As many of you may know, I recently traveled to Trinidad with my boyfriend, Matt’s family for his brother’s wedding. And when I say recently, I really mean back in November. I’ve been meaning to post these images for quite some time, but life always seems to get in the way of being able to do everything I want to get done. Anyway, It had been quite a while since I had been able to travel very far, so I was excited to say the least. I am so grateful to Matt’s family for allowing me to join them on this amazing trip.

I had photographed John and Reesa’s engagement photos back in September. Those pictures can be seen here! Reesa is a Trini native and was the reason we were all traveling to this wonderful Caribbean utopia, so thank you, Reesa!

Although we only had about 4 days to enjoy the tropical paradise, I vowed to see and do as much as possible, and of course to catch as much as I could on camera. In total there were twelve of us traveling, including myself. We arrived Halloween night after flying most of the day and had about a two hour drive to get to the house we would be staying at for the duration of the trip. The taxi van was tightly packed with over half of us and all of our luggage. We spoke with the driver about what the must sees would be while we were there and what foods to try. He gave us a good list to start with and Greg took notes so we didn’t forget anything.

As soon as we began to drive, we immediately noticed some differences from the US. For starters, in Trinidad you drive on the opposite side of the road, so that made driving a bit uncomfortable for many of us. Also, speed limits are rarely enforced so everyone drives quite fast. The roads seemed much more narrow than what we were accustomed to, so that paired with the fast speeds made for some interesting car rides. Parking is a bit haphazard as well, pretty much anything goes. Most roads don’t have a shoulder, so cars would stop in the middle of the driving lane and we would have to swerve around them. Definitely something to get used to, although I can’t say that I did in the short time we were there!

When we finally arrived we got settled and began exploring the house, which was huge! Reesa had made sure that we all had KFC to enjoy first thing. We had all spent months hearing about the deliciousness that is KFC in Trinidad and how it is a different recipe than what they make in America. I love when Reesa describes something that she loves to eat, she always makes this noise like she is actually tasting whatever she is talking about and says “it’s so yummmmy!” She’s adorable! She was right though, the chicken with the different spices was absolutely delicious! Normally I’m not one to eat fast food, but we all devoured the huge bag that was supplied to us in minutes, maybe in part because we were also all starving from our long journey.

Although it was dark, we were all so excited to have finally arrived and wanted to see what this new place had to offer. The air was thick and warm. The average daily temperature in Trinidad is around 80°F and the average humidity hovers around 75%. We discovered a coconut tree out back as well as some creepy crawlies which were only semi-visible because of the limited light we had to work with. After a few failed attempts at knocking down a coconut, we decided to pick it back up in the morning.

The next morning I took these images of our rental home and the surrounding houses in the neighborhood. Our surroundings were so beautiful, from the gorgeous and unique houses to the lush vegetation everywhere I looked. It was all just so picturesque, I was pretty much in a photographer’s dream.

After exploring close by, we all decided to go for a walk to see what was around. We discovered all sorts of fruit trees; from star fruit, to mangos, to plantains and more! Trinidad basically has two seasons; the rainy season, from June through November and the dry season, May through December. Throughout the year, different fruits are available.

The wildlife was anything but scarce. There was a tree in the backyard that was covered with these huge caterpillars, which I later learned are officially named Frangipani Hawkmoths. They were chowing down on the leaves of the tree and in the short four days we were there, they had managed to pretty much devour the entire thing. The size of these things was quite spectacular and unlike anything I had ever seen. I couldn’t get enough pictures of these guys. There were also little lizards everywhere we looked. They lounged on the tree branches and scurried along the walls that bordered the property. I had such a blast that first day just capturing all these things that were so foreign to my normal environment.
With the wedding fast approaching, the future bride and groom, Reesa and John, were quite busy. We didn’t see these two love birds the first day. After a bit of exploring, the guys decided to restart their mission of getting a coconut. I decided to document their unwavering determination. This entire process of getting the coconuts down from the tree, to breaking through the husk and finally getting to that delicious coconut water, took hours. Nothing could compare to the sense of triumph they displayed when they had completed their mission though.
As the boys were completing their task, one of Reesa’s good friends, Tarriq, arrived to show them all up. He quickly demonstrated the “correct” way to open up a coconut. This literally took him all of a few seconds. Tarriq quickly became a great friend to all of us. He graciously took time out of his life to be our tour guide/chauffeur for the next few days. He ended up staying with us and shuttling us around. Since we had not rented a car and because there was so many of us, he often had to make multiple trips to bring us all somewhere. What an awesome guy right!?
Tarriq had a wealth of knowledge that he willingly shared with all of us. He also showed us how to make what’s called Chow. This is a delicious snack that is a mixture of sour and tartness with a bit of heat that’s comparable to nothing else that I have tasted. He made this with something called pommecythere, but it can also be made with mangos, pineapples, plums or other citrus. Traditionally these tart or citrus fruits are then paired with some heat from a spicy liquid marinade. Yum!
I found a recipe that sounds similar to what I actually had the pleasure of tasting:
http://caribbeanpot.com/tag/trinidad-chow/
The plans for the day were a bit uncoordinated, so we ended up going to the mall not too far away. Tarriq had to take us in two trips because there was so many of us. We walked around the mall a bit and then decided to get something to eat. We went to the food court and looked for something authentic. I decided on Roti, which is typically a curry stew consisting of potatoes, sometimes vegetables and meat of some sort folded into a wrap made of Indian bread. I decided on duck. What I didn’t know was that it is typical for the meat in these things to not be trimmed off the bone, so on my first big bite into my wrap, I chomped right down on a bone. Ouch! I ended up eating the rest of the wrap with a fork, which resulted in some curious looks, not that we weren’t already sticking out like sore thumbs. It was quite obvious that we were tourists, but we didn’t mind. After eating we hit up the grocery store that was connected to the mall. We stocked up on Caribbean chocolate bars and Trinidad local beer, both Carib and Stag. Because there is no law against drinking in public and we had a while to wait for another one of Reesa’s friends to come help shuttle us all home, we just hung out in the parking lot and had a couple cold ones. Tarriq also showed us an awesome trick to open a beer with the cap of a soda bottle. He was literally the best guy to have around!
Stay tuned for Day 2 🙂