I stepped up to the exit Immigration Officer in St. Maarten. She said, “Girl, where are you going?” Unable to tame my smile, I replied, “Trini Carnival!” She then said “You are gonna be on Team No Sleep”, and with that, the adventure began. For every Soca Lover/Island girl, Trinidad Carnival is the dream: The Soca Mecca.
I waited on LIAT, anxious for its arrival. Given their notoriety for being delayed, I wouldn’t condone missing my connection. Luckily, the flight arrived on time and we left shortly thereafter. I was dreading the many stops on LIAT to get to Trinidad; however, I was lucky to meet a very nice Antiguan, named Misty, who helped me keep my sanity. The Caribbean is full of warm friendly people. We chatted about the differences between Antigua and St. Maarten. She told me that this was her third year going to Trinidad for carnival and we were both excited of what was to come: Bacchanal! After we arrived, we exchanged information and I promised we would meet up at one of the fetes. Given that I was lucky enough to be accompanying my husband, Shyam, on his trip for the Angostura Global Cocktail Challenge, I was ready for the trip to start.
Curly Girly 