Trinidad and Tobago

Visited: October 2015

Duration of visit: 4 days

Capital city: Port of Spain

Population: 1.4 million (2015)

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

• The biggest asphalt lake in the world, La Brea, offering a unique experience of walking over semi soft bitumen.
• Driving around the island, enjoying tropical forest, while avoiding scary encounters with oncoming vehicles.
• Relaxing on a beautiful sandy beach in Maracas Bay.
• Delicious Indian food in Port of Spain.

Trinidad and Tobago is a beautiful twin-island nation in the Caribbean region, just 10 kilometers from the coast of Venezuela. It has been a popular Caribbean destination for centuries even though, unlike most Caribbean nations and territories, which rely heavily on tourism, the Trinidadian economy is primarily industrial with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals.

Much of the nation’s wealth is derived from its large reserves of oil and natural gas. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is one of the region’s wealthiest and most developed countries.

Trinidad and Tobago has the third highest GDP per capita based on purchasing power parity (PPP) in the Americas after the United States and Canada.

It is recognized by the World Bank as a high-income economy.

Port of Spain is the capital city and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago, located on the west coast of the island of Trinidad and is the country’s second-largest city after San Fernando. I landed at the airport and took a local transport to downtown, where my Airbnb rental unit was located. The owner took a few minutes off from her work to receive me and explained about access to the room.

Port of Spain is not dependent on tourism, as are many Caribbean capitals, but has a diversified industrial base, including the production of rum, beer, margarine and oils, cigarettes, plastics and building materials. There are sawmills, textile mills, and citrus canneries.

I explored the city on foot and immediately noticed a significant diversity of races present in the streets: Spanish, English, French, African, Indian, Middle Eastern, Chinese and Portuguese.

As a consequence of mixed races, a wide array of influences is reflected throughout this rather small city. For example, authentic Indian restaurants with kari, roti and many other Indian dishes are delicious, inexpensive and widespread.

Trinidad and Tobago commemorate the biggest celebration of Divali in the Western Hemisphere.  Known as the Festival of Lights, this religious festival celebrated by the Hindu community is enjoyed by the entire population.

At the center of the city is the business district, Gothic-style Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Queen’s Park Savannah – the city’s largest open space and a popular site for recreation. I enjoyed walking around this area that turns into many cricket fields in the afternoon and weekends. Alongside the park are some monumental buildings constructed in the early 20^th century, outstanding from the modern architecture of the city. Most were originally built as residences and kept within families for decades.

The Magnificent Seven consist of: Queen’s Royal College, Hayes Court, Mille Fleurs, Ambard’s House, Archbishop’s Palace, Whitehall and Stollmeyer’s Castle. The structures were designed in an array of architectural styles including French Colonial, Scottish baronial, Indian Empire, and Moorish Mediterranean styles – often blended with Caribbean architecture. I didn’t visit any of these buildings from inside, but from outside they are outstanding structures and still in very good conditions.

A modern Port of Spain National Academy for the Performing Arts is completely different from the Magnificent Seven. It was built in 2009, outfitted with a 1,500-seat theatre, dance room, piano room, sound lab, a lobby, a hotel and a spacious auditorium.

Its modern style with glass and curved lines make it one of the most attractive buildings in Port of Spain and host of The Trinidad and Tobago film festival: an annual festival and year-round screenings host films from and about the Caribbean and its diaspora, as well as from world cinema.

I rented a car and took my partner around the island to explore the lifestyle on Trinidad countryside.

Driving on the left side of the road has always been a challenge for me, but in an old, rundown Nissan Tiida the task was even more difficult.

Heading to the north through dense forest on the curvy, narrow road was a thrilling adventure, whenever we encountered a car or truck aggressively approaching from the front.

The central line was usually missing, so it was not clear where the center of the road was, but a few times I had to retreat to the edge of the driveway and almost stop in order to avoid an accident. After passing through the mountains section, where stands with pickled fruits on the edge of the roadway were strategically located at some beautiful viewpoints, we descended to Maracas Bay – one of the best beaches in the vicinity of Port of Spain.

A gorgeous bay with white sand, palm trees and blue-green waters, offered us a peaceful retreat for the rest of the day. Waves are just the right size, warm water, strategically located coconut palms, polite and modest beach vendors and almost empty beach on a working day, were perfect to fill up the batteries and enjoy the unspoiled nature.

Unlike many of the northern beaches of Trinidad, Maracas Bay is protected by a deep bay. It is one of the most well-known beaches in the island of Trinidad, as it is considered by some to be the most beautiful beach of its size located relatively close to the capital city.

Located at La Brea in southwest Trinidad, Pitch lake is the one of only four asphalt lakes in the world, with the largest supply of natural bitumen, estimated to contain 10 million tons. The others are in Azerbaijan, California and Venezuela.

The lake covers about 0.40 km² and is 76 meters deep. Even though I haven’t seen many activities during my visit, it is said that approximately 300 tons of material is extracted on a daily basis. The surface of the lake looks like a grey tennis court covered with wrinkled structures that remind of an old skin of elephant or rhino.

I hired an experienced guide in a visitor center to show me around, keep me safe and explain about the mysterious origin of the lake. He wasn’t that knowledgeable and didn’t provide a lot of information, but took me to the spot with a hole, where semi soft bitumen was in a more liquid stage.

It doesn’t smell strong and it is not hot, but when gigging with a stick it wraps around and it starts to flow back to the ground.

While walking on the surface I felt like bitumen was alive and softly moving with its hissing and burping sounds.

Small pools of water form on the surface during the rainy season and apparently the locals bath in the lake. The movement of the asphalt tends to make strange noises, when people walk on the surface as the pitch heats and cools during the day. Soft spots in various sections act like quicksand, so without a guide, the walk could be too dangerous.

Trinidad and Tobago is famous for spectacular beaches, untouched nature, African heritage, being the happiest place in the Caribbean, the Carnival known as the Greatest Show on Earth. It is also the birthplace of steel pan – the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, the only acoustic musical instrument to be invented in the 20^th century.

Still, during my visit, my impression was that tourism and foreign visitors have not impacted the local culture, economy or lifestyle. People are friendly, prices are acceptable, options for self-discovering of the island are many, the infrastructure is one of the best in the whole Caribbean.

I might come back one day for a celebration of history, culture, fashion and art all fused together to produce sensational music, sweet sounds of steel-pan and vibrant, colorful costumes – the famous Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival.