East and South Side of the Savannah

Going down the East side of the Queen's Park Savannah, there really isn't all that much to see. There are no major landmarks and we're perilously close to the largest "No Go" zone, the Laventille. I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with this part of town so I'm left to assume it is a high crime zone. Like most of the "No Go" zones, I've been there. Of course I was doing a race at the time.

This is the way the trail looks to me most of the time.

Most of the houses that were there are gone now and you see this odd mix of new offices and run down houses. The small, bright orange building on the left is on our side of the river that is the border between Port of Spain and Laventille.

So you tend to focus on what is on the south side of the southeast corner of the Savannah. This is the National Performing Arts center or NAPA. This is a large theater complex that was clearly inspired by the Sydney Opera House. Here you can see such treats as The Sound of Music as performed by an all black cast while accompanied by a steel pan drum orchestra as well as more conventional fare. The building itself is one of the two most out of place buildings in the city.

This building looks a lot like several I saw in Belgium. In fact it is the National Museum. Originally built in 1892 as the Royal Victoria Institute, it houses an eclectic collection of artifacts. It has a natural science display concentrating on oil and another on the flora and fauna of the island. Another display focuses on life in Trinidad during WWII. One of my favorites was the display on Trinidad's athletic heroes. The biggest and brightest of their athletic heroes is Brian Lara... who'll be the subject of another post.

Another post will cover the rest of the south side of the Savannah but here is a picture from the south side.