Six Amazing Facts About Trinidad and Tobago
This year marks 60 years of Independence for Trinidad & Tobago. Independence Day is celebrated on the 31st of August each year with military parades, ceremonies, carnival-style festivals and firework displays. Here is a collection of just some of the things that Trinidad & Tobago is well known for.
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
Trinidad is famed for its spectacular festivals, from having the biggest celebration of Diwali (the Festival of Lights) in the western hemisphere, to other celebrations such as emancipation day, they know how to do festivals. The biggest and most spectacular of them all being Trinidad Carnival, also known as “the Greatest Show on Earth” and for good reason. Carnival fetes happen from January all the way to March, but the peak of the Trinidad Carnival happens on the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of masqueraders and carnival goers hit the streets of the Capital, the Port of Spain, to celebrate and participate. Trinidad is also home to the world’s largest roundabout, the Queen’s Park Savannah, which, covering 260 acres, for Carnival, holds the world’s biggest stage.
The Steel Pan
Trinidad is indeed the place where the instrument the steel pan was born. It is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and is also considered to be the only acoustic instrument to be invented in the 20th century. As well as this Trinidad & Tobago is also the birthplace of the musical genres of soca and calypso.
Limbo
Everyone’s favourite party dance, the limbo, was created in Trinidad. The origins of this dance stemming from Africa during the slave trade was then popularised in the 1950s by dancer Julia Edwards.
La Brea Pitch Lake
La Brea Pitch Lake is the world’s largest natural deposit of asphalt. Located in the southwest of the island near the town of La Brea, the lake covers around 100 acres and is estimated at around 250 feet, holding about 10 million tons of pitch.
Leatherback Turtles
Trinidad has the second largest leatherback turtle nesting site in the world. Every year from March to September, thousands of leatherback turtles travel to the Grand Riviere beach to lay their eggs. Peak nesting months span from late spring to early summer and peak hatchling season span across the summer months.
Brain Coral
The Kelleston Drain located just off the shore of the small island of Little Tobago is where you will find the world’s largest brain coral colony, named after its human brain like appearance. The coral measures around 10ft in height and 16ft in diameter. The perfect attraction for enthusiastic scuba divers the site is always surrounded by an array of beautiful fish, turtles, stingray and other sea creatures to experience as well.
So as you can see, Trinidad & Tobago is full of life and wonder. And these are only some of the amazing things that make the country so great!
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