Day 7 (March 16, 2017): "Welcome to de island!"

Today was a "let's change countries" day! Up at 4:30AM, we took a cab to Chenni Jagan International at 5:30AM. The airport is literally like a relic from 1950 that hasn't been updated at all. We ran the gauntlet of all the normal check-in, customs and security protocols, gobbled a bowl of cereal at a very run-down business lounge, and then boarded the flight to Port of Spain, which left 8:15AM.

Just because I found it so intriguing, here's another example (enroute to the airport) of the house-on-stilts approach that is so prevalent in Guyana.

Saying farewell to this quirky-but-captivating place that's stuck in a time warp.

About to board our Caribbean Airlines flight from Georgetown to Port of Spain

Our last photo from Guyana was the flag flying proudly at Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

We landed abit early at Piarco International Airport in Trinidad & Tobago. The flight was less than half full, so clearing customs was a breeze. In no time, we were in a cab to the Hilton, and were amazed enroute at how modern and progressive Trinidad is compared to Guyana. However, with 1.3 million people, the highways were clogged. And we weren't even in rush hour traffic, which is apparently horrendous.

We arrived at the Hilton around 10:30AM, only to be told there were no rooms available for early check-in. So we stored our bags and set out to discover Port of Spain. The hotel is situated on a hill overlooking the Queen's Park Savannah. We walked to a nearby stop on one of the city's established shared taxi routes and took a taxi with a couple of locals as far as Woodford Square, a park in the centre of downtown. They kindly gave us the lay of the land, and we set off to explore.

Pam quickly found a store selling small Trinidadian steel drums, which feature prominently in the annual famous Carnival, which ended three weeks ago on Shrove Tuesday. While we missed Carnival, this drum will enable us to take home a small flavour of Trinidad's unique culture.

The photos below chart our exploration path for the day. We made it back to the Hilton at 3:30PM to find that we had been upgraded to a room on the executive floor, which included access to a lounge with unlimited soft drinks all day long, evening hors d'oeuvres, and breakfast. After a dip in the pool and some lounge snacks, we had a light dinner and called it a day.

This artwork of a steel drummer appropriately greets visitors at Piarco International Airport

Our first stop in Port of Spain was Woodford Square, a nice park alongside the Anglican Cathedral.

Holy Trinity is an Anglican Cathedral whose corner stone was laid in 1816.

Independence Square is not actually a square; rather, it's a ten-block pedestrian stretch from the Catholic Cathedral to the Parliament. Quite seedy at one end, quite 'financial district high-end' at the other.

Waterfront Park is an area bordering the ocean where one can catch a water taxi to San Fernando, the second largest city in Trinidad.

This gleaming set of towers at the western end of Independence Square includes the Hyatt (the city's most luxe hotel) and another tower containing the Parliament. So odd to see a country's Parliament as a tenant in an office tower.

A tribute to the country's Olympians, outside the Parliament.

Queen's Park Savannah (known simply as "the Savannah") is Port of Spain's largest open space. It occupies 260 acres of level land, once used for growing sugar cane.

The street to the west of The Savannah is perhaps Port of Spain's finest. It houses at least seven buildings of very ornate architecture. A few examples are shown below. Oh, and it also has some very ornate carts - such as this one -selling fresh fruit drinks.