Shopping adventures in Trinidad

Sorry for the long delay between blog updates. All is well here aboard Away To Me in Trinidad!

Lynda is back in the US visiting family and friends, and I've been here on the bachelor boat taking care of the Boater Collies, working on boat projects, making new friends, and staying out of trouble (mostly).

Saturdays are big market days in Port of Spain, Trinidad. When I say "market", I mean kind of like a farmer's market. On steroids. Bigger than the biggest market you've ever seen in the US. It's not even close.

The satellite view doesn't show all of the vendor tents. They drive trucks between the rows of tents, to give you a sense of scale. The whole thing from the road on the left side to the road on the right side of the satellite image is covered with tents and fresh food.

I walked around the market once to get a sense for who had what, and what price they are charging. Then I walked through a second time to do actual buying. I walked more than 2 miles through the market, that's how big it is. And I'm pretty sure this isn't the biggest market in Trinidad!

These pictures show a small fraction of the market. The aroma of the place is amazing. It's like a flower shop collided with an Indian restaurant and a Mexican restaurant.

A lot of things are locally grown, and you can find just about anything you want. I bought apples, bananas, salad fixings, and stir fry fixings for about $20 USD (about 135 Trinidad dollars). It felt like 20 lbs of food. I'm counting this as my workout for the day.

I also bought chicken for less than $2 USD per lb, and steak for less than $6 USD per lb.

I have plenty to eat now. Maybe enough for 2 weeks.

Oh, and there is a roti shop that will make one for you to take home.

The roti they make is huge! And it only costs about $6 USD.

It's enough for 2 meals. And I've been told that this isn't the best roti in Trinidad...I can't wait to find the best ones!

Now I'm hungry again.

The food here is spicy and plentiful. The people are very kind and helpful. Crime does exist, but it doesn't seem to be any worse than other places we've been.

We weren't planning to visit Trinidad, but hurricane Beryl forced us to reconsider, and I'm glad we did come here. There are lots of things to do, places to see, and (obviously) food to eat.

Lynda will be back in August, and I'm hoping that I stay active enough not to gain much weight.