The Trinidad & Tobago You Don’t See On TV!

[Music] welcome to Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is a twin island country in the Caribbean located on the northernmost tip of South America um Trinidad the large of the two islands is known for its Industrial nature its geographical phenomenons tourist attractions and Carnival most importantly which is considered the greatest show on [Music] Earth Tobago the small of the two islands is known for its Serene living pristine beaches if you wonder that off the grid Vibe you should definitely visit Tobago I feel like I'm getting tired of the views that I've been seeing since I came in here I turn into an ambulance you'll see a view and you be like wow when you think you've seen everything and you see another one then you have to shout wow wow wow I feel like Tobago indeed is a paradise on its own no competition based on places that I've been to I must agree with the people of Tobago that indeed this is the greatest Little Island on the planet so trinad and Tobago collectively has a population of 1.3 1.4 million people and it's made up of a very diverse um kind of people we have Africans we have Indians we have Asians we have a mixture of everybody you're sure to feel at home in Chad and Tobago English is the official language but as I said we're diverse so we speak Spanish we speak French we have person speaking passell we have a bit of Portuguese you know you can find a bit of everything here so we sure to feel like you're many parts of the world when you visit Trinidad and Tobago and we have had the largest population of Africans here in the Caribbean so you should definitely check out Trinidad and Tobago welcome to Trinidad and [Music] Tobago if today is your first time seeing this face is on your screen welcome to the YouTube channel don't forget to subscribe and be part of this awesome Channel my name is W Maya a young African on a journey to change the negative Narrative of Africa if that is the case then what am I doing in the Caribbean Caribbean is actually the six region of Africa so I am here to connect the dot between Africans on the continent and Africans living in the diaspora hence the reason why I'm in Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago is definitely the Africa Out of Africa but the fact that even the people carry Africa on their chest do you carry Africa on your chest Yes Man Of course how do you carry Africa on your chest let me show you this this one sanas that's a tattoo of s symbol yes this one is a dam G my goodness yeah and my son name is kwami so it's there your son name is kwami yes do you know the meaning of quami born on a Friday no or Saturday Saturday Saturday but he was not born on a Saturday but it's the best fit I didn't like the the word that was the day of he was born on a Thursday but even though it's Visa free for me but as soon as I landed in this country I encountered a problem that I never expected thank God we made it to um Trinidad even though I didn't have a very good welcome U the fact that we're profile you know um because like they don't feel like if you're an African you'll be able to travel but I mean like I said for me immigration doesn't um describe the people of the country so I'm just going to go out there and see what the country got to offer so far so good it's hot so you know that if it's hot then you are back in Africa man so I I I'm just hoping to see more similarities between Africa and um the Caribbean and um yeah I mean we in the Caribbean land man so you got to do what you have to do man you got to see our own people get to meet them talk to them eat food with them get to know if they have the same language as us and yeah at the end of the day it's all about Africa to the world man very good how are you I'm from Africa I know nice meeting you Day always [Music] anytime you see me this happy it means that I'm in love with a city and why do I fall in love with the city if the city got three things which is the ocean the hills and the greens welcome to Trinidad and Tobago [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] if you living in a country that is surrounded by water your major transportation system would definitely have a boat in it this is one of the most interesting thing that I've seen because I live in a country where taxes are vehicles but in Trinidad you'll find water taxis have you heard that before I think it's quite interesting right so you see the boat right behind me it's a taxi there's another one right in front of me is also a taxi but I really want to know how many oceans are surrounding Trinidad thank you morning Trinidad is surrounded by four different oceans yeah yeah you have to the north which is the Caribbean Sea to the east is the Atlantic Ocean you go straight from from this point right across you get to Africa and to the South is a channel between the island of Trinidad and South America called the Columbus Channel and to the West what we're looking at is called the gulo the paria Gul of paria and the water taxis that you see leave Porter Spain and they go straight across to the second largest city on the west coast of trinad called San Fernando is it aordable to use the water tax very affordable because on the land in the morning and evening there's Rush Hour traffic and there's a lot of traffic coming into pter span so people take the water taxi from San Fernando this could hold 400 people on on one boat wow and they come to pter Spain and