Trinidad Island - Culture

Trinidad lies at the southern end of the Caribbean archipelago, seven miles from Venezuela on the shoulder of South America. It occupies 1,864 sq. miles.

Trinidadians have made their way into almost every country and culture in the world, making contributions in sport, science, arts and literature, music and theatre. Carnival, our "people’s street festival", is the source and model for Trinidad-style Carnivals from Brooklyn to London, from Boston to Melbourne. Pan, the musical steeldrum invented here in the late 1930s, has been taken to communities across the globe. Listen for calypso, soca, chutney, parang and pan, and other musical crossover forms. The Hindu festival of lights, Divali; the spring festival, Phagwa; the Muslim commemoration of Hosay; Carnival and Christmas are celebrated by all. Trinidadians to note: writers V.S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace, Samuel Selvon; carnival artist Peter Minshall; philosopher C.L.R. James; Miss Universe 1998 Wendy Fitzwilliam; sailors Harold and Kwailan La Borde; cricketer Brian Lara; footballer Dwight Yorke; Broadway performer Heather Headley; Olympic sprinter Ato Boldon; calypsonian Sparrow; and soca star Machel Montano.

Trinidadians affectionately refer to themselves as Trinis. If pressed, they may tell you how their family tree has roots in Africa or India, with a touch of Scotland, France, Spain, Lebanon or Venezuela. They may even be able to say how many generations back their ancestors travelled from China or Bombay. The majority of the population is made up of Indian and African descendants, with the next largest group categorised as mixed, and the smallest group consisting of people of European, Middle Eastern and Chinese origin. Of the 1.3 million population, close to 50,000 reside in Tobago. Christianity has the largest following, followed by Hinduism, Islam and traditional African faiths, especially Orisha.

Trinidad is an island that can leave your head spinning. This is not your run-of-the-mill Caribbean destination, with a few palm trees, a few beaches, a few casinos (though it’s got all those): a suntan-and-sunset spot with not much else to offer. Trinidad is a kaleidoscopic whirl of colours and cultures, of energy and ecology; a place where the clashes of history and the accidents of geography have created a diversity that is almost unrivalled.

Walk down any city street, and you’ll see facial features from Africa and China, India, Europe and the Middle East, and an infinite random mix of them all. The faces of Trinidad bespeak a history of conquest and colonialism, reconciliation and integration: a meltdown of peoples and cultures and languages (which, in the process, produced a fair share of international beauty queens). Archbishop Desmond Tutu called this “rainbow country”.

Look around: you’ll find Muslim mosques and Hindu temples, Christian cathedrals and Evangelical “crusade” marquees. Have a meal: curry or creole, Chinese or Lebanese, Indian or Italian. Take in some music: steelband, tassa, soca, chutney, rapso. Everywhere you go, anything you do, is infused with the rich syncretic realities of this fascinating land.

A drive through the countryside will take you through fields of cane, their feathery arrows luminous in the sun; or to a saltwater swamp where alligators amble on the muddy banks and scarlet birds flock in by the hundreds at sunset, turning their roosting-trees red; to a lake made of sticky black tar, or a wildfowl sanctuary in the midst of an oil refinery; to a ten-mile-long beach lined with leaning palms, or an islet where monkeys howl hauntingly in the treetops. From rain forest to wetlands, Trinidad is a symphony of different environments, a wonderland for today’s eco-tourist.

But this is not a wilderness island: small villages are dotted everywhere, and in the major cities, sophistication reigns. Port of Spain, the capital, is one of the major commercial centres of the Caribbean, with advanced telecommunications and international links. In the south, San Fernando is the engine-room of the industrial heartland, servicing the extensive oil and gas industries that provide much of the country’s wealth. And in Central Trinidad, Chaguanas is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity, as well as being the hub of the sugar cane economy. A wealth of restaurants, shopping and entertainment make these urban communities dynamic places to explore.

Trinidad is not a place for sitting back and doing nothing: this is an island that demands to be discovered. But, at the end of it all, if you know where to find them — yes: there are beaches, and sand, and sunsets.