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House and Pet Sitting in Trinidad

We don’t normally blog about pet sitting, but this is a trip we will want to remember! We were invited to look after this beautiful home on Trinidad and Tobago. Our hosts were extraordinarily generous in lending us their car as well as their family and friends so that we could experience the country like a local. A week before our departure, the country announced a State of Emergency because of drug crime incidents, so we had second thoughts about going, but in the end, we actually felt safer there than in London.
The villa was located in the rolling hillside of the Maracas Valley, yet just 25 minutes from the capital, Port of Spain. What a pleasure it was to chill on the verandah with its gorgeous views and with beautiful birds flying in to say Hi.
We felt we had found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
We looked after a sweet dog who loved to be walked every day but who really didn’t want us to leash her. Thank goodness we had a lovely neighbour who came to leash her and to hold her while we cleaned her ears.
We also had to manage an invasion of African snails! Because they could destroy every plant in their path, the Government even offered a bounty per kg of snails. We collected dozens every time it rained!

Markets and Food

We went to local markets every week.
Our favourite was Macoya…the farmers there were so interesting and friendly and their produce so fresh and organic.
Enjoying some souse at one of the stalls.
We became such regulars at Macoya market that we got to know some of the traders. We absolutely adored chatting with them as well as other shoppers who regularly offered recipes for vegetables on the stalls.
This market trader, who was the Head of Agricultural Science for hundreds of schools, even invited us back to his place to admire his garden.
We loved discovering fruits and veg new to us like this palm tree fruit called Peewah which, once boiled, tastes like a cross between chestnuts and artichoke hearts…
…and this poix doux aka ice cream bean (in hand), mamey sapote which tastes like green mango and black sapote aka chocolate pudding.
Inside the mamey and black sapotes. The black variety might look a bit like chocolate but we prefer the real thing.
Ground provisions are an intrinsic part of the West Indies diet. Many, such as dasheen, eddoes and cassava, were brought over from Western Africa. Some such as sweet potatoes and yams, were already cultivated by the first pre-Columbian Nations such as the Caribs and the Arawak. With the exception of a little salt meat or fish once a month which is all that plantation owners were obligated by law to supply, these roots, which they had to grow themselves outside of their very long work hours (i.e. at night) were the only staple enslaved people could rely on. Under such a regime, many died early, as much from mistreatment as from infection and malnutrition.
We were quite shocked by the immense amount of plastic used in supermarkets and everywhere. Trinidad is one of the world’s highest users of single use plastic in the world per capita.
The choice of hot, hotter and hottest pepper sauces in supermarkets was bewildering.
Snacks and nuts strangely sold in bottles. It was a challenge to find certain products like tinned tomatoes (there are plenty of fresh ones) and fresh milk.
We also found aisles just selling Waitrose products. We wondered where we were for a second.
Doubles is the country’s national dish – channa ( chick peas) and dhal spiced with chadon beni (aka culantro) and pepper sauce all rolled into two fried ‘bara’ breads. Everyone is so proud of the dish and, whenever we met people, their first question was always ‘Have you tried doubles?’
A much healthier dish we had regularly was roti with callaloo, pumpkin and green mango in a tamarind sauce.
The food reflected Trinidad’s huge Indian population which arrived in the late 19th Century as indentured labourers. They are known as East Indians as opposed to those coming from other parts of the West Indies and to those Indian tribes who had been living on the island before Columbus arrived there in 1498. Today, the country’s ethnic origins are 40% Indian, 40% African and the rest mixed including Chinese with an increasing community of Venezuelans given the troubles there, just a few hundred miles away – yet, the Trinidadians as a society seem to be very integrated. Inter-marriages are not rare.

Hiking

We joined a few hiking groups which explored the beautiful spots around Trinidad. By walking and chatting with real locals, we got a really good glimpse of what it’s like to live in Trinidad
This was a dream hike to a waterfall…
where we showered under the falls
and relaxed in gorgeous rockpools.

Adventuring

We took a boat trip in the Caroni swamp to see some of Trinidad’s incredible flora and fauna.
The mangroves were amazing: their roots rose out of the water and also hung down like vines.
30,000 scarlet ibis live in the swamp. They do not turn scarlet until they turn 3 years old.
They become scarlet because of their heavy diet of red crustaceans.
When they return to roost every evening, their home looks like a Christmas tree.
We were also lucky to see flamingos…
and blue herons, but it will be the ibis returning home to roost that we will never forget…
We spent a beautiful day at the Point-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust
The snakebird is so impressive in the way that it spears its prey, throws them up and widens its neck to swallow them whole.
We probably got a bit too close for comfort for this expectant mother.
Even more impressive were the trees and plants. This giant lotus has a stem full of long soft fibres from which the rarest and most expensive vegetable silk in the world is spun.
We had always imagined that calabash, used in many parts as vessels and cooking instruments were some sort of gourd, growing on the ground but in fact, they hang from trees!
Most beautiful and unusual was the fruit and seeds of the mahogany trees – they disperse very much in the same way as sycamores and maples do but on a larger scale.

