Trekker Pitches A Fit!

Since we were already half way there, we decided after church at the Couva Ward, we would drive over to Pitch Lake, one of only three naturally occurring – and the largest - tar pits in the world (the other two are in Venezuela and Los Angeles) . It is reputed this circular lake covers approximately 100 acres and may be as deep as 250 feet at its center. To Trekker’s untrained eye, it looked – and smelled – like Pitch Lake is nothing more than a giant parking lot which attracts about 20,000 visitors a year.

Surprisingly, there are some beautiful flowers worth seeing in the middle of the lake, but be careful! Walking on this spongy surface is an interesting and safe experience, but any attempt to drive on it may result in tires sinking down into the oohy, gooey, black tar (also called asphalt or pitch). We got a very informative tour from a couple of self-appointed tour guides who, at the end of our half hour walk, charged us $600 TT’s – about $50 USD apiece – for the privilege.

Pitch Lake has been on our list of things to see before we leave Trinidad in a couple of weeks, but Trekker wasn't impressed. He didn’t like the “bituminous” odor and was considerably unhappy when these two highway robbers told us the cost for our little adventure. To show his displeasure, our Traveling Tiger "trew" a little hissy fit - then reminded us it probably served us right for sightseeing on "da Sabbit” day in Trinidad.