Trinidad 

For various reasons, Cindy needed to be out of town for her "50th" birthday. We were willing to go anywhere, but a fortuitous article in the Washington Post Travel section mentioned cheap tickets on BWI (BWee) Airlines to Trinidad. Since I had lived there for two years when I was in 1st and 2nd grade, I was really up to go back. I talked Cindy into it, bought the tickets, got a tour book, and off we went.

Click on the Thumbnails to see a larger image.
Trinidad Map.jpg (38613 bytes) This is Trinidad. It is right off the coast of Venezuela. We spent our time in the Northwest corner, with trips to Port-of-Spain and Blanchisseuse. We stayed the first three nights at the Coral Cove Marina Hotel in Chaguaramas (chag-a-ram-as). This is where the Navy seaplane base was where my Dad was stationed in the 50s. The fourth night we went to Blanchisseuse (blan-chi-shez), a little fishing village on the north coast, and the last night we stayed at the Hilton in Port of Spain, the capital.
Chag_breakfast_1_a.jpg (76123 bytes) This is Cindy having breakfast at the open air restaurant at the Crews Inn Marina in Chaguaramas. I had a Trini breakfast of salt fish buljos (I think). Pretty good, pretty salty. Cindy had eggs over medium. Chaguaramas is a big yachting center (can you tell). Everyone parks here over hurricane season to get lower insurance rates because Trinidad is south of the main hurricane line. All the restaurants we ate at in Trinidad, except for the last night, were open like this. The average year round temperature is 83° F, so open air in the shade is very comfortable, especially in the morning and evening.
Macqueripe_1a.jpg (59080 bytes) Here is the neat little beach at Macqueripe (mac-a-reep) where we swam everyday after school. It was about two minutes form the door of our house to the beach. We would get home from school about 1:00, it was considered too hot to go longer because the school was open air, no air conditioning. We would jump into our swim suits and run down to the beach, alone, at the ages of 5 for my sister Lori and 7 for me. There were always life guards there so it was okay. It was great! Some times we couldn't swim because there were sharks in the bay. The beach is now popular with the locals. It is inside a national park that takes up most of the old Navy base. 
Macqueripe_house_1a.jpg (98257 bytes) This is the very house we lived in. Note the playground next to it. We both remember that same playground. The house had screens and wooden plantation shutters on all windows, no glass. The maid lived downstairs. The gardener came almost every day. The house is still lived in. It is pretty run down, as are most of the houses in the area. Only one was well taken care of, but it looked great. 
Cove_marina_Rob_a.jpg (79274 bytes) We only took three pictures with me in them so I'll show this one. I am having a Shandy, a lager-based fruit drink with an alcohol content of 1.28%. This one is Sorrel. They are very tasty and we have already gotten some here. This place, The Cove Marina, is at the very end of the road in Chaguaramas. It is very native, with a great view. There is a typical Trini motor boat going by in the background. The drinks in Trinidad are always very cold. At this place they were REALLY cold. We came here a few times for drinks. At 1.28% per shot, who can get in much trouble?
Chag_native_boats_1a.jpg (76103 bytes) The native boats had high bows and outboard motors. They were generally gaily painted. They seem to be used for fishing and for hauling people and things around. There was a water taxi stop in front of one of the restaurants we ate at. People would just sit there and wait for a ride out to their boat. 
Arima-Blan_highway_1a.jpg (123772 bytes) These next three pictures are of the "Arima to Blanchisseuse Highway," the adventure part of the trip. This is in quotations because the road is about 1 1/4 lanes wide and is two-way. It is also extremely curvy and hilly to say the least. The good news is there are almost no cars on it. It is also very hard to locate. Even our tour book said they only found it when a local person volunteered to lead them to it. Well, the same thing happened to us. We stopped to ask directions and a man noticed us, stopped his car, got out and volunteered to lead us to it. Lucky he did, we would never have found it. He dropped us off at the highway and told us that there were some confusing places but that we would be alright.
Arima-Blan_highway_2a.jpg (100143 bytes) He was right, there were several confusing places and the road got so narrow, so beat up, and so long that we thought we had made a wrong turn several times. But we had not! It took us almost two hours to go this short distance (see map). This a shot of a straight portion of the road. Imagine a car coming the other way. Now imagine a car coming the other way at a corner. People often beep before going around a sharp corner.
Arima-Blan_highway_3a.jpg (58818 bytes) We finally found a place we could pull over and take a picture of the view from the road. There were two guys stopped here and they reassured us we were on the road to Blanchisseuse. We are just about to start down to the coast. Just a little way from here there was another ambiguous intersection and once again we were not sure we were on the main road. But we still were! We ended up coming out at a main intersection with the coast highway, right in Blanchisseuse.
Blanchisseuse_2a.jpg (112952 bytes) Blanchisseuse is beautiful. We stayed at Surf's Country Inn. $50 per night. The room had no air conditioning, the windows had screens and shutters, no glass, just like our old house in Macqueripe. We had a fan and we were pretty comfortable. I might mention that we were surprised to find that there were very few mosquitoes or other biting bugs in Trinidad. We got a couple of bites at the lunch table in Blanchisseuse, but they went away quickly and we didn't get others. This is the view from the "dining room" at the guest house. We ate all three of our meals here it was so good. If you look closely, you can see the walkway to the beach.
Blanchisseuse_beach_1a.jpg (51987 bytes) After lunch we walked down to the beach and I did a little body surfing. The waves were pretty big. Not fearsome, just pretty big. The beach was a little littered, but there were quite a few groups of people and everyone was enjoying themselves. Lots of body surfing and wave boarding. We did not have towels or beach chairs so we were a little limited. Next time we will make sure to bring beach things.
Blanchisseuse_4a.jpg (106404 bytes) Here we are again, on the lower level of the outdoor eating/drinking area. We are having a beer, me, and a Shandy, Cindy. Since it was Sunday afternoon, everyone else had left. I think most guests were locals. We were the only people there for dinner and breakfast. 
Blanchisseuse_3a.jpg (48820 bytes) Cindy is all dressed up for dinner. As usual we are seated outside. We had lunch right here too. Lunch was Barbequed Chicken with six sides that come with the meal. The sides were: Decorative Rice, Callaloo, Potato Salad, Coo-Coo, and Curried Garbanzo Beans. Each was more delicious than the last (and I hate Garbanzo beans). It was so much food that we split one meal. At dinner we again split a meal. At dinner the main course we chose was Curried Shrimp, because the curry at lunch was so good. For the sides we had a couple of the same ones as lunch and the rest new and again delicious. We loved this food. Cindy said lunch was the best meal she had ever had.
Blanchisseuse_5a.jpg (104550 bytes) This is the view from our patio area. Note the breadfruit tree center right. All in all, Blanchisseuse was a very nice experience. When we go back, we will spend at least two nights here and take a hike to a beach that can only be reached by a 1 1/4 hour walk. We will also make a 20 minute hike to the local waterfall. We didn't really have time for either one of these things, what with cocktails and all. 
Ant's_nest_a.jpg (93253 bytes) Ant's nest. I remember these from my childhood. Cindy was amazed. We took this picture for when her class studies ants.
Bannanas_a.jpg (88888 bytes) Bananas.
Yellow_flowers_1a.jpg (116582 bytes) Yellow flowers.
Mountains_1a.jpg (54153 bytes) We are now on our way back to Port of Spain via the Coast Highway, not the mountainous route we arrived by. I took this picture to give you an idea of the jungle covered mountains in northern Trinidad. We had to go through them again, but this time it was by a much straighter, lower route. The coast road was also wider and better paved. However, we got a flat tire. Our rental car was the pits and the lug wrench did not fit the lugs. We thought we were in trouble, but the next car by, a mother and daughter, stopped and asked if we needed help. We tried their wrench. It worked. We were saved. They were wonderful. They gave Cindy a big hug for her birthday and showed us pictures of their beach house in Toco (at the north-eastern extremity of the island). When we go back we'll rent it for a few days. They were very kind. The people were one of the nicest things in Trinidad.
Maracas_beach_1a.jpg (37326 bytes) The next stop was the big beach at Maracas. This is the big tourist beach in Trinidad. It is very well kept up and has life guards. We came here a few times when I was a kid. We walked around, had a drink at the local hotel, and went to find a...

