Trinidad

Trinidad: The Caribbean Island That Takes Food and Music More Seriously Than Tourism

The steel pan was invented in Trinidad in the 1930s, the only non-electronic instrument invented in the 20th century to have been widely adopted. It evolved from the “tamboo bamboo” bands that used bamboo tubes for percussion until the colonial government banned noise-making in 1934, pushing musicians to experiment with oil drums and metal containers. The first proper steel pans appeared in the Laventille hills above Port of Spain. The annual Panorama competition at Carnival, where massive steel orchestras of 100-plus players compete, is the culmination of a musical tradition that started with a ban.

Trinidad is the southernmost island of the Caribbean, sitting 11 kilometres from the Venezuelan coast, and it feels different from other Caribbean destinations in ways that matter. The economy runs on oil and gas rather than tourism, which means the island hasn’t entirely configured itself for visitors. The food culture is extraordinary, the music culture (Carnival, calypso, parang, steel pan, soca) is genuinely significant in world cultural terms, and the wildlife is exceptional. But the beach resort infrastructure that defines other Caribbean islands is largely absent. If that’s what you’re looking for, go to Tobago instead; it’s 20 minutes by plane and a different character entirely.

Port of Spain

Port of Spain is a working Caribbean capital with traffic, markets, a colonial-era city centre that has been neglected and partially gentrified, and a social life that runs on rum and music. The Queen’s Park Savannah is a 260-acre open space in the middle of the city where people exercise, eat street food, and socialise. The Victorian buildings known as the Magnificent Seven, seven grand houses built between 1902 and 1910 on the Savannah’s western edge, are a mix of architectural styles from Baroque to Scottish Baronial. Some are in poor repair; the Archbishop’s house is extraordinary.

The National Museum and Art Gallery on Frederick Street is free to enter and has a small but worthwhile collection covering Carnival history, indigenous Trinidad, and the colonial period.

Carnival

Trinidad’s Carnival is one of the world’s great festivals. It runs for two days before Ash Wednesday, with J’ouvert (pronounced “jouvert”) starting at 2am on the Monday and the main parade on Tuesday. J’ouvert involves revellers covered in paint, mud, and chocolate moving through the streets in the dark to soca music from truck-mounted speakers. The main Carnival Monday and Tuesday parade on the Savannah stage involves elaborate costumed bands; sections of costumes can be rented from the band operators.

Carnival requires advance planning measured in months for accommodation and costume registration. Port of Spain fills beyond capacity. Prices triple. The experience is, for many people who do it, singular.

Outside Carnival, the steel pan orchestra rehearsals (called “panyards”) at the individual pan yards around Port of Spain run from approximately November to February as bands prepare for Panorama, the national steel orchestra competition. These rehearsals are open to visitors who ask. The sound of 100 steel pans playing in a panyard is not something you can anticipate.

The Leatherback Turtles

Trinidad’s north coast, particularly Grande Riviere and Matura Beach, hosts one of the largest leatherback turtle nesting populations in the world. Females come ashore from March through August to lay eggs; hatchlings emerge June through October. The village of Grande Riviere (two hours by road from Port of Spain) has organised eco-tourism around the nesting season. Local guides lead night watches; the numbers of turtles on the beach on a good May or June night are remarkable. Sometimes 100 turtles are present simultaneously. This requires a permit and an organised tour through the local community.

Asa Wright Nature Centre

In the Northern Range above Port of Spain, the Asa Wright Nature Centre occupies a former cocoa plantation at about 400 metres altitude. The veranda of the main house overlooks feeding stations and hummingbird gardens that attract over 400 species. Birding here is extraordinary even for non-dedicated birders: the variety and density of species is immediate. The centre offers guided trail walks through the forest, and the colonial-era main house functions as a lodge.

Doubles and What to Eat

Doubles are the street food of Trinidad: two small fried bara (flatbread) with curried chickpeas, chutneys, and pepper sauce. They’re sold from carts and stalls throughout the country and cost around TT$10-15 (about $1.50 USD). The doubles vendor at Curepe junction is the most celebrated, but they’re good everywhere. This is the food Trinidadians eat at 6am after staying up all night.

Roti (specifically “buss-up-shut,” the flaky paratha style) with chicken or vegetables is the proper midday meal. Sauce Doubles on Cipriani Boulevard in Port of Spain, and Sookoo’s in Curepe, are names that come up consistently. The coconut bake with shark sandwich at Maracas Bay is a beach food tradition with its own dedicated vendor culture; Richard’s Bake and Shark is the most famous.

Getting to Maracas Bay

Maracas Bay, on the north coast about 40 minutes over the mountain from Port of Spain, is the best beach on Trinidad. The drive over the Northern Range is itself worth doing: dense rainforest on both sides, dramatic scenery, and a road that was clearly not designed for the volume of traffic it carries on a Saturday. Arrive by 9am for a parking spot and a quieter beach.