Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/725964
perfect photo opportunity to digitally cap- ture views of the entire western coastline. Farther west in Tucker Valley, we zip lined high above a dense rainforest and the glis- tening waters of Macqueripe Bay. Refuelled by a quick lunch of Indian rotis, we headed out from the local marina and sailed to nearby Gaspar Grande Island. A fairly rigorous 20-minute hike rewarded us with the extraordinary Gasparee Caves. The largest of them showcases unforget- table formations of stalactites, stalagmites, earth pillars and a pool at its bottom, eerily lit by sunlight from a small opening above. More excitement awaited us the next morning on a visit to La Brea Pitch Lake in the southern part of Trinidad. It was discov- ered by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595 when he used its pitch to caulk his ships' leaks. Raleigh took barrels of the substance back to England where it was deemed extremely valuable and dubbed "black gold." From then on, Trinidad refined the pitch and supplied the world with the resulting asphalt used to build infrastructure such as roads and airline runways. The 38.5-hectare, 76-metre-deep lake is 75 per cent solid, 25 per cent liquid bitumen and will provide pitch for another 400 years. It was awesome to step on it as it felt like we were walking on marshmallows. Back along the western shoreline, we embarked on a boat tour through the Caroni Swamp Bird Sanctuary, a lagoon dissected into a network of channels that cover about 57 square kilometres of wetlands bordered by thick mangrove forests. The swamp is home to raccoons, mongoose, anteaters, caimans and iguanas while grouper, mullet, snook, snapper, tarpon, tilapia and catfish populate its channels. Among the sanctuary's 186 bird species, we were most enthralled with the huge resident flock of brilliant scarlet ibises, Trinidad and Tobago's national bird. Before leaving for Tobago, we toured the House of Angostura established in 1824. Today, the eight-hectare complex produces one million cases of bitters annually, as well as many varieties of rums and spirits. We marvelled at the fully automated bottling areas, huge molasses and fermentation tanks, and wooden barrels in the aging warehouse. We also admired the company's 5,000-strong Butterfly Museum and impres- sive art collection before lingering over the "compulsory" sampling of Angostura wines, spirits and bitters. TOBAGO GEMS We opted for a 15-minute flight to Tobago rather than a 2.5-hour ferry ride and were soon ensconced in the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort and swimming in one of its three pools before sitting down to a sumptuous dinner in its Kali'na Caribbean fusion restaurant. The following morning we enjoyed stand- up paddleboarding on the crystal-clear waters off Pigeon Point before heading out in a glass- bottomed boat to snorkel along the Buccoo Reef and Nylon Pool. In keeping with Tobago's mantra: "Do not stress yourself," we attended the prize-giving ceremony of the annual Tobago International Cycling Classic, one of T&T's many year-round annual festivals, which include the renowned Carnival, Film Festival, Jazz Festival, Rum Festival, Mango Festival and dozens of multicultural celebrations. After a relaxing swim in the silken waters at the Coco Reef Resort off Crown Point, we set out from Scarborough, Tobago's capital, for the multi-level Argyle Falls, which were discovered in 1991 during the creation of hiking and cycling trails through the rain- forest. We hiked through the incredibly tall vegetation of breadfruit, rubber trees and bamboo, which, we were told, grows 20 centimetres a day. It was magical to swim in the clear, cool pool at the lowest level of the falls and well worth the effort to climb up to the very top. We savoured excellent local and interna- tional cuisine as well as some of the best ethnic street food anywhere. And there was never a shortage, on either island, of exotic nightlife at clubs, casinos or of jazz and the islands' very special steel pan music. FALL 2016 DREAMSCAPES 47 TRAVEL PLANNER For more information on Trinidad & Tobago, visit gotrinidadandtobago.com. Caribbean Airlines (caribbean-airlines.com) offers daily flights to Port of Spain, Trinidad, from Toronto. For accommodation, consider the Hyatt Regency Trinidad (trinidad.hyatt.com) in Trinidad and the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort (magdalenagrand.com) on Tobago. Dining is an experience on either island. Check out Buzo Osteria Italiana and Ariapita Avenue for street food vendors in Trinidad and Kariwak Village, Crown Point (kariwak.com) and The Seahorse Inn, Black Rock (seahorseinntobago.com) on Tobago. DS OPPOSITE TOP: The Speyside Lookout on Tobago provides panoramic views of Speyside, Tyrell's Bay, Little Tobago and Goat Island. Tourism Development Company Limited OPPOSITE MIDDLE: Trinidad's best dishes are loaded with flavour. Tourism Development Company Limited OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Try stand-up paddleboarding on the crystal-clear waters off Pigeon Point in Tobago. Allison Ferguson LEFT: View scarlet ibis, a national bird of Trinidad and Tobago, deep in the mangroves that make up Caroni Swamp on the west coast of Trinidad. Tourism Development Company Limited