Carnival and Tobago

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I realize its been far too long since I've written anything, mostly due to the chaos of carnival and being busy with my research. I've done so much in the past few weeks hat I'll no doubt forget to write about a lot of things, but I'll do my best to remember!



So carnival started with J'ouvet, which is from 2am until at least midday (given that this was the night after insomina fete, our sleeping patterns were really suffering)! We played J'ouvet with a band, which provide a DJ truck, you get unlimited free drinks and follow them round for the night. The idea is that you throw paint/mud/chococlate basically everything around at each other while walking round the roads of Port of Spain. There are THOUSANDS of people doing this and the city is absolutely rammed, and still covered in paint now 3 weeks on. J'ouvet was loads of fun and somehow (I think mostly due to the Soca music which is played for the whole time and really does give you some magical energy) we managed to stay until past midday. I also managed to talk my way into sitting on the alcohol truck, were I was handing out free beer to anyone and everyone! However, walking over the Savannah (the massive field which is were everything happens in Trindad) in the midday sun, covered in pain, significantly drunk (and still drinking) with very little sleep was definitely pushing the limit - i swear we saw a helicopter land on the road next to us, but none of us can really remember if we were just hallucinating or not. Anyway, we managed to get a taxi home, which drove through the city which was now busing due to it being the first day of carnival. The taxi driver was great, firing a watergun out the window at girls on the street and generally getting us in a good mood for carnival. The rest of the day we tried to sleep and watched the beginning of carnival on TV.



Tuesday is the big day for carnival, where you go 'on the road' with your mas band (we were playing mas with Harts) and then you 'cross the stage' at the Savannah and then walk round the city, drinking and dancing literally all day, in the boiling sun. People dance on top of the parked cars, on every wall, LITERALLY EVERYWHERE. Our band hand a tuck which sprayed out cold water, which was so good when it was reaching midday, and just played more and more soca. (I'm not going to lie, by the time youve heard every song about 5 times you start to get a tiny bit sick of it). We even lasted until the after party, which went on until 9pm (considering we started at 6am, that was quite an achievement).



After so little sleep and so much drinking, the remainder of the week was pretty much a right off, spent in bed and eating takeaway. We did go to a bar on Saturday night for a few drinks, were we met an odd group of people who we sat and chatted and drank rum with. And then they insisted on drunk driving us the whole 30 second drive home (Trinis dont walk ANYWHERE).



Sunday we went on a hike with a hiking group the guanapo gorges (google it, theyre really pretty). This was definitely one of my fave things we did yet. You hike through the jungle for about 45 mins and then you have to swim, jump into pools, and wade through water, past snakes and spiders and stuff. It was so good and so refreshing after a week of carnival. Also just to empahsise how small Trinidad is, we'd already met/spoken to a few of the people on the hike, just out of coincidence!



The week days again were pretty much all research and nothing to exciting - handing out surveys and talking to farmers etccc.

Although on Wednesday, we spent the day working in Earle and Sonias place (the people who hosted us the first week) They cooked for us and we just chilled (or as they called it here 'limed') at theres, and then ended up staying over. It was really nice to be fed so much good food and just hang around there. There house is just always full with people liming, I doubt Sonia and Earle even know most of them!



By Friday night we felt recovered enough to go out drinking again, this time to a club right by our house we did free entry and free drinks for girls all night. Can't complain about that!! Though the music choice were slightly strange going from power ballads to soca. The club also had a smoking area directly on top of a petrol station, probably not the safest idea.

We also went to a nature center on the Sunday, were we wandering round the jungle and saw some AMAZING colored birds. We also saw an iguana and had a very close encounter with death. It was just me and sophie who went to the nature centre and we were following a trail which went into a cave, which looked to be open on the other side. We were building up the courage to walk through until we literally heard the most horrendous animal noise, seriously what i imagine a bear would sound like. So we both sort of just stood there like, did we imagine that? Then we heard it again and I don't think either of us have ever ran away from anything so fast!!



This weekend we went to Tobago and oh my god its such a beautiful place!!! Trinidad isn't so much what you imagine when you think Caribbean. Its much more industrial and rugged. Tobago however, has the unbelievably clear water, Caribbean beaches and is so much calmer than Trinidad. There is also so little crime there, its refreshing to be able to walk around by yourself at nigh!

We got the ferry over to Tobago, which was definitely the roughest journey I've experienced. We;'d be warned before that nearly everyone gets seasick on it, but I didn't imagine how bad it would be. It seems ridiculous that they would even run a ferry service that is that rough! and Its not like its a little boat, its 800 people and ALOT of cars. I generally don;t get motion sickness, so I was probably one of the very very very few who wasn't puking up everywhere. I mean it, its all you hear. Every corner, every sink, every toilet people were puking. Even the men, who were trying there best to seem cool and not bothered were not okay. It felt like you were dropping about 30 ft every few seconds. The highlight of the jounry though had to be a couple of drunk trini men who kept up a constant commentary and took the piss out of everyone throwing up. The trini sense of humour is actaully really funny, definitely one of my many favorite things about the place! By the time we made it Tobago we got a taxi and found a guest house/hotel thing to stay for two nights. Tobago is SO SO SO quiet, seriously!!! Comapred to the utter mayhem of Port of Spain, it was like deafeningly quiet. We had planned to go up North of the island to a secluded beach called Pirates bay the next day, so we got some food, had a swim in the pool, wandered around and headed to bed.



Pirates bay was insanely nice, the water was warm and crazy clear. It was also up by a small town called Charlottevile. Tobago is FAR more touristy than Trinidad. Infact we saw more toursits in the weekend we were there than in the whole time spent in Trinidad and considering Tobago is tiny in comparison, thats quite something.

Sunday night is the biggest night out in Tobago, its a night called Sunday School, which is basically a sort of street party were tourists and locals go every week. It starst off with a steelband, and loads of old white people and hippies dancing. We were kinda unimpressed by this, it was too touristy and was missing the Soca music we needed to give us our energy. However, as it got later into the evening, more locals started to come and it turned more into a proper party, with a lot of wining, soca, rum and DJ's. Without meaning to, we stayed until 5am (we had to be up early to go snorkling the next day). Sunday School is also known to a be a pick up spot and it was really quite entertaining to watch all the trini men sweet talking the tourists and going from girl to girl.



Still drunk from the night before, we went to pick up a boat to go to Buccoo Reef and the Nylon pools (you should google them, they are STUNNING). We went snorkling in the reef and had a chill in the Nylon pool before we had to get out ferry back to Trini. I can't put into words what these places are like, so I'm not even going to try, youll have to google image it for yourself!!



One thing about Toabgo which made me laugh is how much they love their goats. Every easter they do goat racing and the Goat racing stadium is the only developed and modern building on the island. Its also completely normal to see people walking their goats (youre just sat on a beach and a guy runs past with his goat on a rope), to see goats tied to lampposts everywhere, to see goats wandering free everywhere, to see goats in the back of trunks driving around. Quite literally there are goats everywhere and the people LOVE their goats.



I've probably missed a load out that I've done, its hard to remember everything! I also havent had a chance to upload any photos, I will do that soon I promise! I'll also add anything I remember later on! We're going turtle watching this weekend and making the most out of our last few days here, so I probably won't write anything for a while!!

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