Kerlysse Hilaire at Mayaro Beach takes a selfie with brother Kielon in background.

Kerlysse Hilaire takes a selfie with brother Kielon in the background at Mayaro Beach.

Let’s go to Mayaro where there’s no city vibes

By Kielon Hilaire. I was not in the mood for any city vibes or to work out the details of who, what, when and how it was going to happen. I phoned a family friend and messaged my sister about my idea. “Hey, we going beach tomorrow!” My friend said okay, while my sister responded, “Wait, what?” The next morning the three of us were in a car heading to—oh shucks, I hadn’t yet decided on the exact beach! Midway, I just blurted out, “Let’s go to Mayaro!”

Snacking on journey to Mayaro

We drove through Arima then realised we had no food or drinks for our beach outing (for the first time ever). So we stopped at a grocery to get snacks then headed towards a highway that would ultimately lead us to Mayaro.

Before approaching the highway, we pulled near the side of a popular doubles vendor at the O’Meara junction in Arima. We sat in the car and munched on some hot, scrumptious doubles. Yes, I actually ate doubles (inside joke).

On the rest of the journey, the trio talked about politics, spirituality, distant planets, Egypt and even Tobago people got thrown into the mix. At one point, we joked about how funny it would be if we were to get lost. Ironically, after indeed getting lost (smh), we eventually made it to Mayaro Beach.

Bathing in Mayaro Beach

On the beach, people were scarce, the sun was hot and the water was clean and cool. Asking for anything more would have been pushing it for such an impromptu trip. Adding to the perfect scenario was the fact that the tide was low and a frequency of playful waves ambushed us incessantly while we were partially submerged in the water.

Between trying to jump over the waves, searching for Chip Chip shells and dodging occasional armies of seaweed, I couldn’t tell which was most captivating. We bathed for about two hours and then reluctantly returned to the shore.

Back to the shore

I took some time to carefully observe my surroundings as we headed to the shore. More people had appeared on the beach. I noticed scores of beautiful women were only now trickling into the water. What timing! A teen boy was having unquestionable fun with a bucket and some sand.

I saw a fallen coconut branch and a rare thought overtook me, “Who say selfie?” Given my usual anti-selfie nature, that moment may have been a strong contender for the highlight of the day. I posed for my pics, and of course my sister liked nothing better.

I took one last look at the beautiful water and the beautiful women before walking away peacefully. That unplanned trip to Mayaro turned out to be one of the best experiences I had in a while.

April 2018 www.sweettntmagazine.com