On Route - La Divina Pastora Part 1

WHAT!! ..... There's a statue of a Black Virgin Mary in Trinidad and Tobago??


The History....

So apparently there's a "Black" Virgin Mary statue which is kept safely at the La Divina Pastora RC Church in Siparia Trinidad and Tobago. She is supposedly made of wood and dressed in fine clothing and is honoured by both the Roman Catholic an Hindu Religion. It is said that she answers their prays.

Siparia hosts an annual festival called Patron Saint which occurs every year on the saint day of La Divina Pastora a few weeks after Easter. This is when she is honoured by the Roman Catholics. She is shared with the Hindus at a separate celebration which occurs every year leading up to Easter (Holy Thursday & Good Friday).


Yup! You read that right...

Imagine our surprise when we heard this. We were none-the-less wiser than you folks who didn't know.

So... the crew and I were at the Farmers Market one Saturday and while we were speaking to one of the farmers about what we do, he mentioned a Black Virgin Mary Statue in Siparia. Well when he saw the look on our faces he laughed.

"Yesssss.... There's a statue of a Black Virgin Mary at the La Divina Pastora RC Church in Siparia" he said.



Well we were sold....

Right there and then we had all decided just by looking at each other, that there was definitely our next stop. So the next weekend we gathered our equipment and we hit the road.

Farmers' Market

Photo taken by: Clovis Photography

Loose 5 lb in 5 Days...

That's what the sign says...

First site on entering the Farmers' Market at Queens Park Savannah was Ms. Jennifer (pic above), representing her Total Life Changes (TLC) brand. She was set up at the entrance with her small stall covered by a vibrant red umbrella which shaded her from the very hot sun. Displaying samples, she was more than eager to introduce us to her line of "life changing" products, which she explains help you loose weight, detox your body and can be used for many other health beneficial purposes. Not only does she sell these products, but she also provides a support system for mothers who also want to start off a small business selling the products. It was very interesting talking to Ms. Jennifer but we had to move on to the other stalls under the tents to see what else was being offered at this Farmers' Market....

Macqueripe Trail - Abandon Radar Station Part 2

Macqueripe Radar Tracking Station
Photo taken by: Clovis Photography

Here's the brief history
So apparently during in 1958 the United States of America built this tracking station as a warning system. During the cold war in the 1960's they deployed an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Stations to prevent Russian attacks. This was one of the stations built in their monitoring systems.

The view was spectacular...

Macqueripe Trail - Abandoned Radar Station - Part 1

Macqueripe Trail - Road to Abandon Radar Station
Picture taken by: Tracey Thomas

In my last blog post I shared my experience at Macqueripe Beach, but what I didn't mention is that before I went to Macqueripe Beach, the crew and I went up the trail to the Radar Station located at the very top of the road with the Bamboo Cathedral.

So... before I talk about the Radar Station itself, let me recite to you our experience on the trail on our way up to the station. This was definitely a first for the crew and I. None of us have ever been on this trail before, not even to the Bamboo Cathedral..... I know you're probably wondering where we're from.... LOL.

Anyway, we all met at the bottom of the trail for 7:30am to get somewhat of an early start as we had no idea how long it would take us to and from our the Radar Station.Our mission on this trip was to photograph our entire experience from start to finish, so we grabbed our our vital supplies, water and of course our cameras and started our course up hill.

Picture taken by: Nkosi Sherman

We're not your "Average Joes" .....LOL