HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
•
DECEMBER 2012
109
TRINIDADANDTOBAGO
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
BY THE NUMBERS
AREA, IN SQUARE MILES
1,980
POPULATION
1.3
MILLION
LENGTH OF COASTLINE, IN MILES
225
DISTANCE FROM
THE VENEZUELAN COAST, IN MILES
7
BARRELS OF OIL
PRODUCED ANNUALLY
≈154,000
DISTANCE THAT KESHORNWALCOTT
THREW A JAVELIN IN THE 2012
OLYMPICS (GIVING HIS COUNTRY ITS
FIRST GOLD IN A FIELD EVENT)
277' 6"
NUMBER OF STEEL PAN BANDS
225
DATE OF THE NEXT CARNIVAL
2/11–2/12
SHINE ON
The Yuma Mas
showroom in Port of Spain, where
the Carnival attire on display is
described as “sexy mas”
of a running competition that started in
the early 1900s among plantation owners
to see who could build the most opulent
estate. Some of the Magnificent Seven, as
the buildings are known, have been lov-
inglymaintained. Others haven’t, but even
those have a kind of crumbling grandeur.
As you reach the northwest corner of
the park, you realize you’ve worked up an
appetite. It’s time for roti,
dhalpuri
bread
stuffed with anything from shrimp to
curried mango. You duck into
Dopson’s
Roti Shop
,
an establishment whose spare
concrete design belies its wild popularity
among locals. Thankfully, the place is rela-
tively empty when you arrive. The owner
suggests the boneless chicken, which you
wolf downwhile si ing on the restaurant’s
front steps.
A stack of napkins later, you visit the
showroom of
Yuma Mas
,
one of the city’s
“
mas camps” (“mas” being short for “mas-
querade”), where Carnival bands display
the outfits their members will wear come
February. Mannequins are draped in some
of the brightest, most revealing outfits
imaginable. A production assistant takes
a break from sewing baubles onto feath-
ers to ask what will become an o -heard
question: “You’re going to come back for
Carnival, right?” Looking around, you start
thinking that maybe you will.
Following a swim in the Hya ’s roo op
infinity pool, you stop for a glass of wine
in the chic lobby lounge and take in a
mesmerizing sunset over the gulf. Then
you head to
Flair
,
chef JasonHuggins’ fine-
dining restaurant on the corner of Taylor
