Trinidad 2003, 2006, 2014-2023
Trinidad
November 2025 from various Trinidad trips 2003, 2006, and 2014-2023
Trinidad is a smorgasbord of cultures. There are Caribs, the original inhabitants, then Europeans, Africans, Indians, Chinese, and Muslims. As a result, they have more public holidays than any other place I have traveled. In 13 trips averaging two weeks in length, I don’t think I have ever hit on a time there wasn’t a holiday. They have holidays for national events such as Labour Day on June 19, Independence Day on August 31, and Republic Day on September 24. Then they have Christian Holidays which include Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spiritual Baptist Shouter Liberation Day on March 30 (repeal of a law banning Spiritual Baptist and Shouter faiths), the Feast of Corpus Christi day, and Christmas. For the Muslims there is the Eid holiday, which signals the end of Ramadan, for the Indians there is Indian Arrival Day (Britain outlawed slavery and switched to indentured servants) on May 30 and Divala for the Hindus. For the Africans, there is Emancipation Day on August 1. To start and end the year, there is New Years Day and Boxing Day on December 26. Boxing Day is a British Holiday to remember those less fortunate. For rich persons, Boxing Day is when they might switch roles with their servants.
I am not a foodie in my travels. I’m not picky, but give a choice will usually gravitate to western food over local cuisine. However, there are two dishes in Trinidad I really wish were available at home. Doubles is a breakfast dish usually sold by street vendors. It has two tortilla type fried breads called baras (the two baras is where the name doubles comes from) and filled with a mixture of chickpeas, peppers, and other ingredients. You can specify how spicy hot you want these, but go easy at first. Their hot is HOT! The other dish is only sold up north on Maracas Beach as far as I know and is called bake and shark. It is a fried shark filet on a bun or flatbread. I find this particularly satisfying because not only does it taste great, I also get satisfaction in eating something that, given the opportunity, would eat me! There were other local treats that friends in the office would bring and share when I was in that I sadly don’t remember. If you happen read this, Shayena, please use the comment section to enlighten me!
In the far southeast corner of the island, Trinidad has one of the largest tar lakes, Pitch Lakes, in the world. I audited a vendor located in a free trade zone business park next to the lake and noticed a road sign in the huge business park stating “Be Mindful of Land Movements!” Well, anytime I see something that unusual, I have to ask. Pitch Lake continues to regenerate and the heavy tar actually pulls the land around it in and down. This got the best of my curiosity, so Cissy, a coworker from Accounting and I decided to stop by the Pitch Lake and take a tour. The guide was very informative as was the museum at the end. The Lake was very valuable when discovered in the early 1500’s because the tar could be used to repair leaks in the ships. In more modern times, it was actively mined for asphalt until it is only a fraction of the original size, but still up to 100 acres. The guide marched us out on the asphalt. Some parts were hard and could be walked on, but would sway as we walked across them. Then at one point when we were in the middle of the lake, the guide used a stick and showed how one pool was still wet and he poked the stick down in it. At that location, I had the brainstorm to ask just how deep the lake was. The guide replied it was 250 feet deep. And how exactly do we know where to step and avoid the soft spots?! He said to follow him and we’d be OK. It wasn’t as easy as you’d think to see the hard spots. It was rainy season in Trinidad the and lake was covered in puddles we continued to traipse through
I’ve covered driving in Trinidad, which may be more erratic than Americans might be accustomed, but unlike Houston, is more passive and doesn’t include obscene gestures or shooting. In Trinidad, I have often come to a stop sign at a busy cross street with endless traffic. I would count to 10. OK 5. Maybe 3. Then I would inch forward. Traffic in both directions would stop and allow me to go. This wouldn’t happen in Houston even if I was driving a school bus or an ambulance with lights and sirens! There are no speed bumps in all of Trinidad. While there are bumps in the road to encourage cars to slow down, these are referred to in the British manner as a “sleeping policeman.” That may be the only part of driving in Trinidad that seems more aggressive, although it is passive aggressive, than Houston - running over a speed bump and calling it a sleeping policeman. Other signs I have noticed include and entry to the port in the capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain. The sign says “Welcome to the Port of Port of Spain. It sounds like the sign has a stammer. Another sign is at the drive entrance to Movie Town, a shopping and restaurant mall in Port of Spain. It says, “NO cursing, NO loud music, and NO Bandanas.” There will be some disappointed cowboys.
I covered the difficulty of driving on the left side of the road in my previous Trinidad email. It ended with me running into a support column in the parking garage and damaging the left front fender. What I didn’t cover was the replacement car Emile gave me. I tend to work pretty late in Trinidad because for some reason my boss only sends me there alone. This is the sequence of mistakes starting in the afternoon and continuing that evening when I left the office after everyone else was gone:
Mistake #1: Giving me a new car simply because I broke the old one.
Mistake #2: Leaving keys on my desk to the Toyota Corolla with no explanation of the additional fob on the chain. Or the green and white acorns.
Mistake #3: Using the buttons on the actual key to unlock the car. A siren goes off like there has been a prison break at San Quinton.
Mistake #4: Using the alarm button on the wrong fob to try and turn off the siren. Now in addition to the 200 decibel siren, the horn starts blaring and the lights start flashing.
Mistake #5: OK, not a mistake, just a fact – the car is located in the parking garage shared with the US Embassy Annex.
Mistake #6: Pushing every button on both fobs and trying to not look like a terrorist or felon.
Mistake #7: Pushing every button does not help. Green and white acorns are apparently only for cheesy decoration. Can get into car, but key will not turn or engage. (I think there may have been a flash and a photo upload to Interpol.)
Mistake #8: Finally getting the #&@*$! car to SHUT UP. Afraid to do ANYTHING. Go back upstairs to the office looking for help and an alibi.
No one to ask. When I finally calm down, I reason that there is a supplemental alarm that has been added. This is to protect the car from unqualified drivers. I deduce that perhaps I should pretend there are no buttons on the key and only use the fob. I am thus able to override the unqualified driver protection and take control of the vehicle. I am now probably going to die at least 5 years sooner than God originally intended.
I retired last year and I will miss my annual treks to Trinidad. I made so many friends on the island and they will all be missed! During my 10 consecutive years auditing in Trinidad I always did the audit of the local branch operations and 5-10 vendor audits alone during two weeks in country. Granted there was a lot of prep work and I had some direct reports that did a great job helping. Two weeks is still a short time and there were always new areas to review. Since I retired my previous boss sends three auditors! This last year, they thoughtfully sent me pictures from the beautiful vacation island of Tobago where they went one weekend. I never made it to Tobago. I worked!
I’m thinking I’ll call my Trinidad restaurant Doubles Down…