Sunday, November 19, 1995 - Trinidad

Robin showed up to see us off on the tour of the eastern side of the island, so I was finally able to return the ticket. It's a shame I can't use it. It will cost about $385 for a round-trip ticket just to Miami. We went past Queen's Park Savannah, which is a large, grassy park in Port-of-Spain. I'd been wanting to see it and wasn't disappointed. Then the bus climbed a high hill and stopped at an overlook. We could see all of Port-of-Spain, much of the surrounding area, and way out to sea. It was a great view. The drive would have been a lot more interesting if it had been narrated. The driver was supposed to tell us where we were, but he only did so when someone asked, and then his voice was so soft it couldn't be heard beyond the third row. I was very glad I'd taken my map with me. Without it, I wouldn't have had the remotest idea where we were. Went to Manzanilla Point and down the coast to Mayaro Point. What a lovely view! The ocean, with surf rolling in, was on our left and coconut palms on our right. There were a great many abandoned houses along the coast, and we wondered about them. Later, the driver told us that they had been resort houses, but when the oil platforms were built, a lot of oil leaked into the water and ruined the beach. What a shame! Then a hurricane blew all the roofs off the houses, so they were abandoned. It was one o'clock when we arrived at Mayaro, and we were hungry. The driver stopped in front of the Waterfront Restaurant. We took one look at the place and knew we weren't about to eat there. Maybe gringos are too fussy, but we want to stay healthy. After some discussion, the driver said he'd take us to a KFC, about 15 kilometers from there. He went back the way we'd come, which was disappointing; we'd been hoping to see something new. Instead of going to KFC, the driver stopped at a Royal Castle in Sangre Grande. At least it had clean restrooms, but that's about all it had. The menu consisted of hot dogs and "Veggie Burgers", whatever they are. Roy and I each ordered one. They turned out to be thin, crisp, fried patties of unknown ingredients on buns with lettuce and tomato slices. There was also a sauce that was too spicy for my taste. I was hungry enough to eat it, but I certainly didn't enjoy it. They didn't have anything decent to drink, so we had water. They didn't even have anything for dessert. We wandered around town, trying to find candy bars, but all the stores were closed. We finally bought some sorry cookies from some outdoor vendors. To make up for the lunch, the driver offered to take us to the waterfall. We were all eager for that. He drove up into the mountains. The narrow paved road turned to dirt and eventually ended altogether. We had to walk about half a mile up a trail to get to the falls, but they were worth it. They fell straight down in a mist from quite a height. There was a lovely rainbow. Reminded us of Bridal Veil. Nearly everyone but us had brought swimsuits, so they were able to go under the falls. We hadn't known there'd be an opportunity to get wet. Maybe that was announced yesterday when we were at the market. I waded fairly close to the falls anyway, so I could enjoy the refreshing spray without actually getting wet. On the way back, the bus konked out. For a while we thought we might have to push it, but eventually the driver got it going again. The sun was setting by the time we got near Peake's. The bus went all the way to the end of the road to drop a couple of people off, so we got to see what's out there. Were surprised to see a number of shops and some sort of hotel.