We took a quick trip to see the in-laws in April. My sister-in-law and her husband and son met us at my mother-in-law’s house in Arouca. My brother-in-law and his daughter traveled from across the country to meet us there as well. For the first time in years (since Christmas some years back), my in-laws had all of their grandchildren in the same house (and country) at the same time for an entire week. We didn’t have much planned - just some much needed rest and relaxation. After all, Suazette was still on her course release, the kids were on Spring Break, and I had taken leave for the week. Perhaps we would visit other parts of the country that we never got around to seeing on our other visits.
But, what’s the first thing you do when all of the cousins get together? Why, you go to the beach of course! This beach was 8km past Maracas Bay and was a little crowded but we made it work. The view was stunning, especially at sunset. The cousins really enjoyed themselves.
We spent a day in the southern part of the country, learning all about mud and asphalt. First, we visited the Devil’s Woodyard. This is a site in Princes Town, Trinidad that has about a dozen still active mud volcanoes. It first erupted in 1852 and has been erupting every 20-30 years. The eruption in 1997 damaged houses and livestock and left 100+ people homeless. The eruption in 2018 followed a 6.9 earthquake and spewed mud and gas 6 meters in the air while the disc of mud spanned 100 meters in diameter. Today, there were just a couple of bubbles bubbling but the oldest kid was thrilled nonetheless.
After leaving the mud volcano, we traveled across the southern part of the country to go to Pitch Lake. This pitch lake is one of only three natural asphalt lakes in the world. This was “discovered” in 1595 by the Englishmen Walter Raleigh who with the assistance of the Amerindians used it to caulk his ships. Today, the asphalt is exported all around the world where it is used for manufacturing and road paving. After learning a bit of history, we took a swim in Pitch Lake – at sunset. This was the highlight of the day for me.
Even though its vacation, I fully believe in education outside of the classroom. How many seventh graders can say that they swam in one of only three asphalt lakes in the world? Or that they stuck their whole arm in an active mud volcano? My kid can. If you have school age kids, travel the world with them. It will do them good on their journey through life.
The thing about islands is that they are surrounded on all sides by water. But all water is not created equally. For example, to the north of Trinidad is the calm Caribbean Sea. To the west lies the Gulf of Paria. To its East is the mighty Atlantic Ocean and to its south is the Columbus Channel. So, with all of that water available, we had to be strategic in determining where we really wanted to hang out. We ultimately decided to visit beaches to the north and south. Yesterday, we visited Chagaramus Boardwalk at Williams Bay to the west (This beach had the calmest waves and shallowest waters yet.) and left the beaches to the East for another trip.
Sometimes you just need a day to relax. After swimming for a couple of hours yesterday, we visited West Mall. After the mall, we stopped by the Savannah for some Trini staples: pholourie, ice cream, and souse. Here are a couple of pics from the beach, mall, and Savannah. We didn’t have an agenda. Just family familying together.
We did even less today. We got our COVID tests and grabbed some doubles for breakfast and roti for lunch - and that is about it. You have to love the pace of life outside the US.
