Eco-Cultural Experience
 This tour offers a
combination of some of the best eco and
cultural sights in Trinidad. Including stops
in Port of Spain, at the beach
and mountainous coastline, as well as the
chance to see the stunning Scarlet Ibis
bird at Trinidad’s largest mangrove swamp,
this is an unforgettable day out.
Starting our day
at 11am, we do a brief city tour of Port of
Spain, Trinidad’s capital. We make our way
through downtown, taking in the Parliament,
Supreme Court, shopping streets and the
city’s bustling centre, Independence Square.
Heading out of town we view the Queens Park
Savannah, a 200-acre recreational park lined
with exotic trees and interesting colonial
style mansions with amazing architectural
designs.
 Passing the nearby Botanical
Gardens, we stop at the Lady Young Lookout
for a stunning panorama of the city and
views as far away as Venezuela.
We continue our
tour through Maraval, a suburb of Port of
Spain, leading us up to the scenic North
Coast Road to admire a stunning view of the
Paramin hills to the west with their
plantations of herbs and spices, and to the
east the thick rainforest. Upon reaching the
Caribbean Sea we take in the most
spectacular panoramic view of the ocean. A
short stop at the Maracas Lookout gives you
the opportunity for some pictures of the
surrounding bays and maybe even a little
improvised Calypso music!
 The most popular
beach in Trinidad, Maracas Bay is surrounded
by lush green rainforest-covered mountains,
with a sandy beach lined with coconut trees.
Take a walk or swim, or just relax by one of
the beach shacks and taste a famous Bake &
Shark, a hot crispy shark sandwich with
homemade bread. There are many different
sauces from which you can choose, just
beware of the very hot pepper! (Note; not
included in tour price). Basic dressing
rooms with changing and toilet facilities
are available.
Continuing on, we
pass through the lush green valley of Santa
Cruz with its interesting cocoa and coffee
plantations, as well as the colourful market
street in San Juan.
 The second half of
the tour provides a delightful introduction
to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary where avifauna
is particularly abundant. The sanctuary is a
48 square mile wetland area on Trinidad’s
western coast, part mangrove swamp and part
lagoon. Upon arrival you board a large
flat-bottomed boat and slowly travel along
the beautiful waterways admiring the unusual
landscape and variety of birds, crustaceans
and other wildlife. Birds you may spot
include the neo-tropical cormorant,
large-billed tern, tri-coloured heron,
red-capped cardinal, snowy egret and
bicoloured cane-bill – to name just a few.
Red, black and white mangroves populate the
edges of the waterways and many tiny oysters
cling to the roots of the mangroves. There
are also possible sightings of non-poisonous
snakes in the branches of the trees, and
caimans or silky anteaters.
Arriving in the
wide lagoon, the boat becomes your floating
vantage point to witness the protected and
brightly coloured Scarlet Ibis. The birds
feed and nest in this area and every sunset
they fly in unison to roost, a spectacular
cloud of red against the evening sky. They
settle in the mangroves as the sun is
setting, the quiet atmosphere of the lagoon
adding atmosphere to a memorable trip.
Return around 7.00pm.
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