13th November, 2013

We take so much for granted - 

like being able to flush loo paper.

In Trinidad we were told to dispose of the paper into a bin. Not for the squeamish. If you have a stubborn bowel a glass of tap water will quickly sort that out. We used our filter bottles but they weren't always great germ guardians.

The casa particulars are always keen to cook dinner for you. Naturally they make a CUC or ten from this. It was a shame that we felt a bit bullied in Trinidad as the home cooking wasn't the greatest and on our last night we discovered some fine dining establishments.

It is also sensible to determine the price of everything before you commit, otherwise you end up being charged a premium for a service and it's very hard to negotiate backwards. We also got a bit fed up being charged a CUC ($1) for everything. Parking, entering, looking. By the time you add up the 1CUC here and there you have spent a day’s budget on intangible things.

On our last day in Trinidad our hostess, Rita, gave us a guided tour. A fascinating little town of 75,000 people with between 3 - 4,000 tourists (local and foreigners) passing through each day. It was so hot and sadly we had the attention span of an ant before deciding to retreat to the beach. There it poured with rain, and as Rob had gone to visit a sugar estate we were grounded - on our 2CUC per sun beds which we refused to surrender. Eventually we bolted to the beach bar to spend another fortune on mojitos.

And you don't get more salsa than this....