Jesse Ramdeo

Se­nior Re­porter

jesse.ramdeo@cnc3.co.tt

The fo­cus shift­ed from the road to the river­bank for Ash Wednes­day yes­ter­day, when friends and fam­i­lies gath­ered at Cau­ra Riv­er in Tu­na­puna. While some opt­ed to cool down be­neath the bam­boo shade or in the wa­ter, oth­ers con­tin­ued their rev­el­ry.

The pop­u­lar na­ture spot in the North­ern Range drew crowds from across the coun­try for what many con­sid­ered their last cel­e­bra­tions for Car­ni­val.

Af­ter mid­day, ve­hi­cles lined the road­way near the riv­er, the smell of food filled the air and mu­sic echoed through the area.

Deo Ram­nar­ine and his fam­i­ly left their Ch­agua­nas home to take part in the post-Car­ni­val riv­er cooldown, which has been a tra­di­tion for years.

“We cook­ing dhal, rice, cur­ried duck and cur­ried chick­en and it is some­thing I do­ing ever since I could re­mem­ber,” he said.

Suzanne Mc Phillimy said the riv­er was the per­fect re­lief from the ex­haus­tion of the fes­ti­val.

“I had an amaz­ing Car­ni­val. We played with Tribe and it was a re­al­ly nice ex­pe­ri­ence on the road,” she said.

In a few days, Mc Phillimy will trav­el back to her home in the Mid­dle East. How­ev­er, the T&T na­tion­al was ea­ger to re­con­nect with fam­i­ly, with the riv­er as a nat­ur­al rem­e­dy.

“Every­thing, the vibe, just the cook­ing and just to be by the wa­ter and with fam­i­ly and friends, it’s just great. I re­al­ly miss every­thing when I’m not here, the peo­ple, the food, the at­mos­phere, every­thing. When­ev­er I’m back for Car­ni­val we must con­tin­ue this tra­di­tion,” she said.

Ja­maican na­tion­al Ker­ry Verona-Hol­ness, who has called T&T home for the last ten years, has al­so in­te­grat­ed in­to the riv­er lime tra­di­tion.

“I just like the vibe, the na­ture, the cul­ture, I like every­thing. I like the qui­et, peace, the wa­ter it’s re­fresh­ing, every­thing about it re­al­ly is en­joy­able,” she said.

Verona-Hol­ness and her rel­a­tives al­so ap­pre­ci­at­ed the po­lice pres­ence, which they said boost­ed safe­ty and en­sured or­der at the lo­ca­tion.

Many peo­ple said the Cau­ra cooldown is an es­sen­tial part of their Car­ni­val ex­pe­ri­ence, pro­vid­ing them with a fi­nal op­por­tu­ni­ty to soak in the joy and ca­ma­raderie of the sea­son.

How­ev­er, the ex­pe­ri­ence was not as pleas­ant for peo­ple seek­ing re­lax­ation at Mara­cas Bay, as they en­dured grid­lock traf­fic in a po­lice road­block at “The Pil­lars” along the Sad­dle Road, Mar­aval, on their jour­ney to the pop­u­lar beach.