I wish I had taken more pictures of our first day in Trinidad. I wish there was a way to upload the pictures seen directly from my mind and onto the blog. I wouldn’t have to fumble with my camera and wait for it to boot up everytime I want to snap a pic. Well anyway, you’ll see my crappy photos and not my mind pictures below.
The Central Experience Tour gave us an overview of the history of Trinidad and Tobago – from its start as a colony of Spain and then of the United Kingdom to its independence. The primary focus of the tour was the central region of Trinidad and its inhabitants who are mainly of Indian descent. They were brought to the islands after slavery was abolished. The sugar plantations on the island were hurting financially, so they brought indentured servants from India and reinvented slavery.
Pitch Lake – So glad we went on this tour. This lake was so much more interesting than we thought it would be. I thought it was going to be a small, hot, molten lake of tar- it was hot, but we were able to walk across the top of the lake! You still need to watch where you step because there are a couple spots that ARE molten. Some spots fart when you step on them. Some spots squirt water when you walk on them. And some spots are flammable!
San Fernando Hill – it’s a tall hill all by itself in the middle of town. It is revered by the native Amerindians and several ceremonies are held on the peak over the year. For most people it’s a popular spot for picnics and special events.
The Temple in the Sea – an indentured servant wanted to build a temple on his master’s land and was told no. So he said,”F. you, I’ll build it in the sea then! No one owns the sea.” So he did. He only got so far and then he died. Then some high mucky mucks finally helped and built it up to the way we see it today. The best part of coming here was our tour guide, Wendall showing us mudskippers in the mangroves! I’ve never seen live and up close mudskippers!
Statue of Hanuman – our guide Wendall described Hanuman as the St. Joseph of Hinduism! Ha Ha Ha! Anyway, at 85′, it’s the largest Hanuman statue outside of India.
Indian Caribbean Museum – informative museum of Indian indentureship and heritage. Lots of artifacts, documents and other stuff, would have been a lot more interesting if it wasn’t so dang hot outside. The mud house on the property is a replica of ones used by the indentured Indians and former African slaves.
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