Trinidad experience!

Nick and Sandy still had a couple of days left with us, after all the feather fun, and we showed them Trinidad!

We enjoyed the swimming pool at Margaretha`s apartment, cooling off after a hard day…

Maracas Beach! This was our next stop. The shark and bake was as delicious as always, and it was good just to be under the palm trees for a while.

Doubles of course! How could we not share this taste sensation, of two folds of dough, bathed in a chick pea mix with a touch of mango or tamarindo sauce! Right there on the street we enjoyed the street food, eating with our hands, and then rinsing off the flavor under the tap of the yellow container. Trinni experience! Food shared with great people on the street, tastes exploding in our mouths!

And off course we couldn`t let them miss Peanut Punch! Too much of everything! Peanut butter, a tub full, condensed milk, a whole tin, milk, and just to make sure it is sweet enough, white powdered glucose,  and for the healthy ones, a scoop of granola!  The granola is actually for the left overs the next morning, when you crave that sweet taste again in your fridge! Breakfast!

Marco chose the mango, and afterwards said, it was the best he ever drank!

Too soon our friends of seven days had to go back home….and we are so grateful to our shared friends in SA, Charles and Yolanda…..thank you for sharing friends with friends!

 

Carnival Tuesday in Trinidad!

....wine with a stranger,
    worry about it later,
    hold on yah partner,
    and jam them bumper....
                                           The voice of one of the Soca artists Super Jigga TC Action, was blaring over the huge black speakers on the big trucks, we followed down the streets of Port of Spain.

We woke up a little bit later than planned, but soon were up with a cup of tea and a lovely home made rusk from home! Margaretha`s mom baked some, and when I took the rusk out of the plastic bag that morning my heart ache a bit!  In the bag was a little white note, with her mother`s handwriting on it, and it said. 'Met liefde, Mamma!" (With love, Mommy!) I took the first bite into this rusk, baked with love, from a mother to a daughter, over many, many miles, and I was allowed to share a bit.
I couldn`t cry a bit, I had to keep my eyes dry for my flashy feathery lashes!

Our girls were excited, and enjoyed the preparations, but also knew that soon our make up will be washed down by the heat of the day. Sandra made sure we are fixed with a lot of glue, to keep our beauty as long as possible.

Alpa, a friend came over with her camera, and took beautiful photos of the group. We were all in Margaretha`s apartment, and you can just imagine all the glitter, all the fun of so many girls, and only Johan and Nick, keeping a watchful eye.

We were bundled into cars, and then into the shuttles, ready for a big day!
It looked like some people didn`t have someone at home to rub a little sun tan lotion on Monday or Tuesday...so I helped him out!

The music filled the air, the bodies moved and the colors colored in the streets! It was a cadenza of music, flavors and feathers....

 

With the bodies wining all around you, it was easy to loose your friends, and some of us hung onto each other!

Humans were parading like peacocks, all feathered and bejewelled, and full of a love for life!

All nations, all shapes and sizes, all ages.....were joined together wearing their band`s costumes..enjoying the conformity!

 ...until the sun set, and then still a little while longer!

Ps. Thank you to Margaretha, our ever so ready Party Planner, Nick and Sandy, from the USA, ex SA, our friends for eight days, Claire the beautiful blonde....and all the others we know and don`t know. Thank you, thank you thank you.....

....and a big PS.   My best friend ever, thanks for living and dreaming with me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carnival Monday!

I realised that this is going to take a long blog, to share my experience with you, and even then I do not know if I will be able to put all into words! That is why I will share with you a lot of photos, and you can try and make up your own mind. But I do know, that the photos will not portray the truth!

Nothing can grab the freedom I felt, nothing can show the energy I felt with all the people around me, sharing in the feeling just of being alive, this day, this moment!

I could hardly sleep the night before. We got up early, to get ready, to wash our hair, to paint our faces, to glue our bodies with jewelry, to slip into tiny hot pants with loads of silver bling and huge floppy hats! I stood next to Margarteha in front of her bathroom mirror, and copied every stroke of her make up brush. It has been such a long time since I`ve been painting my face! I loved every minute of this, especially my long lashes!

The glass of early champagne gave us confidence to walk down the stairs of Margaretha`s apartment, bundled into her car, giggling! ( looking at this photo now, it surely looks like we were girls hitting the streets!)

You haven`t met Claire yet, the beautiful girl in purple...she is a friend of a friend who became a friend from Jamaica!

A shuttle was waiting for us somewhere to take us to the big trucks, waiting for us to walk the streets with another 35 000 plus bodies! Everything was organised to keep all this people happy, walking down Port of Spain, using the 'bathroom truck' every now and then,  and getting something to drink at the more popular truck more often!

Note the guy with the familiar white Panama Hat!

All shapes and sizes joined and laughed together, wining a bit here and wining a bit there... All nationalities joined in life in the street!  I never felt something like this ever before...

Some even wore paint and a little bit of pink.....

