the water were white and blue, and we were surrounded by the northern mountains. All of us went out in to the water and played in the waves; we either body surfed or jumped up and down in motion with the little waves while we waited for a big wave. The whole experience was so care free.
For dinner Shane’s mom made us Roti, which was incredible. Shane’s mom is very hospitable and is always making sure we are happy and fed. After dinner we just hung out on the balcony sipping rum until it was time for bed.
Our second day (Tuesday) Shane made us a wonderful breakfast of sausage and scrambled eggs that had cool stuff in them. His mom bought us some sweet bread which was also tasty. We went to Carnival, which is the two days before ask Wednesday where essentially everyone parties. There is a parade with people in beautiful masquerade clothing that had feathers, sequins and tons of body glitter. There were men and women in the parade. It was so hot out, I can understand why most of the costumes were pretty much elaborate and beautifully decorated bikinis.
Shane’s mom cooked us dinner again, I will have to get the name of the dish, but it was beef, rice, peas and some more awesome spices. I am showered and ready for bed, but everyone else is still downstairs playing cards and drinking rum. Normally I would be too but we have to be up at 4:00 AM for Tobago tomorrow, I am super pumped.
Tobago! (Wednesday)
Tobago was phenomenal – I could easily describe it as a vacation away from our vacation. We took a ferry (The T&T Spirit) there; the ride was about three hours. I missed them but some of the people I was travelling with saw dolphins from the back of the ship. There was only one small deck in the back, unlike the ferries that go from the mainland to the island in Vancouver. On our way to Tobago from the back of the ship we could see Venezuela. Once we got to the island the ‘whities’ had to hide while Shane haggled with a maxi driver to get a good deal to take us to our accommodation. If locals see that you’re tourists they will always take advantage of the idea that you have plenty of money with you.
We stayed at a place called Arthurs By The Sea, which was about a block away from the beach. It was a modest little motel but it met our needs perfectly. On the day we arrived we went out a glass bottom boat tour where we got to see different fish and coral species and we even got to snorkel. It was amazing to experience how laid back the entire island is.
The evening in Tobago was really something else. I am going to say that it involved a lot of Puncheon and leave it at that.
The next morning (Thursday) we packed our things and left for a hike up to Argyle Falls. The falls were spectacular and one the way in we got to try eating the fruit of the coco tree. When we sat in the falls the falling water felt like a gentle massage. The natural beauty if the island was truly astonishing.
Just before we left for Trinidad to have some of the “Best KFC in the world”... It did the same things as normal KFC...
The ferry ride home was really chill, everyone was pretty tired.
Friday
Today was a pretty chills day, we did school work at Shane’s place in the morning and afternoon. This consisted of mainly rock mechanics, but some open channel hydraulics got in there too. In the evening we went to Shane’s friend’s place for chicken burgers and some adventure. We stopped at a side street stand for raw oysters. They are served in a cup with a concoction of sauces. I wasn’t a huge fan but they were really cool to try. We went to what we would consider to be a sketchy bar for a few drinks then headed home for more rum and cards. We played all fours and president.
Saturday
We went to a pitch lake, which was really cool to see. A sketchy tour guild totally tried to hustle Shane when he saw that the maxi was full of tourists. We ended up getting this other guy that was pretty cool. We walked out onto the lake and apparently the water that sits on top has sulphur and iron in it and is good for your skin ailments (bug bites etc).
After the pitch lake we went out to San Fernando hill which had some really cool geology.
On Saturday we visited two Hindu temples. The temples had exquisite carvings all of which were done by hand. The temples were very peaceful.
Sunday
Today we went for a boat ride and it was completely off the hook. The culture here is just so different. Not only can you drink on the streets, in cabs and on beaches, but apparently you can get loaded on boats too – including the boat driver. We drove the boat to a small island and essentially dropped anchor and partied all day. We were the loud obnoxious party boat with music and beer/whisky/rum flowing freely. There was one guy from Columbia that was by far partying the hardest. To put it bluntly he put on my dress/beach cover up and danced around in it. He also felt it was appropriate to give one of the people on the boat a full on strip show, save for pulling down the part of his underwear that covered his front intimate areas.
On a geology note, we saw some really cool iron staining, boudinage and quartz veins. There were tons of mica rich rocks too.
