Port of Spain, Trinidad

Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t have the greatest reputation as far as crime goes. A cruise was recently in port and the local authorities did not allow passengers off the ship due to the out-of-control crime rate. When you arrive by boat you get close enough to Venezuela that you can see it off the port side. Things seem to be ok now as it seemed safe from what we saw. We did a short city tour and then drove over the mountains to Maracas Beach. In the afternoon we visited Caroni Swamp where the national bird the Scarlet Ibis hangs out.

Port of Spain recently held its Carnival last week, it’s the second-largest Carnival celebration in the world after Rio. The streets have reopened, but the tents and other vendors were still present in Queens Park Savannah. Next to the Savannah is a series of Victorian-era homes, called the Magnificent Seven. The botanical gardens are nearby where we saw two Macaws having lunch while squawking about nothing.

At Maracas beach the thing to do is order a famous Trini sandwich called Bake and Shark. It was delicious. I don’t think they use sharks anymore thankfully, but whatever fish they used made for a great lunch.

Trinidad is more mountainous than I imagined and the terrain reminds me of Ecuador. Everything is green, lush rainforest, with steep impenetrable hills. The mountains and little sister Tobago protect Trinidad from hurricane threats.

Everyone knows that FIFA, the world soccer governing body, is, or was, corrupt. The most recent World Cups awarded to Qatar (2022) and Russia (2018) were affected. What you may not realize is a lot of that corruption that led to those two votes originated in Port of Spain. Jack Warner, a Trini was president of the North American region of FIFA. (CONCACAF) Every member nation gets one vote, which gives the Caribbean more power than it deserves, and Jack Warner had full control over all these Caribbean nations' votes. Not only that, he influenced many African votes and it was enough to hold the balance of power. Warner has since been removed along with his sidekick at USA Soccer Chuck Blazer who is now in jail.