If we could do this for two days, wearing a little bit of material and a lot of make up, men and women together....why can`t we do this all over the World every day? Living and dancing together, people of all colors and nationalities,  rejoicing in Life, respecting each other....

Nick...proudly still South-African!

But the best was, among all the thousands of people playing we saw some familiar faces! It was unbelievable! We were thousands of people walking, and more thousands of people were walking along the side walks....and there they were! Ian from  Yacht Jangles, and his friend Robert!  We made sure they had a couple of complimentary beers!

 

 

 

 

And we saw Marco! He stayed on the yacht the couple of days with Brett and Teresa, while his parents were living an exemplary life in the streets!  Brett and Teresa and Marco were sponsored by us too, enjoying a cold beer and a  Lucozade from one of the trucks! For a while they enjoyed the wild fun in the streets with us!

Somewhere along the day, we went into a shady area with big trees and food! We were starving, and could choose from a couple of tents with different dishes. I had a vegetarian lasagne, (delicious) and Sandra had a chicken dish! We sat down on the grass or on a banana leaf. taking off our boots and shoes...just resting for a while!

But soon the Soca Music started again, blasting from the trucks, and it was as if something in my body started moving again. My hips started moving, my knees grew soft, ready for a wine! It was not only me, the whole crowd felt it, and stirred. On my way I walked passed a tent, and it smelt so nice and perfumy! Wow! A tent to freshen up! I walked in, and some girls were waiting for a hairdresser to tend to them, others were sitting infront of the make up artists....and I got a touch up among female bodies, and I walked out of there smelling great!

This day went by too quickly, and the sun was setting, but we were still in the streets. Only late that night the day ended and we were on our way to the parking area to find the rest of the group waiting for us at the car!  Hmmm.....
To make a long exciting story short...we got lost, or did they loose us, and we ended up alone in a car! Hmmm, about three hours later our dear friend Margaretha missed us, and found us still at the car. We missed the message on the windscreen of the car in her lipstick, ( lost in steamy windows) telling us that they found a lift and gone home! But no regrets....

....just love my girl friends!!
 

Still preparing!

....and loving it! 

And now Nick and Sandy our friends of friends whom became our friends while touring through USA last year, visiting them in Kingman, were on their way!

We fetched them at the airport, and took them to our friend, Margarteha`s house, where we were still staying. They met Margaretha via Facebook, because our party planner was organising Carnival for all of us.  Sandy was a wee bit worried about getting into the little black hot pants on Carnival Monday!

We got Nick into his, just in case we would be doing some alterations, but our 'Warrior' was a perfect fit!

On our way dropping them at the Hotel at Peakes Marina, we decided to show them our Catlyn before her new owners are arriving late that night! Still we felt so proud of our beautiful baby, as she was awaitng her new family with new sheets on their bed, and chocolates sweetening them up to her on their bed!   We couldn`t let her go, and stayed until they arrived to share a glass with them, making them feel at home on Catlyn!

And I am sharing our last photo with you, the last one we took with people we grew to love of our Catlyn. The next time we came to her, she would no longer have her name on her....

Seismic Wave! She will be re-named, and we will let her go! But we know that in her soul, and in her balsa a little bit of Catlyn will always be there!

Preparations for Carnival in Trinidad!

Oh this was soo good! I was preparing for the Carnival! Margaretha and I went shopping for make up and eye lashes, and glitter and tiny shorts! I enjoyed every minute of this buying shiny stuff with hundreds of girls. Woohoo!!

We sat together, believe it or not, with a cup of tea to glue our beads, not because they were falling apart, but because we didn`t want to loose only one liittle blue bead!

Shona joined in the fun, and I wished I could sleep with my head piece on, but Johan was afraid he will get hay fever!

Marco stayed close by, listening to our giggling and gossiping and of course planning of the color of the make up for our eyes! This photo is proof that I did feed him, even if it was after the second black toast! Those beads just kept me so busy, you know!

 

Trinidad Fete!

It was time to get ready for carnival, and a fete was just the right place to be! Our party planner got us up and running to some great fun with a great bunch of people!

Johan sharing a Margarita with our Margaretha!!

                                      

                                                                                          

Hmmmmm.......I think, enough said!
 

 

Home in Trinidad!

Six months we left her, and now we were back, and even Marco called it home! Catlyn was on the hard, waiting on us, waiting on a new adventure!

 

Our dear Margaretha was waiting for us at the Airport, and took us to her house, and that was where we will be staying until Brett and Teresa, the new owners of our yacht are coming to Trinidad!

Marco felt at home, enjoying his first Freezee,

And we shared Joe`s favorite Peanut Punch, while he was preparing for his Carnival in Las Tablas!

Carnival in Trinidad! This was the big excitement! We fetched our costumes and goody bags the next day, and I couldn`t wait to put that beautiful head piece on my head!

It felt good to be back home! Is home where our yacht is? Oh my….?