in the evening people finish work at 4:00 p.m. they go back to San Fernando can I use my car in there no not this one there's the next one over which is a bigger one that goes between pter Spain and Tobago this is the island of Tobago takes three 3 hours and that one could take cars and buses and it's really big that's really awesome man [Music] [Music] [Music] I made it to Sweet TNT and trust me I'm living the best time of my life go [Music] go go go living in Africa and thinking that what AM Maya will be back soon my brother my sister forget it [Music] because this place is also Africa why do I say so because the Africans in the sister regid really understand and appreciate my wife and whenever I feel appreciated I really want to do all I can to put the country on the map and this is what I'm going to do today sweet TNT how wonder you are you are so beautiful so gentle so kind kind ctnt has been so kind to me that I'm bringing that angelical Voice Within [Music] Me listen it feels good to be appreciated by the tourism Board of Trinidad I'm living in a five-star hotel and you know why they asked me to feel comfortable in Hilton so they partnered with Hilton to give me that special treatment and that is why I'm telling you I'm living the best time of my life and if you ever decide to visit Trinidad make sure you book your stay with [Music] healthy hi my name is Carla cupit I am the Chief Executive Officer of tourism Trinidad and why I come to Trinidad let me tell you Trinidad is filled with history culture if you look around it's so green so a lot of birds and and and if you're into nature you can get wrapped up in that as well but Trinidad has something special about it as well the people when you come to Trinidad you are just taken taken by surprise at how warm and friendly we are and um you know I would encourage everyone listening looking on come visit Trinidad we are always in season there's something to do almost every day we're the most happening destination the most energetic uh the friendliest people yeah so visit Trinidad we're ready ready and waiting to welcome [Music] when I landed in Trinidad I felt like I'm in Africa Asia and Middle East at the same time you know why because of the history of this island both Islands were originally settled by indigenous people who came from South America over 10,000 to 7,000 years ago the indigenous people the amarian people come to my came to my Island from South America Amica trinad Tobago is the last island of the Caribbean chain Islands before you come to South America there 7 miles away from trinad is Venezuela yeah and those indigenous people from Aboriginal people native people from Venezuela they came and it was the first island to be settled by the indigenous people and that was over 10,000 years ago they came across when tral was joined as an island to Venezuela and then when TR was separated they came with Cano with their people to settle permanent they established casava they established you know fishing and settlement on the island both Islands were visited by Christopher Columbus in the year 1948 so Columbus he came to trinada on his third voyage and he planted a flag saying this is the claim of Spain he never came up the ship but his men came up the ship and claimed it Trinidad and named trinad is after the Trinity promised Queen Isabella of Spain that he will named after the of the father son and ho ghost Trinity but did you know that 180 years before Christopher Columbus Africans arrived on this island before Columbus 180 years before Columbus an African king sent 200 ships off Africa mastera the brother masa Musa masa Musa yeah yeah and his brother was mastera Abu W Abu Baka w w and he came with 200 ships only one ship turn back when he went beyond the horizon the count came back and tell his brother your brother has left us and has gone beyond the Horizon to the west and he came to the Caribbean we have no historical records of settlement but early um scribes talk about master Musa brother leaving Africa and coming later they found faces in in B and so forth looking like African feters thinking that this is probably the people of basam Musa brothers who settled in the in the West in the Caribbean [Music] so Trinidad became a Spanish colony until 1797 where it was captured by the [Music] British but as Spanish established themselves and the indigenous people died out people of the South Amica of the Caribbean died out the indigenous people because of Spanish disease and slavy and when the indigenous people died that is when they started bringing Africans to Trinidad to work as slaves on sugarcan plantations people were captured in Africa brought across fire ships in very you know very very evil conditions many of them jumped off the ships so many some of them died um and they brought to the Caribbean and they were brought you know naked men and women in slaves in Chains and they were brought off the island to Ports like this this is Port of Spain and at the edge of the port they will line them up wash them and have the Planters come and buy them yeah and say this one is strong this one is you know good to make children Etc so even though the African men and women were deculture be becoming deculture they still kept their Heritage their strength the identity inside of them I love the flag man yeah Ethiopia stay within my black conscious they take me out of the land but they take the land out of me the women they here they kept seeds like the orro