I’ve been in Moruga, Trinidad, for over a month now, but until last weekend I hadn’t really explored other areas of the island. Thankfully, the family I’m staying with are always down for an adventure, and Giselle (my ‘Trini sister’, daughter of the farm owner) decided to plan a road trip for all the travellers and family members.
We rented a maxi (minibus/taxi) for $1200TT (120 English pounds, including driver and petrol) so we all put in $150TT to cover that and some beer/food. In the maxi there were four of us travellers, four children and Giselle and her husband. A close friend of the family, Angelyn, also drove her car with her children and husband.
The plan was pretty simple… Drive slowly to Toco (a remote area with pretty scenery and beaches in the North of Trinidad), stopping whenever we want for snacks or beer or just to have a look around.
I purposefully sat near the back with the children and one of the other travellers, Marcus, because I knew it would make for a fun journey and I really see the kids as my little siblings now. We were in the car for at least three hours but never stopped playing games, singing, laughing and taking selfies:
Some of the laughter may have been brought on by the Puncheon which is the standard liqueur here, a 75% rum:
We stopped off at some beautiful beaches near our destination, and for lunch we had a picnic at Toco Lighthouse which has, surprise surprise, a lightouse… and tables and chairs, grass and a big rock looking out to the sea.
On the bench is Giselle and her husband Ansie:
And this is one of the Angelyn’s kids, Jasmine, on the rock with me:
I would definitely recommend going there for a picnic – It was the perfect spot. By the way, ‘picnic’ here isn’t quite the same as in England. Most picnics I’ve experienced before mainly consisted of sandwiches and snacks, but Giselle cooked our lunch before we left in the morning and we brought all the cooking pots in the back of the maxi which included lentils, fried plantain, fried yam, pumpkin, salad and more, not forgetting the hot pepper sauce. This was just my first plate:
We stayed there a while drinking beer, and Marcus climbed a tree to pick some sea grapes (yep, I didn’t know they existed either…) and then we drove a bit further into Toco to spend some time at the beach:
At the beach we did the usual… play with a ball, drink beer, sit in the sea and talk etc. I also helped to bury the children:
After finishing off the contents of every single pot and pan, we set off home blasting out reggae and playing some silly games. I was surprised to hear that the children had never heard of ‘sweet or sour’, the game where you wave at other cars and count how many sweet people you get (people who wave back) and how many sour ones. They found it hilarious and it kept us entertained for a while.
Overall I had a really enjoyable day and I feel really fortunate to be a part of the extended family of One Family Farms. Also I would recommend hiring a maxi for a day if you have enough people because I think it was pretty good value for money and a much easier way to get around than public transport. If you want somehwere with nice beaches and nature and a couple of bars, Toco is a great place to visit.
Travel With Zoe 