Liming

Lots of ‘liming’ – chatting and drinking with friends.
One spectacular lime took place directly on the ocean front where we spent the whole day chatting while looking in awe at scarlet macaws flying by.

Carnival

Carnival has been celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago since the 1780s. It was great to learn and take in all the fascinating parts of the history – its music, costumes and characters.

We attended a Junior ‘Pan’orama festival with thousands in the Savannah, which is a huge park in the very centre of Port of Spain.
Watching panists practice backstage was a joy, as was the sight of a Man United flag flying…
We loved the sound and tradition of the pan and took the opportunity to talk to panists: this professional panist plays a Genesis Pan which has a bigger range of notes that can be used for classical and jazz scores.

The steel drum was invented in Trinidad in the 1920’s and forms a core part of the country’s culture. The steel drum culture is also in itself fascinating: the various bands, just like football teams, have dedicated followers who attend performances to cheer them on, especially during the prestigious Panorama competitions. We had the incredible experience of a ‘pan crawl’, where we walked with thousands of fans from pan-yard to pan-yard to watch the bands rehearse, and also watching the bands compete on stage in Queens Park Savannah. Our favourite band (below) was the Trinidad All Stars which had around 120 players, young and old, all dancing and playing with joy and producing an amazing sound.

The J’Ouvert festival marks the official beginning of Carnival, a whole month after Carnival celebrations begin. It is on the Monday before “Mardis
Gras” – along with thousands, we danced through the streets for miles from 3am covered in mud and paint!!
Mud men were on hand.
By the time the sun rose, we were definitely in need of a shower.
We were accompanied by a great band and really friendly people who taught us how to ‘chip’ (a dancing shuffle). Moko jumbies (representing protecting spirits) led the way.
They would sometimes stop to entertain us and frighten off evil spirits lurking in the dark..
…and they occasionally stopped for a well deserved rest too.
The day after J’Ouvert, people ‘played mas’ (as in masquerade) with beads and feathers – more like the Rio carnival – but there was no way we were going to walk the streets half naked.
It was really nice to see older people take part too…
but we were more than happy to just be bystanders and admire, especially after J’Ouvert. We also went backstage to see the costume makers hard at work.
The kids carnival was in fact much more interesting than the beads and feathers version.
Kids begin their carnival experience from such a young age.
They can “play mas” on a traditional theme such as African origins…
or be creative. We guess this boy is a fan of The Lion King.
The children came in groups from schools or clubs and dressed beautifully and creatively. This group came as steel pans.
This group came as the character Dame Lorraine who has been celebrated in Carnival since the late 19th Century as a way to make fun of French colonial plantation wives in their fancy gowns.
This breakout group of bumblebees were plotting their next pollination.
The grandest costumes, worn by just one person, were displayed in a ‘Kings and Queens’ festival and assessed by a large panel of judges on “Dimanche Gras”, just before J’Ouvert..
Throughout carnival, we met people dressed as folkloric characters, including the Midnight Robber who tells exaggerated tales of adventure to entertain and educate. His character is rooted in African traditions which travelled to the Caribbean during the slave trade.
…and the Blue Devil or Jab Jabs (from French patois diable): freed slaves chose the devil as a way to portray how they viewed slave owners.
Our favourite characters were the Moko Jumbies who at times felt spiritual and at other times (below) were full of joy.

While the god Moko is associated with the Maasai people from Congo and Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago have added their own unique touch to the divine Moko Jumbies. Traditionally, Moko watches over his village, possessing the ability to foresee danger and evil because of his towering height. Men on towering stilts would represent Moko, performing awe-inspiring acts that were beyond human comprehension… something like what these performers achieve. Trinidad’s adaptation of the Moko figure began during slavery and colonialism when African descendants kept the spirit of Moko alive in their hearts, while adding “Jumbi” (meaning ghost or spirit) to the name. Moko Jumbies quickly became an integral element of Trinidad’s Carnival, assuming the role of protectors of the city and its revellers, warding off evil forces.

Calypso

We were excited to learn about Calypso and to listen to some old classics, like those from Mighty Sparrow and Lord Nelson. The songs tend to provide a commentary on politics or society in a risqué and often hilarious way. We were lucky to attend the final Extempo competition to see the current crop of calypsonians. Accompanied by a live band, they were required to ad lib songs based on a random subject given to them on the spot. They ad lib in rhyme and choose one of several calypso tunes, like Santimanitay, literally ‘without mercy’. The grand final below is called Extempo War where the two finalists rip into each other. They were brilliant at their craft, although the misogyny and homophobia present in their words were a bit shocking, in reality reflecting the macho attitudes still prevalent in Trinidadian society.

Art

Trinidad’s community is small and felt close-knit (and maybe claustrophobic to some). A beautiful part for us was to actually meet the artists behind the paintings hung in local galleries, thanks to a friend’s close ties in the country’s art scene.
We were so taken by the artist’s painting of Maracas Bay that we decided to visit the source of his inspiration. A dream beach.

