Brown Girl Tours: Curated Trinidad and Tobago Experiences

For Sharon Farrell, tourism was never meant to feel like a checklist.

It was not supposed to be a rushed ride from one landmark to the next, with a guide reciting dates while visitors stared through the window of a bus. It was supposed to feel personal. Human. Warm. Full of laughter, memory, food, language, history, and the unexpected moments that make a place stay with you long after you leave.

That is the spirit behind Brown Girl Tours, the Trinidad and Tobago-based tour company Sharon founded after more than three decades in corporate marketing, public relations and communications.

After 33 years in the corporate world, Sharon knew she wanted to do something that brought her closer to people. Communications had given her the tools to understand audiences, tell stories and shape experiences, but she wanted work that felt more personal. When she discovered that tour guiding was not only a profession but one she could be trained and certified in, something clicked.

Tour guiding, she realised, allowed her to bring all of herself into the work: the communicator, the storyteller, the organiser, the Trini woman, the people person.

Even the name Brown Girl Tours began with spontaneity. During her tour guide training, participants were asked to create a name for a fictional company. Sharon jokingly blurted out “Brown Girl.” The room laughed, but the name stayed with her.

“I am a brown girl doing tours,” she says simply.

And with that, Brown Girl Tours was born.

A Different Kind of Tour Experience

Brown Girl Tours began to take shape while Sharon was working with other tour operators and observing how traditional packages were often structured. Many tours followed a fixed route: city tour, Maracas, standard stops, standard script. But Sharon noticed something important. Not every traveller wanted the same experience.

One guest changed everything.

He had booked a city-to-Maracas tour, but when Sharon asked if he really wanted to do the city tour, he admitted that all he wanted was to sit on the beach and drink a beer.

So that is exactly what they did.

They went to the beach, had Stag, ate bake and shark, and talked about the history of Trinidad right there by the sea. Sharon still delivered the cultural and historical context, but she did it in a way that matched what the guest actually wanted from the day.

That moment confirmed what she had been sensing: there was room in Trinidad and Tobago for more flexible, specially created tours.

Today, that is what Brown Girl Tours is known for.

Sharon is intentionally moving away from the large, impersonal bus tour model. Her tours are small, often designed for solo travellers, couples or intimate groups of three or four. She wants guests to feel like they are not simply being transported, but hosted.

“You get Sharon,” she says. “All of Sharon.”

That means her laughter, her personality, her stories, her humour, and her instinct for helping people feel comfortable. It also means that no two Brown Girl Tours are exactly the same.

Before the journey begins, Sharon wants to know what the guest wants to experience. The day is allowed to flow. There is structure, but not rigidity. There is history, but not in a dry, disconnected way. There is culture, food, language and liming.

Guests may learn a Trini phrase for the day, such as “buss a lime.” They may end up eating doubles in the Queen’s Park Savannah, exploring Port of Spain through stories, visiting a mud volcano, or discovering a quiet natural gem away from the usual tourist trail.

The goal is not just to show Trinidad and Tobago. It is to help people feel it.

Storytelling as the Real Destination

For Sharon, storytelling is at the heart of good tour guiding.

She does not believe in simply listing dates and facts. Instead, she brings history to life by connecting it to the places people are seeing in real time.

A drive along Wrightson Road, for example, becomes more than a route through Port of Spain. Sharon uses it to explain reclaimed land, the old relationship between the city and the sea, the placement of the lighthouse, the development of Sea Lots, and even the irony of having a fire station on Wrightson Road after moments in the country’s history where fire shaped parts of the capital.

The facts are there, but they are wrapped in story.

That is where Sharon’s background in communications becomes one of Brown Girl Tours’ quiet strengths. She understands that people remember what they can connect with. A landmark becomes more meaningful when it has a story. A city becomes more interesting when its contradictions, humour, resilience and history are explained through a human voice.

And Sharon’s voice is unmistakably Caribbean.

The Personal Touch That Makes the Difference

Some of Sharon’s most memorable experiences show exactly why Brown Girl Tours is different.

One involved an elderly woman who returned to Trinidad with her brother’s ashes. Both siblings had been born in Trinidad, and it was his wish to have his ashes brought back home. During the tour, the woman shared memories of being in the country at the time of Independence, including the lowering of the Union Jack and the raising of the Trinidad and Tobago flag.

For Sharon, it became more than a tour. It was an exchange of memory. A moment where the guide also became the listener and learner.

Another experience involved a young woman with multiple sclerosis who had a hike on her bucket list. Rather than dismissing the request or assuming it would not be possible, Sharon went out and walked trails herself to determine what could work. She eventually created an experience that allowed the guest to hike, cross water, reach a pool and enjoy the feeling of completing something she had deeply wanted to do.

That is the heart of Brown Girl Tours: listening first, then building the experience with care.

It is also why Sharon believes people should understand that quality tourism takes time. A personalised experience cannot always be pulled together overnight. It requires listening, planning, research and an understanding of what the client truly wants to feel at the end of the day.

