Store Bay, Tobago
Waterfalls in Tobago
Toco, Trinidad
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Port of Spain
The city of Port of Spain is located on the northwestern coast of the island of Trinidad. It is bordered by the Gulf of Paria to the west, the south-facing slopes of the mountainous Northern Range to the north, the Laventille Swamp, the western extension of the Caroni Swamp and the Caroni Plain to the south. The coastal limits of the city lies on reclaimed land, while its peri-urban limits extend into the hills above the city towards the east.
Historical records bear testimony that the oldest portion of the city of Port of Spain is the downtown area comprising South Quay to the south, Oxford Street to the north, the St. Ann's River to the east and Richmond Street to the west. Today, central to this area are Woodford Square, City Hall, the Hall of Justice, which houses the Seat of the Supreme Court, the Red House containing the administrative and political machinery for governance, the House of Parliament and the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Woodford Square is the green oasis in the heart of the city. Its main attractions are the late-Victorian fountain, a bandstand, park benches and wide-canopied trees offering shade to its transient occupants. Located south-west of the square is the recently contructed National Library. To the south can be found the former Marine Square, a throughfare, whose name was changed to Independence Square in the 1960’s and with yet another facelift is known today as the Brian Lara Promenade, in honour of this national sporting hero. The Promenade runs the full length of the stretch from Wrightson Road in the west to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the east at George and Nelson Streets. Before extensive land reclamation in the early 19th century, the city's shoreline ran through Independence Square.
South of the square, Frederick Street, Port of Spain's major avenue connecting the two downtown squares with the uptown park, and very approximately dividing downtown into retail east and office west districts was in former days the centre of the shopping hub. At its lower end, Frederick Street widens and becomes known as Broadway and terminates on the waterfront at the Port of Spain Lighthouse. This lighthouse is no longer used as a navigational beacon but is considered a major landmark of the city. Frederick Street runs north through the city to culminate at the Queen's Park Savannah at its upper end. Within the south-western portuion of the city are to be found the city's tallest buildings refflective of more modern architecture, such as the Twin Towers of the Eric Williams Financial Complex and the new Nicholas Tower, a commercial office building.
North of this downtown area, a residential suburb, which in but in recent decades the area has evolved essentially into a district of office buildings, functioning as an extension of the city. In the earlier 19th century this area was occupied by the Tranquillity Sugar Estate. Neighbouring to the west is the Newtown, laid out in the 1840s, bounded by Tragarete Road south, the Queen's Park Savannah north, Cipriani Boulevard east, and Maraval Road west but today is a suburb of mixed commercial and residential activities.
The large Woodbrook neighbourhood, west of downtown, formerly a sugar estate owned by the Siegert family, was sold to the Town Board in 1911 and developed into a residential neighbourhood, with many of the north-south streets named for the Siegert siblings. In the last twenty years, the main east-west streets, Ariapita Avenue and Tragarete Road have become almost entirely commercialised with Ariapita Avenue west of Murray Street becoming a relatively upscale dining and entertainment hub. A few small parks are sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood including the Adam Smith Square. North of Woodbrook along Tragarete Road is the Queen's Park Oval, a major Test cricket ground, which is owned by the private Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC). At Woodbrook's western end, at the edge of Invaders Bay, is the Jean Pierre Sporting Complex containing the Hasely Crawford Stadium, a national venue for football and track and field events.
Port of Spain's last major municipal expansion occurred in 1938, when the St. James district north of Woodbrook and west of St. Clair was incorporated into the city limits. Western Main Road, the area's major street has long been the city's main nightlife of the district, sometimes nicknamed "the city that never sleeps". Long Circular Road, which curves north from Western Main Road then west to meet Maraval Road, forms part of the city boundary. Its "circle" encloses Flagstaff Hill, a small rise with the United States ambassador's residence at its summit, which lends its name to an area of apartment buildings at its southern foot.