seed the watermelon seed the rice seed and this is why in the Caribbean we have seeds plants from Africa brought by slaves and they were used as food for themselves in their Plantation under the Spanish rule Trinidad remained underdeveloped for so many years and that is why the Spanish King invited immigrant from French speaking Caribbean islands to Trinidad to facilitate the development of the plantation economy on the first of August 1834 that is when slavery was abolished in Trinidad and Tobago the abolition of slavery led to an influx of endangered servants from India and China hence the M culture in Trinidad in 1889 the two islands were incorporated into a single Crown Colony and in 1962 both Islands gain independence from the British colony [Music] I am falling in love with Trinidad you know why because this country is super green and hilly imagine seeing this beautiful modern luxury houses built on top of a hill my goodness this even melts my heart I mean I believe that the people that lives here are definitely closer to God man [Music] [Music] by the way the British influence is still visible in Trinidad to the extent that one of the most beautiful parks in this country which was once a plantation was named after the queen [Music] this is the queen park saana now before it was is what was what it is now it was originally a part of the P family's estate so the P family had a large uh estate during the time of slavery and the estate included the large Savanah so the entire Savanah as well as the zoo which is north of the sav and the botanical gardens so all that would have been a part of the P family's estate what were they growing in here right so in this area the main crops that would have been growing things like sugar and cocoa so that was what the main crops that we have been cultivating in Trinidad and apart from that have you ever heard of The Magnificent 7 Trinidad is the home of magnificent 7 Trinidad is a home of so many things did you know that the world's natural ASAT lake is right here in Trinidad did you know that Trinidad is actually the home of magnificent 7 but I think uh the history for the Magnificent 7 is not that Pleasant [Music] man right so this building is known as rumor right and this building was built initially and bought by a man named Lucian ambad so he was a white man from Cora who was a successful cocoa Merchant so Coco Merchant yes so if was a cocoa Merchant it means that he owned enslaved Africans yes so he would have owned enslaved Africans and that's how he made his money they would have worked the plantations for him and he would have sold the Coco uh to make profit and he built a castle for himself yes if it had African mates in there yes so Lucian Ard he would have owned the house from when it was built in 1904 until 1919 when he went into financial troubles and he lost the house to the bank enough of the history come along with me as we go cool off in one of the most popular beaches in Trinidad [Music] [Music] whatever I found myself in any country on Sunday the only thing that I want to do is to go to the beach so when I came to Trinidad I kept on asking what is that one beach that I need to go and enjoy myself before I head back home and everyone was saying maras [Music] let me tell you something the drive to Maracas definitely your eyes are going to enjoy some breathtaking views along the way make sure you stop by and take some photos but one of the places that I feel like I have to stop by because I see everybody stopping by where is this place this is the miraculous Lookout [Music] why is it a lookout I guess there's there's a view to see somewhere beautiful view out there on this side you can see Venezuela oh wow you can see Venezuela from here yeah if you look out there you can see venez let me go to Venezuela wow my goodness what a spectacular view I don't even know the kind of words to describe this but just to say you got to travel the world man and go see these views for yourself this is mindblowing man this is actually one of the best views that I've ever seen man welcome guys to the best beach in the world welcome to maracus the best best beach in the whole world [Music] the fact that it's so PO with cars which means that it's one of the best place to be because it's so pked everyone is here to enjoy the beach but hey man what's up man [Music] you cannot go to the beach without playing football so there we go and make sure you don't leave this beach without trying the pop bake and [Music] shark when the food is good you spread it across your mouth man [Music] I can see you all are still not satisfied with this food so why don't we head to the street and go get ourselves one of the most popular meals in this country [Music] apart from the downtown yeah this is one of the places that I find it to be so busy man yeah very busy always act this is called the ARA Peta Avenue ARA Peta Avenue ARA Peta Avenue so this is where the night strip every time you come here on a weekend always active in the night very um filled with food places all the clubs all the party places are all over here we have pop house they very busy we have Frankies here very busy we have a lot more clubs and a lot more bars load on it's like the whole stretch is entertainment the whole stretch is entertainment food culture buzzing every weekend there women here a lot of women my brother yeah hey my brother is not smiling man so what we're going to try here is called the food Square the food