The day after we arrived back from Tobago, Catherine Tardieu picked us up for some more island touring. She took us down to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Independence Square and also the Rosary Catholic Church on Henry Street all in Port of Spain. For the looks of things I don’t think it would have been safe if John & I came there by ourselves. Some of the areas we traveled through didn’t look all that safe. We were glad we were with someone who knew where to go. We then went up to Mount St. Benedict Church and Monastery in Tunapuna, which sits on 240 hectares ( 600 acres) at the top of a hill overlooking south and central Trinidad and offers spectacular views. The Monastery is home to 20 aging monks. When we reached the top of the mountain we met her mother, Maggie, who had prepared us a Trinidadian picnic lunch. She made Pe-lau, (pronounced either pi low, pe low), a spicy Caribbean meat and rice dish and contained rice, pigeon peas, beef and chicken. She also made three drinks; Fruit Punch (the best I have tasted); Ginger Beer (not alcoholic), grated fresh ginger, sugar, a small amount of baker’s yeast, and (optionally) lemon juice and is bottled in a 2 liter bottle. It is sealed at room temperature for a day or two before refrigerating; its other distinctive properties include its traditional cloudy appearance, its predominantly citrus sour taste base and its spicy ginger bite which we didn’t care for; Mauby, which is widely consumed in the Caribbean and made with sugar and the bark from a tree of the Buckthorn family. This drink has an acquired taste and a word of warning to first-time Mauby drinkers, “it can cause a laxative initial reaction”. I guess it was a good thing I didn’t drink much because I really didn’t like it. So much for new Trinidadian drinks for I think I will stick to things I know in the future.
The next couple weeks were spent on boat projects with John finishing putting up the new Kiss Wind Generator, whereas he had to get help from another boater to help put the unit in place. Now he is tackling the job of replacing the chain plate’s one on either side at a time. As of this article he has two replaced and working on two more with four after that to go.
After a couple of weeks we received a phone call from the Knaggs our newly found friends from Trinidad that they were going to pick us up on Friday the 11th of September and take us to see their home in Blanchisseuse, (pronounced Blon-she-suhze). It is derived from the French word for launderer – taken from the village women who washed their clothes in the nearby Marianne River. Blanchisseuse is on the north coast of Trinidad and we were once again traveling on the hilly, winding road along the coast towards Maracas Bay. From Maracas Bay the road narrows and the beautiful craggy coastline is dotted with weekend homes and can seem romantic or harsh, depending on your mood. The North Coast Road climbs over the mountains of the Northern Range, through a forest of tall trees, ferns and bamboo while hugging the Caribbean coastline. We finally arrived at another of their beautiful homes, a 4 bedroom with a pool, high on a hill overlooking the ocean. They had a plaque on the gate that read “La Bella Vita”, meaning “The Good Life”. After having a tour and a few drinks we continued on the North Coast Road until we came to their fishing village and went down to the quay to watch the fishermen unload their catches of the day. Each fishing boat is relieved of its motor and this was carried up on the shoulder of one of the natives. We saw him carrying up the steep incline a 40hp engine and then a 48hp engine with little or no effort and this was in the heat of the afternoon. Of course he was a lot younger than us! Each boat was then lifted out of the water by about 10-12 men and placed on the quay for tomorrow’s fishing expedition. All in all there were about thirty, 24’ fishing boats there. David purchased some King fish and they were cleaned on the spot and cut into steaks for grilling later. We returned to their house and walked down the steps to the beach and walked out in the ocean around the rock outcropping to the other beach next door. Once through the rocks it was all sand and easy going. We later swam in the surf but didn’t venture out too far as we had seen red flags flying when we past Maracas Bay Beach earlier that morning and I’m sure this was for rip currents.
Trinidadians have their own language, one of the most fascinating languages on earth. A few Trini (Trinidadian) words we have heard and have stuck in our lingo. We are called yachties here, not boaters or cruisers and Limin’ is hanging out, loafing or the art of doing nothing. I’m sure we will pick up more before we leave here after the hurricane season.
Today sitting here at the marina restaurant working on my articles, Charmaine who works here brought me over a “starch mangos” to try. This didn’t look like any mangos I have ever seen. It was yellow with spots on it and I was told to peel it like a banana and have my head over a dish or sink because it’s really juicy. According to her they have thirty seven different kinds of mangos
Carol is now getting ready for her trip back to Florida the 20th of September for three weeks and will visit with friends and family. John has ordered all kinds of “boat stuff” for her to bring back again this year and they are all taking up space at our son Steve’s house in Melbourne.
Stay tuned for more adventures from John & Carol aboard the S/V Sweet Caroline.