Just before and just after our seven week stay on Trinidad, we had more traditional holidays on the nearby islands of Tobago and Grenada.

Tobago

Tobago’s most famous spot – Pigeon Point – was in fact teeming with tourists. We got lucky for the pic but then made a quick escape…
….and explored some of the beautiful, serene and empty beaches dotted around the coast. This trip was all about long walks, swimming and snorkelling around the many reefs.
The sunsets were stunning!
We hired a guide to take us through Gilpin Trace, the oldest protected rainforest in the Western hemisphere…
…where we played Tarzan and Jane.
Our guide pointed out this home of a ‘trap door spider’ which creates a perfectly spherical door in the earth and bangs it shut to trap its prey. Incredible!
The guide showed us some beautiful birds, including this blue-collared mot mot.
Gilpin Trace is famous for its hummingbirds, but as they darted around so quickly, we decided to take a closer look at a nearby retreat.

Grenada

There is a good reason why Grenada is promoted as Spice Island. Nutmeg is growing everywhere including on some of the trails we took. There’s even one on the national flag.
This was also the first time we have seen cloves growing.
We learnt that vanilla has to be pollinated by hand with a toothpick, hence its cost.
The chadon beni: it looks like an inedible thistle (chardon in French) but this plant’s leaves taste like strong, citrussy, coriander, so it is blessed (beni in French). It is used to flavour pretty much every dish we ate in Trinidad, and is a key element of “green seasoning”.
Papayas here tasted so ripe! And we loved the way they hung directly off the entire trunk.
The sweet and fibrous jackfruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world.
Grenada is a tiny island, less than 10% the size and population of Trinidad, and is more reliant on tourism, particularly on the cruise ships which stop by. It also produces some of the finest cocoa in the world, so we decided to make the arduous effort of visiting the isalnd’s producers. Belmont Estate in the North still produces chocolate in the traditional way: after fermentation, the cacao beans are dried on huge trays before sorting for size and roasting. We saw workers sorting every single bean by hand.
Our favourite was Crayfish Bay Organics. Its estate was tiny but the love and care they gave for their cocoa was as beautiful as the chocolate they created.
Another other trip we made was to the River Antoine rum distillery which produces rum traditionally all the way from producing their own sugar cane through to the manual bottling process. We loved the way the fermentation turns boiled sugar cane juice into pungent rum. The River Antoine rum is 75% proof and not aged, so it is white rum and nearly strong enough to clean wounds!
At the River Antoine distillery, the process of scooping sugar cane juice into different vats for condensation through boiling is still entirely manual….heavy job and tools, unchanged since the 1780’s.
We went on hikes described as moderate,
but which proved quite a challenge.
Still, we were always well rewarded at the end of the hikes by a glorious waterfall and rock pool.
Our trips were great but what we really wanted was to get away from the cruisers and venture on a road less travelled. We went to the far north on the west coast and barely saw any tourists.
This was our favourite day: we decided to try to find the Amerindian Petroglyphs, left by the Carib first nation in the north of the island. They are around a thousand years old, so pre-Columbian, and are thought to have been drawn by shamans to mark where ancestors gathered. They are sadly not preserved well at all: people walk on them and some, we were told, even wash their clothes on them.
We will surely remember Grenada most for its glorious beaches and sunsets. We spent most of our time just relaxing and reading – an old fashioned holiday.

Next

After a few weeks back in London, we’ll be volunteering at a botanical garden in Italy which is breeding and reintroducing a species of butterfly endemic to the area.

6 Comments. Leave new

  • RALPH HASSOUN
    March 20, 2025 10:57 am

    Je n’ai qu’un seul mot: WOW.!!!!
    Quelle belle expérience si bien racontée. Profitez bien mes très chers.
    Je vous embrasse
    Ralph

    Reply
  • James Curtis
    March 20, 2025 4:01 pm

    Amazing!

    Reply
  • Nancy Diamond
    March 21, 2025 12:50 pm

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful experiences! It feels like I took the trip with you. Your life looks so enriched by your experiences. You send the message loud and clearly, “Live life to the fullest”. Hope to see you soon. Sending love to my cousins. Hopefully you will soon come to New York.

    Reply
    • admin
      March 22, 2025 9:09 pm

      This experience in Trinidad really was special, although of course it meant nothing compared to seeing our American cousins! We miss you!

      Reply
  • Rena
    March 21, 2025 9:17 pm

    Wow so lovely to see you have visited my parents homeland!! Beautiful pictures and videos, brings back fond memories to me, especially the scarlet ibis and of course, Carnival!! Tobago is beautiful too! Thank you for sharing all of your lovely adventures 🙂 Rena xx

    Reply
    • admin
      March 22, 2025 9:06 pm

      We didn’t know that! We are in SW now for a week if you’re around for a coffee, it would be great to catch up. DM if you’re free. Love, J&S

      Reply

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