This was a fun one. I managed to entirely keep it a secret from my wife that we were en route to Trinidad & Tobago. She thought we were going to Suriname first, with no idea we were stopping here.
I found an awesome house to rent, looked up some info on beaches & wildlife, and then we were there.
We saw lots of birds and frogs around the yard while we were there, which was really cool.
On our first full day, we headed up to the north coast to Maracas Beach, the most popular beach. We had a great time and managed to get a free giant umbrella from some people who’d rented it for the whole day but were leaving.
After getting our fill of the beach, we tried to pass off the umbrella. The family we offered it to was stupid enough to ask the rental company if that was OK before claiming, so of course they lost the umbrella. We drove further along the coast with no particular destination, just looking around.
Day 3, we explored the capital, which had this really cool building.
And also this monument. I’m sure most of these guys were forced to join, likely unsure why they were fighting in a war so far from home.
That night, we drove out to the east coast of the island to look for leatherback turtles laying eggs on the beach. We saw 3, and it was awesome. Amazingly, they go into a sort of ‘daze’ while laying the eggs, so the biologists and park rangers tell you all kinds of info during that part. Afterwards, during the process of hiding the egg site, if you don’t turn off your lights and keep quiet, the turtles will work themselves to death doing more ‘cover up’ work, so you don’t get pictures during that part. It was super amazing to watch.
Considering that the turtles come up to the beach late at night, then the 80min drive back to where we were staying, we got back super late. Waking up the next morning was brutal, but it was awesome.
We drove the other way on the coast, toward areas we hadn’t seen yet, and checked out some more vegan food. By far, the best option was Vistro, inside the mall. Youthful Vegan is all pre-cooked food that they’ll heat up for you, which doesn’t make sense as a restaurant. We also got some brownies from Upper Crust nearby, after we passed a giant ‘VEGAN’ sign in the window.
We actually had a rough day that day, possibly from our lack of sleep. I forgot to get my credit card after paying at Upper Crust, and we realized it while eating lunch at the mall later. When we went back to pick it up, my wife realized she’d left her cell phone in the public bathrooms at the mall before we left. Amazingly, we got both items back! The staff held my card; a nice cleaning lady found the phone.
After killing time, we were off to the airport for the flight to Suriname.
It didn’t go according to plan.
This entry was posted in caribbean, north america, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
