As seen through the eyes of a local ‘tourist’
Text and Photos by Essiba Small
It may come as a surprise to you, but my first visit to Mayaro was actually a month ago. At night. It was hardly a good time to go sightseeing . The intention was not to anyway , more like a sense of duty, to ensure that a friend’s mechanic got to his Ortoire home safely.
The night visit made for horrible phone photos and spooked me out a little. The seas were rough. And even though it was dark, you could see the surf climb the berm and then recede. The night trip made me appreciate Mayaro even more when we made it back there three weeks later, this time in blazing sun.
We got to the Manzanilla Mayaro stretch where the coconut trees, on either side of the road, seemed to welcome us with a bow; some trees dipping lower than others.
The blue sky was almost cloudless, with few puffs of white here and there. This certainly made things easy for us to locate what was causing that buzzing sound up above.
There, gliding in and out of view, playing peek-a-boo with the coconut branches, was a paraglider and a passenger , taking a bird’s eye view of the gorgeous southeastern coastline.
The heat of the day was begging for something cold, so we stopped by a snow cone vendor who also offered alcoholic alternatives.
We also made it to the Book Junkie, a nondescript shed at night, but a book lover’s haven in the day, run by the pleasant Shivanand. His polite smile, when I asked his name, told me that he had been asked the same many, many times before, earlier that day. Shivanand shared that sales from the books at Book Junkie all go toward the construction of a massive library in the community. I picked up two novels.
We couldn’t go to Mayaro without partaking of Ducky’s Roast Fish, which I had only read about, prior to this visit. Ducky’s Ortoire Organic Roast Seafood , located right after the Ortoire river bridge , is where you’d meet chef and owner Ducky, a chatty and jovial fella, who only gets serious when he is attending to his roasting seafood on the fire, flipping and seasoning each piece, engaging customers as they either stand and wait to take their meals away or sit with their family, waiting to be served.
Ducky then presents his seafood masterpiece on fig leaves. The box is so packed, you’ll need a rubber band to keep it closed! We tried his roast king fish, which was garnished with peppers and cabbage and served with plantains; talk about a belly full!
The beach , more like the sand, in the shade of some fishing boats, was the perfect place to sit and let the “ethnic-itis” (that urge to sleep immediately after you eat) , to run its course.
The children fortunate enough to live nearby, arrived in groups, dived into the water and swam out to meet their friends; some young boys took a boat out.
With the evening setting in, we started the journey back home.
I saw Mayaro through the eyes of a tourist that day, oohing, ahhing and wowing at everything, like a child in a toy shop. Experiences such as these , really make you see the beauty of your country.
Mayaro, yuh nice.
