Trinidad Carnival Prep!

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere and experience something for years and when you finally get the chance to you get more and more anxious with every approaching day? However your anxious thoughts were not so much because you were excited to go but because you are over the logistics of the planning. Well that is how I am feeling about my upcoming trip to Trinidad. Don’t get me wrong I AM EXCITED! But alot of planning goes into this.

It’s my friends birthday and for some years now she has taken trips to celebrate her birthday. A couple years ago they went to India, I, however did not attend because I just began a new job and did not have much leave time. But this year I am not missing out, especially when Trinidad Carnival is the destination.

After discovering that we would be going to Trinidad for carnival I couldn’t decide if I was more excited to go for carnival or that I would be seeing a lot of my friends down there that I hadn’t seen in a while. I began to learn more details of the trip and my initial excitement slowly wore off. I would later discover that I would become the planner by default since I was the only one in our group that is 1. Caribbean and 2. attended carnivals in the past If you know me, then you know I hate planning….long sigh, this was not going to be enjoyable.

I quickly began contacting all of my friends who are regular Trinidad carnival attendees for a quick crash course in ‘how to plan for Trinidad carnival.’ Like I mentioned earlier, I have been to other carnivals before so I generally knew how things worked, well that was until I spoke to my friend she told me I “quickly needed to understand that Trinidad Carnival is on a whole different level.”

It is about two weeks before I leave and I think I am prepared as I can be. Here is how I prepared for my trip along with some tips and things I learned along the planning phase if you are thinking about putting Trinidad carnival on your travel list:

1. Buy your plane ticket early & secure your accommodations!

If you know you want to go to Trinidad Carnival buy your plane ticket well in advance. A lot of people will purchase their tickets right when the airline releases them, and when that happens you can get a ticket as low as $300. As opposed to waiting and paying $700 plus.

After booking your flight you need to secure a hotel or Airbnb. Places sell out pretty fast and you don’t want to end up staying too far out.

2. Find someone that has been to carnival before or knows a committee member!

Knowing someone that has gone will be able to give you advice on where to stay, which fetes to go, and what band to play with. Also knowing a committee member will help you get into a band and obtain fete tickets. Most fetes require you to write to a committee member for tickets, so knowing a committee member or someone that knows a member may get you tickets faster. It helps but you can certainly get tickets without knowing any committee members, I did!

3. Be on the lookout for when tickets to fetes become available!

When fete tickets start to become available to the public you need to make sure you have your money ready and are by a computer because they will sell out. (Fete tickets can be pretty pricy but for the most part they are all inclusive and include food and drinks) When tickets become available there is no “put it off until the next day” because I repeat they will sell out. There was a fete I wanted to go to, I signed up to receive an email when tickets would be available. My friend texted me that tickets were available, I didn’t see the email, (I am bad at checking my personal email when it matters) and I went to buy the ticket literally five minutes after it was released and it was sold out. Be READY!

4. Secure your transportation!

Unless you are comfortable driving on the roads in Trinidad, I suggest you secure some transportation; I was told that car sharing apps are not reliable. I secured a private driver specifically for my group that will pick us up and drop us to fetes and knows the roads.

5. Pack by the day!

My same friend that advised me that Trinidad carnival is on a whole other level also advised me that she ‘packed for the day’ and prepared outfits for each fete as well as outfits for in between fetes. I found this helpful because I was able to lay out each day and an outfit in between, this is helping me not to over pack. She also gave me a whole list of items of things she found was necessary to pack: insoles for my shoes, suntan lotion, allergy medicine, Epsom salt, and so much more.

I am excited for this girls trip and cannot wait to get away for a bit to celebrate life with my friends and have a good time. If you have already been carnival in Trinidad and have any tips for me, or any last minute things I should know leave a comment. I hope this information was as helpful to you. After my trip I will let you know if my list and the advice I received helped prepare me. I will also provide more details on how to prepare.

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Author: Takiyah

Sharing my travel experience with you one place at a time... View all posts by Takiyah