Trinidad and Tobago like most other Caribbean islands,
were settled by the Amerindians as they made their way up the Caribbean chain.
The islands have changed hands between the British, French and Spanish a few
times during the course of their history.
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| At Pitch Lake |
On July 31 1498, Christopher Columbus landed in Trinidad
and claimed the island for Spain. He named it after the Holy Trinity. The
Capital of Trinidad is Port of Spain and it has been the islands capital since
1757. The Spanish however had neglected the island for almost 300 years and the
Amerindians had all but been decimated when French Catholics started to arrive
and African slaves were imported.
In 1797, the British captured Trinidad and in 1838 when
slavery ended in the British Empire, recruitment of labour from other countries
took place, namely from China, Portugal, Lebanon and Syria. It wasn’t until
1845 that Britain started importing labourers from India and by 1917 over 144
000 had arrived.
Tobago was named Magdalena by Christopher Columbus as he
was leaving the Gulf of Paria in 1498 – the Gulf of Paria is the stretch of
water on Trinidad’s west coast and the mainland of South America.
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| Pitch Lake |
From 1627 to the late 18th century, Tobago changed
hands many times (between 24 – 31 times but who is counting) This was between European
powers – British, Dutch, French and Courlanders (now part of Latvia). In 1768,
Scarborough became the capital of Tobago. In 1776 the first forest reserve in
the western hemisphere was designated in Tobago and in 1781, the French seize
the island and made it into a sugar colony. The French ceased the island to the
British under the Treaty of Paris in 1814 and it wasn’t until after slavery was
abolished and the sugar industry collapsed that Tobago came under Trinidad’s
control. This was in 1889.
In 1908, the first commercial oil production took place
in Trinidad and in 1962 Trinidad gained independence from Britain. In 1976,
Trinidad and Tobago became a republic within the British Commonwealth. In 1990
there was an unsuccessful coup attempt made by an Afro – Islamist group called
Jammat al Muslimeen. In 2010 a new coalition government was formed under T
& T’s first female Prime Minister.
We were reluctant to go back to the boat as we had the car for two days and wanted to make the most of it, so we ended up at Movie World and saw a movie – Interstella….. I will not pass judgement. It felt good to do something quite normal or what we used to do in our “other” life.
Back to the present….. Monday was spent on the boat as we
had organised to hire a car for Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday evening though we
had a BBQ on shore – it was a potluck – and was attended by most of the
yachties anchored off in the Carenage where we are at present.
Tuesday we were at the car hire company as soon as they
were open and off we went to see what we could see…despite the awful weather we
were experiencing. We drove to Port of
Spain and were planning on heading further south to Pitch Lake and the Sea
Temple, but the weather was too awful and so was the traffic. We drove to Bamboo Cathedral but it was
bucketing down with rain so couldn’t get out to enjoy the area. We decided to
head for a HUGE shopping mall that we had passed to wait out the weather.
It is hard to believe that Christmas is around the corner,
as the shops where full with Christmas decorations, adverts, specials, etc.
The weather started clearing but it was now far too late
for us to travel further south to Pitch Lake and the Sea Temple, so we decided
to head east and see some sites along the way like Mount St Benedict Church and
Monastery.
We thought we were on the correct road for Mount St
Benedict Church and Monastery but ended up in Caura which was the first Arawak
settlement in Trinidad. We stopped next
to the river where there were quite a few people enjoying the many picnic spots
along the river bank. (Enlarge the photo to read the story about Caura)
After spending some time in Caura, we eventually found
the correct road to Mount St Benedict Church and Monastery and made our way up
there.
We were reluctant to go back to the boat as we had the car for two days and wanted to make the most of it, so we ended up at Movie World and saw a movie – Interstella….. I will not pass judgement. It felt good to do something quite normal or what we used to do in our “other” life.
Wednesday we were in the car and heading towards Pitch
Lake by 8.00am along with everybody else going off to work. The weather was a
little better than yesterday or so we thought but on our way to Pitch Lake
there was an accident on the main road so Ivo who had his GPS with him, decided
to show us a short cut. Well… it was certainly interesting as we ended up in
the middle of one of the main oil fields; saw a fuel truck empty its contents
into a ditch in the middle of nowhere and we went on “roads” that would have been better suited for a 4x4 than a Nissan family 4x2 car. Thank
goodness Mel is a pretty good driver – well I think so. I got
the giggles which
I usually get when I am nervous but also enjoying the experience. We even
passed what should have been the Oropouche Lagoon which is meant to be the
oldest pre- Columbian site in the West Indies dating back to 5,000BC and where
excavations of stone tools and the earliest skeleton anywhere in the Caribbean
have been unearthed. This is referred to as the Banwari Trace. Well, all we saw
was a dump site and a whole lot of vultures which are common in Trinidad. They
are everywhere!!! (The vultures)
There were some wonderful fauna and flora around and on
the Pitch Lake. Mel even went for a dip in the middle of the Lake – not many
people can say they have swam in the middle of a lake of tar!
