Blog update: The Military Museum in Chaguaramas by Bethany

Escape on CAPE
David, Sarah and Bryn Smith
Mon 23 Sep 2013 16:35

On the 5th of September, Mum, Dad, Bryn and I met up with Tanzi and Michael (BALTIC SUN), at Coral Cove and caught a Maxi Taxi to the Military Museum near Trinidad & Tobago Sailing Association (TTSA), where we met up with a few other yachties.

 

Entry to the museum was 30TT (about 6 USD) per person – we had to book a tour guide in advance. There was a wealth of information on the original Amer-Indian tribes in Trinidad, how Christopher Columbus found the islands, how the Dutch, French, Spanish and British kept fighting over the islands, and Trinidad and Tobago's involvement in World War l and ll. The museum contained some amazing things – some of the things in which I was particularly interested were; the old swords, a couple of old instruments from World War l, a massive torpedo and the smallest working pistol in the world.

 

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An old set of stocks from the middle ages; they put people in these for up to 4 days without food and water if they were caught stealing.

 

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I was impressed to find a Welsh Bowman in with all the other models.

 

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A few of the swords (the guide wouldn't let us touch them).

 

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More swords; designs on the handles were awesome (that one was for you, STINGO).

 

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The smallest pistol in the world (to the right of it you can see a 25c coin).

 

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An old trumpet from World War l.

 

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Spot the man in the bush.

 

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Pieces of a few planes that crashed in Trinidad during World War II.

 

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There were some cool murals too.

 

We then headed outside to look at the aeroplanes that had been rescued and some old vehicles. There was a small World War II aeroplane, an old island-to-island plan (a Tristar), an old helicopter from the Trinidad and Tobago Secret Service, and a number of military vehicles. The oddest exhibit outside was the UFO – an orange liferaft from an oil rig. The great thing was that we were allowed to scramble all over them (at our own risk of course!). Unfortunately the museum is under threat of closure, so go soon if you can!

 

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Bryn getting ready to give the propeller of the small aeroplane a good hard spin.

 

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Little and large; the small plane next to the Tristar.

 

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What is left of the Trinidad and Tobago's Secret Service helicopter.

 

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The UFO liferaft.

 

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Inside the Tristar was empty except for the pilot cabin, but still quite impressive.

 

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One of the panels of buttons and gauges.