Shark and Bake! I cannot believe I do not have a picture of one of the colorful Shark and Bake Huts. Shark and Bake is a local specialty that consists of a flat sheet of dough thrown into boiling grease where it puffs up into a "biscuit," which is sliced in two, and a slice or two of pan fried (breaded) shark meat shoveled between the halves. To this you add from a large assortment of condiments and garnishes. It is very local (mostly Maracas) and very tasty.
Yellow_bird_1a.jpg (82256 bytes) We are now sitting around the pool at the Hilton Hotel. We are looking at this beautiful yellow bird, high in the ban.., that is to say, palm tree. We had seen several beautiful birds on our trip, but this was the first one I could get a picture of. We swam and drank Shandys. 

 
Hilton_view_ Rob_a.jpg (62168 bytes) And at the end of the day, here is me perched on the balcony of the Hilton, over looking Queen's Savannah Park, Port of Spain, and the ocean, just prior to sunset. Then we went to dinner at a restaurant recommended by the concierge. It was called Battimamzelle, and we were celebrating Cindy's birthday. While it was comparatively expensive, the food was excellent. We also had cocktails, wine with dinner, and an after-dinner Jamaican Coffee. This was the only indoor dining experience we had in Trinidad, but it was great none the less.

That's it for pictures since we had to be at the airport at zero dark thirty. Great trip!!!