Trinidad’s Carnaval fun-filled for trio

Joanne Szabo

As we toasted the ending of 2002, we exchanged our thoughts and

adventures of the past year. Our next topic of conversation, was

“what are you doing in 2003”?

Our conversation centered around work, family and the customary

weekend getaways, until Diane mentioned that she was going to visit

her Mom in Trinidad for Carnaval.

Trinidad, Carnaval, Party, Relaxation ... my friend, Samantha and

I, quickly put down our glasses, and gathered more details.

Diane was visiting her mom, who is the librarian at the

International School in Trinidad. She had timed her trip to coincide

with Carnaval!

For the next two months we corresponded with her mom and sent our

measurements for our extravagant costumes. When the discussion of

g-strings came up we renewed our commitment at the gym, but

ultimately decided to wear the conventional bikini bottoms. Whew.

On Friday, Feb. 28, we headed to LAX and were very bright-eyed on

the red-eye. Our two months of anticipation was about to be

fulfilled.

Carnaval officially lasts only two days, from J’Ouvert (2 a.m.) on

Monday to midnight the following day, Carnaval Tuesday. One can look

at that as “only” two days or 48 hours of partying! We rested up in

preparation for what was to come.

Bzzzzzzzzzz ... our alarm woke us up at midnight so that we could

get ready for J’Ouvert. J’Ouvert is the beginning of Carnaval and

consists of different parties around the city. We were invited to a

“paint party”.

We culminated in a vast courtyard and were encouraged to spread

paint on ourselves. Giggling, we put dots of blue paint on our face,

and a few creative designs on our arms. As we were observing the

energy that existed among our fellow paint party goers, a gentleman

came up to me, red paint brush in hand, and proceeded to paint my

entire face, head and pony tail. As 4 a.m. rolled around, the real

party was about to begin. The band loaded their equipment onto a

flatbed truck and we began marching through the streets. Dancing,

singing, laughing and walking, to the beat of the Calypso music. As

the sun came up, we were informed the party was over and it was time

to change our costumes, eat breakfast and report back for the first

day of Carnaval.

After scrubbing the paint off our bodies and out of our hair, we

slept for two hours and got ready to go back out. The first day of

Carnaval is somewhat of a warm-up. We wore the top to our “elaborate”

costumes with comfy shorts and marched thought the streets of the

Port of Spain. Because we were working on two hours of sleep we

headed back early and enjoyed some Shandy’s on the balcony of our

accommodations. We needed to get our beauty sleep for the next day.

Tuesday morning we adorned ourselves with our lavish costumes:

bikini’s with beads and sequins appropriately placed. We were decked

out with colorful headdresses, sequined wristbands, and our chiffon

wings attached to our shoulders. We were the “Hummingbirds” and we

were ready to fly.

This was the real thing. Thousands of people marched through the

streets of the Port of Spain. Each group belonged to a specific band,

ours was “Poison,” and danced along side the truck that the band

played on. We never strayed too far from our beverage truck that was

also part of our group. People lined the streets for the entire

eight-hour period. The variety of costumes, cultures, age groups and

spectators were entertaining enough to keep our mind off the fact

that we were gallivanting for eight hours in 85-degree weather with

90% humidity. The highlight of the day was parading on stage. As the

sun started setting, we realized that our 48 hours were coming to an

end. Ahhhhh, we were looking forward to the next arm of our vacation

... a little R&R.;

On Wednesday, we drove the curvy, long, winding rode to Maracas

Bay for some relaxation and the infamous Shark and Bake. After

satisfying our tummies, we took a swim in the 70-degree bay and took

a well-deserved nap.

The next day we took a two-hour taxi ride to the Asa Wright Nature

Center. As we exited the taxi we were welcomed by 500 acres of

beauty, covered with plants, trees and multi-hued flowers, with more

than 400 species of birds. After the three-mile hike we headed back

to town and boarded a motorboat to tour the islands near Trinidad.

Our vacation was close to ending, but we had one more day before

boarding the plane.

You may wonder, what else could we possibly want?

On Friday, we pampered ourselves with a massage, facial, manicure,

pedicure and eyebrow wax for less than $100. I was close to deciding

to move there, but figured I needed to get back to work. Our last

afternoon in Trinidad was unforgettable.

We were very fortunate to take a tour through the Caroni Bird

Sanctuary. This large swamp with maze-like waterways is bordered by

huge mangrove trees. We even saw a huge snake hanging from one of the

branches taking in the sun. The highlight of the tour was viewing the

Scarlet Ibis (Trinidad’s National bird). Just before sunset the Ibis

(a brilliant bright red bird) arrive by the hundreds to the foliage

in the middle of the island. As they land on the trees the island is

transformed from green to red.

As the sun set, we journeyed back to shore and headed home to

pack. We were sad that our week was coming to an end, but happy that

her mom is contracted to work there for another year! We will be back

for 2004.