Day #8…Saturday, February 7, 2015

Port of Spain, Trinidad

Trinidad is the southernmost island in the Caribbean Sea and lies only seven (7) miles from the coast of Venezuela.  Christopher Columbus founded the island on his third voyage in 1498.  The island remained Spanish until it, along with Tobago, fell under British rule.  In 1869, both Trinidad and Tobago together became a single two-island crown colony.

The area of Trinidad and Tobago covers about 1000 square miles.  The island of Trinidad has a population of approximately 1.2 million people and the capital city, Port of Spain, has about 128,000 inhabitants.

English is the official language and the Trinidad and Tobago dollar (TT) is the national currency.  The US dollar is accepted throughout the islands.

Trinidad is one of the wealthiest and most developed nations in the Caribbean.  It is listed in the top 66 high-income countries in the world.  In the Caribbean, it is the second richest country next to the Bahamas.  Trinidad’s economy is strongly influenced by the petroleum industry and the island produces over 100,000 barrels of oil per day.

We boarded a bus with 17 fellow passengers and began a tour lasting four (4) hours, traveling the curving and mountainous roads of the island.  We began the tour in Port of Spain, a very modern and bustling city.  The metropolis is the hub of Trinidad’s booming economy and the center of the island’s rich cultural life.  Petroleum, tourism and spice trade are the major industrial endeavors for the city.  We were visiting the city during its Carnival celebration and the Queen’s Park Savannah, an area covering over 400 acres, had many colorful wooden structures set up to sell drinks and merchandise for the event.

The Royal Botanical Gardens was our next stop.  We walked through the grounds and saw many varieties of tropical and subtropical trees from India, Burma and South America. 

As we proceeded through the outskirts of the city, we stopped at Maracas Bay and enjoyed a taste of the local cuisine, a sandwich called bake and shark. The sandwich dough is rolled out very thin and deep-fried.  Shark, a mild white fish, is lightly breaded and deep-fried and together the bread and fish make a very delicious sandwich.

Trinidad and its sister island, Tobago, are considered the birthplace of calypso music.   Steel pan musicians were performing throughout the areas we visited.  The islands are also known for the game of cricket and we passed through the area of Queen’s Park Oval and viewed stoned areas painted with the names of internationally known cricket players in honorarium.

Our city tour included a look at The Magnificent Seven, a group of extravagant and eccentrically designed mansions that line the western side of Queen’s Park Savannah. 

Upon returning to the pier, we were fortunate in finding that the terminal had free Wi-Fi and we were able to read and send email messages and catch up on reading the on-line version of our local newspaper.  We visited some vendors who were showcasing their crafts, but were disappointed in the variety at the terminal itself.

After dinner, we played euchre with our tablemates and then retired for the night.  Tomorrow is a sea day, the first of five (5) in a row before we begin to visit several ports in Brazil.