110
DECEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
THREE PERFECT DAYS
||
TRINIDADANDTOBAGO
Street and Ariapita Avenue (a bustling
stretchknown locally as “theAvenue”). The
meal starts offwitha bang: cassava-stuffed
shrimp with Scotch bonnet–spiked tartar
sauce. A er devouring the fiery appetizer,
you dig into crab-crusted grouper with
mango-citrus relish, callaloo cream and
yuca
conmojo
.
Sated, you roll yourself out-
side, where evening revelers have already
started spilling into the street.
Several blocks east,
Drink
entices you to
take a seat at a sidewalk table. Thewine bar
turns out to be ahub for Trinidad’s creative
community, and it’s not long before you’re
engrossed in conversation. “If there’s one
thing Trinbagonians are good at, it’s lim-
ing,” one patron tells you, explaining that
“
lime” is a catchall social word that locals
use to describe everything from a quick
chat to a big party. A er a fewmore drinks,
she invites you—alongwith an architect, a
foodwriter and a fashiondesigner—to join
her for a side trip to the St. James district
for some classic Trinidadian nightlife.
Afterward, you swing through down-
town to visit
Zen
,
a thumping party spot,
where you get sucked into a swirl of lights,
noise and heat. By the time soca stars
K Rich and Swappi hit the stage, things
really begin to blur: toasts, cheers, hugs,
dancing. You’re told there are spots in town
that keep the party going later, but you bid
your new friends adieu—you have plans
to visit a large monkey first thing in the
morning, and for that you’ll need some rest.
DAYTWO
| Ge ing up isn’t easy, but Trini-
dad provides plenty of incentives—most
notably the “doubles”
carts, which serve fried
bread wrapped around
curried chickpea filling.
Having knocked down
three of these at
George
Doubles
,
a popular cart
in the Woodbrook neigh-
borhood with a line 20
deep, you feel ready to
tackle one of the island’s
extreme sports: driv-
ing. This takes place on
narrow, potholed roads
populatedwithmotorists
jockeying for the title of
Most Unpredictable Driver. The key, as
with most things in Port of Spain, is to
stay sharp and go fast. You begin to enjoy
it. Your rental car does not.
Heading south, you arrive in the town
of Chaguanas, where you walk down a
road that makes yesterday’s excursion on
Frederick Street seem somnolent by com-
parison. You stop briefly to squint at the
freshly painted
LionHouse
,
family home of
Nobel Prize–winning author V.S. Naipaul.
HOOKED
Lunch at NoMan’s
Land; below, coconut panna
cotta at Chaud Creole; opposite,
The Villas at Stonehaven