Rediscovering Home Through the Junior Seniors

While Brown Girl Tours has attracted solo travellers and small groups from abroad, Sharon has also created something special for locals: a group she affectionately calls the Junior Seniors.

The idea came from a simple but powerful observation. Many retirees in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly women, had spent their lives working, raising families and caring for others. Now, in their 60s, 70s and beyond, many finally had time but not always someone to take them out to explore.

So Sharon created a space for them.

Through her “Know Your Country” outings, the Junior Seniors get to rediscover Trinidad and Tobago in a way that is joyful, social and deeply nostalgic. They travel together, visit different parts of the country, eat, laugh, shop, explore and relive pieces of childhood.

On one trip through Mayaro, Manzanilla and Guayaguayare, the group visited the Cascadoux mud volcano, stopped by a neighbour with a dongs tree, picked fruit, searched for West Indian cherries, and enjoyed smoked fish at Ducky’s.

For many, it was not just a day out. It was a return to a part of themselves.

One participant sent Sharon a message thanking her for “making getting older enjoyable.”

That line says almost everything.

The Junior Seniors outings are carefully managed. Sharon keeps the groups small enough to remain comfortable, provides transportation, arranges food and drinks, and ensures that participants do not have to worry about preparing meals or managing the details. They simply come out and enjoy the day.

Now, the group has grown into its own little community. The women look forward to the next outing. They ask where they are going next before the current trip is even finished. Some attend every tour. They check in on each other. They laugh, talk, lime and build friendship.

They have even requested branded Brown Girl Tours jerseys or polos so they can show up as a group.

For Sharon, it is beautiful work. It is also a reminder that tourism does not only belong to visitors. Sometimes, the most powerful journeys are the ones that help locals see home again.

A Woman-Led Vision in a Male-Dominated Space

Sharon is aware that the tour industry in Trinidad and Tobago is still largely male-led. She estimates that women remain a smaller presence in the sector, which makes the visibility of female tour guides and operators important.

For her, women bring a particular kind of care to the experience. A nurturing, detailed, intuitive approach that can make guests feel seen and looked after.

As a Caribbean woman and entrepreneur, Sharon’s presence in the space also challenges what tourism leadership can look like. Brown Girl Tours is not built around trying to imitate a traditional model. It is built around Sharon’s own personality, instincts and sense of place.

That authenticity is part of the brand.

Beyond Sun, Sea and Sand

Sharon also believes Trinidad and Tobago must be honest and strategic about what it offers as a destination.

While some Caribbean islands are globally known for pristine beaches and resort-style tourism, she believes Trinidad and Tobago’s strength lies elsewhere. For her, the country’s real opportunity is in eco-tourism, culture, food, history and the lived experience of being here.

She points to mud volcanoes, leatherback turtles, forest trails, wild monkeys, local food, cultural encounters and hidden gems such as Bajnath Estate in Matura, which she describes as a beautiful space with hummingbirds, trails, rivers and access to Rio Seco Waterfall.

These are the kinds of experiences, she believes, that better reflect Trinidad and Tobago.

Not every destination needs to sell the same dream.

Trinidad and Tobago has its own rhythm. Its own stories. Its own wildness. Its own food, humour, history and natural beauty. Brown Girl Tours is helping travellers and locals connect with that version of the country.

Building a Business With Belief

Like many entrepreneurs, Sharon is honest about the challenges of building a business alone.

There is the guiding, the planning, the administration, the website, the content, the search engine optimisation, the customer service and the constant need to keep improving. Entrepreneurship, she says, teaches you every day.

One of the biggest lessons has been belief.

“You have to believe in yourself,” she says.

For Sharon, that means believing that what she brings to the market has value. It also means shifting from the mindset of an employee to that of an owner. After decades in corporate life, that transition requires courage and learning.

But Brown Girl Tours has grown largely through satisfaction, referrals and word of mouth. Sharon rarely relies on paid advertising. People who experience her tours often recommend her to others because they leave feeling seen, cared for and satisfied.

That, for her, is success.

What Comes Next for Brown Girl Tours

Sharon’s vision for Brown Girl Tours extends beyond Trinidad and Tobago.

She wants to take the Brown Girl concept up the islands, pursue Caribbean Single Market and Economy certification, and eventually create experiences across the region. She also wants to connect more deeply with the Caribbean diaspora in the UK and US, helping people return to Trinidad and Tobago and reconnect with their roots in a personal way.

She imagines Brown Girl Tours becoming a bridge: between traveller and place, diaspora and home, memory and discovery.

At its core, though, the mission remains beautifully simple.

Sharon wants people to leave happy. Satisfied. Grateful that they chose the right person to help them experience Trinidad and Tobago.

Brown Girl Tours is not just about where you go. It is about how you are made to feel while you are there.

And in Sharon Farrell’s hands, a tour becomes something warmer than an itinerary.

It becomes a lime, a story, a memory, and a reminder that the Caribbean is best experienced through the people who love it enough to share it well.

You can connect with Sharon and Brown Girl Tours via the website – https://www.browngirltours.com IG – browngirltoursltd