Forming part of northwest Port-of-Spain, settlements comprising Hillsborough, Fairways, Boissiere Village, Champ Elysees, Dibe, Belle Vue, Dundonald Hill, Upper Bournes Road and Cocorite are enclosed in the middle to lower portion of the Maraval watershed and show evidence of a range of urban and rural characteristics.
Historical records bear testimony that the oldest portion of the city of Port of Spain is the downtown area comprising South Quay to the south, Oxford Street to the north, the St. Ann's River to the east and Richmond Street to the west. Today, central to this area are Woodford Square, City Hall, the Hall of Justice, which houses the Seat of the Supreme Court, the Red House containing the administrative and political machinery for governance, the House of Parliament and the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Woodford Square is the green oasis in the heart of the city. Its main attractions are the late-Victorian fountain, a bandstand, park benches and wide-canopied trees offering shade to its transient occupants. Located south-west of the square is the recently contructed National Library. To the south can be found the former Marine Square, a throughfare, whose name was changed to Independence Square in the 1960’s and with yet another facelift is known today as the Brian Lara Promenade, in honour of this national sporting hero. The Promenade runs the full length of the stretch from Wrightson Road in the west to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the east at George and Nelson Streets. Before extensive land reclamation in the early 19th century, the city's shoreline ran through Independence Square.
South of the square, Frederick Street, Port of Spain's major avenue connecting the two downtown squares with the uptown park, and very approximately dividing downtown into retail east and office west districts was in former days the centre of the shopping hub. At its lower end, Frederick Street widens and becomes known as Broadway and terminates on the waterfront at the Port of Spain Lighthouse. This lighthouse is no longer used as a navigational beacon but is considered a major landmark of the city. Frederick Street runs north through the city to culminate at the Queen's Park Savannah at its upper end. Within the south-western portuion of the city are to be found the city's tallest buildings refflective of more modern architecture, such as the Twin Towers of the Eric Williams Financial Complex and the new Nicholas Tower, a commercial office building.
North of this downtown area, a residential suburb, which in but in recent decades the area has evolved essentially into a district of office buildings, functioning as an extension of the city. In the earlier 19th century this area was occupied by the Tranquillity Sugar Estate. Neighbouring to the west is the Newtown, laid out in the 1840s, bounded by Tragarete Road south, the Queen's Park Savannah north, Cipriani Boulevard east, and Maraval Road west but today is a suburb of mixed commercial and residential activities.
The large Woodbrook neighbourhood, west of downtown, formerly a sugar estate owned by the Siegert family, was sold to the Town Board in 1911 and developed into a residential neighbourhood, with many of the north-south streets named for the Siegert siblings. In the last twenty years, the main east-west streets, Ariapita Avenue and Tragarete Road have become almost entirely commercialised with Ariapita Avenue west of Murray Street becoming a relatively upscale dining and entertainment hub. A few small parks are sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood including the Adam Smith Square. North of Woodbrook along Tragarete Road is the Queen's Park Oval, a major Test cricket ground, which is owned by the private Queen's Park Cricket Club (QPCC). At Woodbrook's western end, at the edge of Invaders Bay, is the Jean Pierre Sporting Complex containing the Hasely Crawford Stadium, a national venue for football and track and field events.
Port of Spain's last major municipal expansion occurred in 1938, when the St. James district north of Woodbrook and west of St. Clair was incorporated into the city limits. Western Main Road, the area's major street has long been the city's main nightlife of the district, sometimes nicknamed "the city that never sleeps". Long Circular Road, which curves north from Western Main Road then west to meet Maraval Road, forms part of the city boundary. Its "circle" encloses Flagstaff Hill, a small rise with the United States ambassador's residence at its summit, which lends its name to an area of apartment buildings at its southern foot.
Forming part of northwest Port-of-Spain, settlements comprising Hillsborough, Fairways, Boissiere Village, Champ Elysees, Dibe, Belle Vue, Dundonald Hill, Upper Bournes Road and Cocorite are enclosed in the middle to lower portion of the Maraval watershed and show evidence of a range of urban and rural characteristics.
