As a small island, Trinidad is beautiful, hilly and green, but it lacks spectacular mountains or large lakes. What it has instead are the world’s largest natural asphalt deposit- the Pitch Lake, and one of the world’s largest urban savannahs smack in the middle of its capital.

The Pitch Lake is not a lake, but an asphalt-filled basin from which the material is extracted to pave roads and runways in Trinidad and all over the world including the US and China. Asphalt, also known as bitumen, is a type of petroleum and the Pitch Lake is estimated to contain 10 million tons of asphalt.

The Pitch Lake was “discovered” by British explorer and soldier Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595 who used the pitch to caulk his ships.

The Pitch Lake mightn’t look like much, but you can walk all over the large black “lake” on the hard surface and even swim in some parts where there are shallow pools of water. There are also parts that are muddy where you can dip a stick into it and collect the viscous asphalt. The lake has been mined for asphalt since 1867 and is still being mined by facilities next to it. It has been called the “eight wonder of the world” though I suspect mainly by Trinidadians.

When you travel in Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain (POS), it’s hard to miss the Queen’s Park Savannah, a giant field that is over 2 miles (3.5 km) in length and also doubles as a “roundabout.” The savannah, as it’s often called by locals, contains football and rugby fields, cricket pitches, a garden, and the main performance stage used during Trinidad’s annual Carnival.

It also used to host horse-racing in my childhood though the racetrack was later moved to another location. The savannah itself is pleasant, but there’s a lot of things to see around it. On the north are the main zoo and botanical gardens, to the south is downtown POS, and facing the savannah on the west face are the “Magnificent Seven.”

These are seven grand colonial buildings and mansions that were built in European, Indian and Moorish styles during the early 20^th century. Ranging from a stately German Renaissance school building with a towering clock tower to a Moorish all-white building to a small castle to elegant French-style wooden mansions, the seven are each distinct and boast unique styles and features.

Several of them are in active use – Queen’s Royal College, one of the country’s top secondary schools; the Catholic Archbishop’s official residence; and White House, the office of the Prime Minister.

Stollmeyer’s Castle is probably Trinidad’s only castle though more like a mini-castle as it was intended to replicate a wing of Scotland’s Balmoral Castle. Stollmeyer’s Castle and the three French-colonial-style mansions are listed as heritage sites. Unfortunately, none of these buildings are open to the public, which is a pity since I think it would good for people to be able to visit these colonial buildings, and some of the mansions are being renovated and aren’t in the best of shape.

There are also several colonial “gingerbread” houses along the savannah, while the Hilton Hotel, Trinidad’s most famous hotel (I’m not saying this just because I share the same name), overlooks it from the northeast on its perch on a nearby hillside.

Queen’s Royal College

Stollmeyer’s Castle, Trinidad’s mini-castle

Archbishop’s residence The Savannah from the Hilton Hotel One of the French-style mansions