square is one of the initiative that they made here to be able to expand businesses and be able to provide opportunity for food and cultural integration here let me tell you something yeah there's one food that when I tell people that I'm coming to Trinidad everyone is saying I should try they said it's the ultimate it's the ultimate can I take a guess no please guess because if you guess right then I have to try it tonight is it doubles oh my goodness why is everyone talking about the doubles you have to try it you can't me that and not try dou what makes it so special the doubl I can't explain it to you but until you try it you will no it's one of those things that like you have to buy it and eat it there if you carry it home it lose the flavor you have to eat it on the oh my goodness look we got to we got to try this we have to try it we're going to try we had a full square right so I guess we can get something of course of course we can check it out here see everyone is telling me to try the doubles I'm scared right now as I speak to you I think you enjoy I'm scared I think you enjoy I'm scared [Music] right so doubles let give you some history behind it yeah doubles is made from flour you made the bar from the flour then you have the chickpeas and you have some mango sauce called the sweet sauce mango mango sauce called the sweet sauce hi see I just want doubles like nothing else what makes it doubles because it's two Barrel in one so you have doubles you have triples I they eating doubles that is doubles they eating there that's doubles that's doubles will it feel my stomach man you can eat two you can eat three you can eat how much you want you know just give me one all right so want to try some doubles if I ask for another one it means it tastes better and the thing about doubles is that you have to use your hand to eat it so one hand is to hold and the next hand is to eat my goodness you put it on your left hand and eat it your right hand how long does it take it's already prepared so you're going to save us right there [Music] so you have the bar this is the bar the flour the bar uhhuh then you have the chickpeas here then you have your cucumber you have some slide pepper inside right so what you do is you try to take the one on top one on top and try to fold it like that so you can you can pick up as much no they cheated me that's a single it's it's it's double so watch this is the bottom one here the top one is this one here careful bro I oh okay okay it all right it's no longer SLE so you take one on top just FP it around right next [Applause] way you had the African now you having yeah wow that's a perfect combination man you have to eat it on the spot on the spot if you carry it this flavor it's sweet spicy soft can I can I swallow all of them you can if you want have you ever had anything like this before never what would you describe with the coess like that you feel it it reminds you of did you watch rat yeah it's like the the mouse that the mouse mixing flavors yeah we getting pepper inside we getting some cucumber getting some Curry now you have the flower bar delicious man very delicious thank you thank you thank you so you see the triple has the third one on top now you see the one so now now this looks like a hamburger double at the back triple and one at the top we playing one top only how do I eat this one same way say pack it pack it like that you doues you like doubles I love doubles man doubles was so delicious that I had to request for another one but this time around triples my trip in Trinidad wouldn't have been complete without meeting such a superstar in this beautiful country ladies and gentlemen I present to you Nadia Baston I'm Nadia Boston from the beautiful Trinidad and Tobago and we are here on the set of my music video for lover I'm here with the world renowned mie Trinidad Allstar steel Orchestra of course CH Tobago is the most southernly island of the Caribbean and we host the world's most amazing Carnival one more time and of course Carnival 2024 is going to be fabulous so if you've never been to Trinidad and Tobago you need to get paid [Music] [Music] [Music] how are you doing good thank you how are you good is it your first Carnival yes it's my first in Trinidad my first one in Trinidad when was the first ever Carnival you attended in which country London as a child my parents took me all right so why trinad this time around this is the real Carnival the real Carnival the real Carnival why should you visit Trinidad and Tobago of course this is the land of Steel pan and Calypso basically this is actually a oil drum flat like this right then they decide how many notes they going to do so they they groove it they actually take a hammer and a chisel and they do it literally like this and they sh But first you sink the drum so they take a hammer and they P it and P it and sink it and sink it until they get it to the desired depth and then they decide if they're going to make a a a double second or they're going to make a guitar or they going to make a tenna and that's that they're going to decide so if you're making a tenna and of course the people we have the most warm and beautiful people here in Trinidad and Tobago I mean I'm your girl Nadia bson oh no we going [Music] I hope you all enjoy this amazing episode just like we enjoy filming and editing don't forget to like this video subscribe and be part of this awesome Channel and I will see you all in the next Trinidad video