The communities of Dibe, Belle Vue, Dundonald Hill, Upper Bournes Road and Fort George contain some old planned communities on the relatively flat to sloping lands and newer unplanned communities, which are developing further up the slopes. These unplanned communities generally are without basic utilities and services and access is often by means of poorly constructed traces, tracks and steeps, adjuncts to the local street road network, some of which are transformed into drainage channels during the rainy season. South of St. James and near the seashore at Invaders Bay is Mucurapo, a mostly residential district which also contains the Western Cemetery, the city's second-largest.
St. Clair
This is an upscale neighbourhood in north-west Port of Spain, between the Queen's Park Savannah (QPS) and the Maraval River, which was developed on former agricultural land in the 1880s and 90s and from the 1900s onwards is the location for some of the city's grandest mansions. In recent decades, St. Clair has become home to various diplomatic missions. At its heart, just north of the Queens Park Oval (QPO), is King George V Park and to the north-west are two upscale residential neighbourhoods, Ellerslie and Federation Parks.
Port of Spain's largest open space and one of the world's largest traffic roundabouts is the Queen's Park Savannah(qps), known colloquially simply as “De Savannah”. It occupies about 260 acres of level land with a perimeter is about 2.2 miles. At first, it was used as a vast cattle pasture in what was then the town's suburbs, but by the middle of the 19th century it had become established as a park. Until the early 1990s horse-racing was held frequently at the Savannah race track. It also contains several cricket, football and rugby pitches.
Apart from a ring of trees round its perimeter, the Savannah was never really landscaped, except for the small area in its north-west corner called the Hollows, a former reservoir now drained and planted with flowering shrubs. Immediately north of the Savannah are the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Emperor Valley Zoo, the official residences of the president and the prime minister, and Queen's Hall, the city's major performing arts venue. Lady Chancellor Road, which ascends the hills overlooking the Savannah, is one of Port of Spain's most exclusive residential areas. The western edge of the Savannah, along Maraval Road, is the location of the Magnificent Seven, a group of late Victorian buildings built in an eccentric and flamboyant variety of styles.
Belmont in north-east Port of Spain, at the foot of the Laventille Hills was the city's first suburb. In the 1840s and 50s parts of the area were settled by Africans rescued by the Royal Navy from illegal slaving ships. In the 1880s and 90s, the population swelled rapidly and the characteristic Belmont street pattern of narrow, winding lanes developed. Today, Belmont remains a lower-middle-class residential neighbourhood, and is also another densely populated area which consumes a large quantity of water.
The older planned communities of St Ann’s and Cascade are located on the flat land and very gentle slopes of the valley and generally consist of single-family housing on large lot of land. Some of the old single-family residences are being replaced by two and three family homes and this account for some increase in the number of buildings in the Port of Spain region. Progressively, more construction of higher density residential structures is being undertaken on green field sites on the higher and steeper slopes. The Port of Spain General Hospital and several schools are also located in the Belmont area.
East of the St. Ann's River, more commonly known as the East Dry River, are the working-class neighbourhoods of Laventille and Gonzales, an area sometimes referred to as "Behind the Bridge". This is a large residential area, densely populated and a consumer of a large quantity of water.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Welcome to everything Trinidad and Tobago
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American nation of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It also shares maritime boundaries with Barbados to the northeast and Guyana to the southeast. The country covers an area of 5,128 square kilometers (1,979) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and 21 smaller islands. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands; Tobago is much smaller, comprising about 6% of the total area and 4% of the population. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt. Officially Trinidadians or Tobagonians, the people from Trinidad and Tobago are often informally referred to as Trinbagonians or Trinis (for Trinidadians). Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago is a primarily industrialised country whose economy is based on petroleum and petrochemicals. Trinidad and Tobago is famous for its pre-Lenten Carnival and as the birthplace of steelpan, calypso, soca, and limbo.
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