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.

Doubles was on the menu....

Picture taken by: Nkosi Sherman

So.... our first agenda was breakfast of course, and surely we had to stop for doubles opposite Medford in Chaguanas.

One slight, one medium and the other no pepper. That was the order.

I know who eats doubles without pepper?? Apparently Ms. Tracey Thomas aka Foodography does...

Well we ate our doubles, paid the vendor and  went back on the road.



Where in the world are we???

Now at some point we ended up on a very long deserted back road somewhere between Chaguanas and Waterloo, where we actually thought we were lost. After a long drive along this road we came across some cyclists being escorted by police officers traveling in the opposite direction.

Thank Goodness some sign of civilization... LOL 

When that very short excitement was over, we continued on this road that seemed never ending all alone again.

Click to see video: We're Lost

Passing PCS Nitrogen

Passing through the Couva/ Pt. Lisas area we saw the beautiful structures of the PCS Nitrogen Buildings.

Picture taken by: Clovis Photography

Second Stop..... The Sugar Heritage Village & Museum

Picture taken by: Clovis Photography

Well... the very long road eventually led us to the Sugar Heritage Village & Museum in Pt. Lisas. We were not allowed to venture inside the compound to take photos as it was a Saturday. They told us we would have to go back during the week, but we were already there so we became inventive.

Peering our cameras through cracks and over fences we tried to capture the best of what the facility had to offer photogenically.

Picture taken by: Clovis Photography

Picture taken by: Nkosi Sherman

So far this trip was so much fun... After spending approximately 40 minutes at the Museum we left and was on the road again.

Next Stop... Siparia

Stay tuned in to my blog for the rest of this story. To view more pictures and videos on our trip to the La Divina Pastora RC Church, please visit our Where Next or Clovis Photography Facebook Page