I didn’t stay in a hotel while in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I stayed with my friend EAD. He had a large condo (3-flat) with a view of the ocean and a lovely private pool. Just a day or two before my arrival, EAD bid farewell to a couple of guests who had stayed for a couple of weeks. He used a good quite a bit of vacation during their stay.
One issue in Port of Spain (or at least in the neighborhood in which I was staying) is that the water isn’t always running to the house, so many homes have huge water tanks to hold them over until the public water is turned on. The other issue? The toilet in the guestroom kept running while the previous guests were there…so all three water tanks (15,000 gallons in total?) were dry. What exactly does this mean? No showers, no tooth brushing, no toilet flushing, no tap water for drinking. Nothing. After a long travel day, I really wanted a shower. The next best thing? A dip in the pool.
The next day EAD went off to work and I hang out at his home. I opened all the doors and windows, sat on the veranda and read my favorite book – The Sun Also Rises. Since EAD had been so busy before I arrived, there wasn’t much food in the house. Although there were several beers, Carib of course.
I spent the most of the day enjoying the heat, drinking Caribs, floating in the infinity pool, reading and watching foreign TV. This continue for two days and it was truly relaxing. I was almost completely off the grid (as Verizon doesn’t or didn’t offer service in Trinidad). Of course I did manage to get a bit of a sunburn on the first day.
A few days before I arrived in Port of Spain, several ex-pats were brutally murdered in their homes by militant xenophopic Trinis. The first day I was alone in Trinidad I was sitting in the pool and saw a man climb over the fence/gate into the driveway/courtyard area. He then opened the gate and three more men came running in. Of course my first thought was that I was about to be butchered by a handful of Trinis. I decide it would be prudent to go back into the house and lock the caged doors/windows. While every window and door was open the home had built in security bars. My silliness was soon made evident when these four men began filling the empty water tanks and another man started to clean the pool.
Not the most glamorous ways to start a Caribbean vacation, but something that I really needed.
Do you like to kick off your vacation by totally decompressing before getting active and exploring? Have you ever stayed someplace where the water had just run out and you were out of luck? Have you ever been on vacation and thought that you were about to be murdered?
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| My book, beer and ham and cheese wrap |
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| The pool, the lanai and a waterfall |
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| Quite a warm day |
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| My feet floating in the infinity pool |
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| View from the pool |
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| Slightly sun burned on day one |