It was very interesting to see as there was even the
cremation sight for the dead bodies…… on our way there, we actually passed a
cremation ceremony taking place. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop as the traffic
was horrendous and with all the road works taking place and the rain, it was
near impossible to turn around to have a “closer” look.
After spending about an hour at the temple, we made our way home but not before stopping at another HUGE shopping mall, where we had dinner.
.JPG)
Saturday, once again the weather wasn’t great in the
morning but it cleared up enough for us to head into Port of Spain where we had
been told about a Christmas event at the Queens Park Oval. When we arrived we
realised that it was mainly for very young children although apparently, much
later on the party turned into one more for adults. We walked around the cricket oval – they never
look quite the same in real life as they do on T.V. We couldn’t stay too long
as we knew we would have to walk to the main bus terminus and the last buses were
at 7.00pm. On our way to the bus terminal, we had to stop at the start of the
Brain Lara Boulevard to take a photo of his statue.
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| Pitch Lake |
We EVENTUALLY found Pitch Lake… but it was pouring with
rain.
Information taken from the Cruising Guide to Trinidad and
Tobago by Chris Doyle 4th edition 2012 - Pitch Lake – is described
by Noel Coward as “Twenty two tennis courts badly in need of repair”. It is not
a beautiful or scenic sight as, apparently in the tropical heat, the huge black
lake can become scalding hot and is known to catch fire. We would have no such
problems as it was pouring with rain the whole time we were there. Sir Walter
Raleigh “discovered” it in 1595 and used the “tar” to caulk his fleet of wooden
ships. It is only one of three natural asphalt lakes in the world and it is the
biggest. (The other two – one in Norway and the other in the USA)
“The million- year old pit covers 89 acres and
approximately 300 tons of high quality asphalt is removed daily”.
Mel and I decided to take a tour guide as there are areas
on the Pitch Lake that are not solid and people and “things” have been known to
fall in and do extensive harm to themselves.
There were some wonderful fauna and flora around and on
the Pitch Lake. Mel even went for a dip in the middle of the Lake – not many
people can say they have swam in the middle of a lake of tar!
After Pitch Lake, we drove to the Sea Temple in Waterloo.
This is a Hindu temple which was literally built in the sea by an Indian
indentured labourer Siewdass Sadhu who toiled for decades to build the temple
in the sea after being forbidden to build it on colonial land.
It was very interesting to see as there was even the
cremation sight for the dead bodies…… on our way there, we actually passed a
cremation ceremony taking place. Unfortunately we couldn’t stop as the traffic
was horrendous and with all the road works taking place and the rain, it was
near impossible to turn around to have a “closer” look.
After spending some time at the Sea Temple, we drove to
see the Hanuman Temple and Darratreya Yoga centre. The statue of the Hindu god,
Hanuman is the tallest of its kind outside of India (26m/85ft) and it towers
over the Yoga centre and mandir/temple. http://www.sanatansociety.org/indian_epics_and_stories/the_life_of_hanuman.htm#.VHvKFY0tD4g
A special event was taking place at the Hanuman Temple
and Darratreya Yoga centre as the main
spiritual leader from India was visiting
for the next 5 days. We were told that if you walk around the
statue of the Hindu god Hanuman and asked for a wish,
your wish would be granted. |
| The statue of the Hindu god,Hanuman |
After spending about an hour at the temple, we made our way home but not before stopping at another HUGE shopping mall, where we had dinner.
Thursday morning, we returned the car and enjoyed the
rest of the day on the boat catching up with chores, etc.
Friday – the weather was awful so we were boat bound for
most of the day although the weather did clear up in the evening so we walked
to the other anchorage - to Chaguaramas where there was another pot luck BBQ
for the yachties.
Saturday, once again the weather wasn’t great in the
morning but it cleared up enough for us to head into Port of Spain where we had
been told about a Christmas event at the Queens Park Oval. When we arrived we
realised that it was mainly for very young children although apparently, much
later on the party turned into one more for adults. We walked around the cricket oval – they never
look quite the same in real life as they do on T.V. We couldn’t stay too long
as we knew we would have to walk to the main bus terminus and the last buses were
at 7.00pm. On our way to the bus terminal, we had to stop at the start of the
Brain Lara Boulevard to take a photo of his statue.
Sunday – the weather was awful so it was a boat bound
day.
Our plans are as follows….. it looks as if we MAY have a
weather window on Thursday/Friday which may give us the opportunity to head to
Tobago although there is so much more to see in Trinidad! Decisions!!!
Until next time, take care.
Love
Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx
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| Caura - along the river bank |
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| At the shopping mall. |
.JPG) |
| Mount St Benedict Church |
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| Pitch Lake |
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| The Sea Temple |
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| The Sea Temple |
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| At the yoga centre |
