Shopping

One of the largest bazaars of the Caribbean, Port-of-Spain has luxury items from all over the globe, including Irish linens, English china, Scandinavian crystal, French perfumes, Swiss watches, and Japanese cameras. Even more interesting are the Asian bazaars, where you can pick up items in brass. Reflecting the island's culture are calypso shirts, sisal goods, woodwork, cascadura bracelets (made from the scales of the cascadura fish), silver jewelry in local motifs, and saris. For souvenirs, visitors often like to bring back figurines of limbo dancers, carnival masqueraders, or calypso singers.

Stecher's, Gulf City Complex (tel. 868/657-6993), is the best bet for luxury items -- crystal, watches, jewelry, perfumes, Georg Jensen silver, Lladró, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Limoges, and Royal Albert. You can find other branches at Long Circular Mall and West Mall. You can also pay a last-minute call at their tax-free airport branches or at the cruise-ship complex at the Port-of-Spain docks.

Y. De Lima, 83 Queen St. (tel. 868/623-1364), is a good store for watches, but the main focus is local jewelry. Its third-floor workroom will make whatever you want in jewelry or bronze. You might emerge with anything from steel drum earrings to a hibiscus-blossom brooch.

Art Creators and Suppliers, Apt. 402, Aldegonda Park, 7 St. Ann's Rd., St. Ann's (tel. 868/624-4369), is in a banal apartment complex, but the paintings and sculptures here are among the finest in the Caribbean. Among the artistic giants displayed are Glasgow, Sundiata, Keith Ward, Jackie Hinkson, and many others.

Lovers of Caribbean art also flock to the 101 Art Gallery, 101 Tragarete Rd. (tel. 868/628-4081), in Port-of-Spain. This is the best showcase for the hottest local talent. Some of local artist Sarah Beckett's work is viewed so highly that her abstract oils appear on regional stamps. Often you can meet some of the artists here, especially on Tuesday evenings during openings. The gallery is closed on Sunday and Monday.

The Market, 10 Nook Ave., St. Ann's (tel. 868/624-1181), is one of the most fashionable shopping complexes on Trinidad. Some 20 boutiques represent the best jewelers, designers, and art dealers on the island. You'll find a wide assortment of clothing, cosmetics, bags, shoes, china, tableware, handicrafts, and accessories. The complex forms an interconnected bridge among the Normandie Hotel and Restaurant, and the restaurant Vidalia.

Evocative of India

Visiting the little town of Chaguanas -- located south of Port-of-Spain and the Parco International Airport -- is like taking a shopping trip to India. To get there, drive out Uriah Butler Highway and look for the turn-off sign to Chaguanas. This was the birthplace of the Nobel Prize-winning novelist V. S. Naipaul.

As you come in on Main Road you'll think you've miraculously arrived in Calcutta. A hodgepodge of shops sell Indian clothing, jars of spicy chutney, and Bollywood music. The gem of shops is Radika's Pottery, 183 Edinburgh Village (tel. 868/665-4267), run for three generations by the Pickal family, which is acclaimed around the world for its exquisite pottery -- jugs, pots, candle holders, and more. Even Naipaul is a fan of this pottery, which is exhibited at international art fairs.

If you're in town for lunch, head for the very simple but good Indo-Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant on Main Road (tel. 868/665-6928). Main courses cost from US$1 to US$5 (50p-£2.60).