From the Heights of Beauty
The mountains of North Trinidad are calling our names! Today, we drive through thick and lush forests to get to a highly remote but breathtaking lookout that gives you panoramic views of the northern mountain range as well as the ocean and north coast! The views and mountains are unlike anything we've seen in Trinidad or Tobago and has stolen our hearts! The lookout is owned by a humble mom and pop family that cultivate the land and monetize the visitors with their small shop. They are awesome enough not the charge for visitation and rely on donations as well!
The lookout itself is located on one of the many hairpin turns amidst the mountains in the area. This one just happens to be in the view of the northern coastline. It is literally in the middle of the mountain range in terms of latitude and longitude and you feel like you're being hugged by the mountains! The family seems to be the only ones on the mountain top aside from the security detail that keeps watch on the nearby telecommunications tower. The lookout has become somewhat of a social media phenomenon and there are always people there.
This is the view of the lookout from the other side of the road. So you basically are pulling aside from the road to enjoy the views. As you can see, there are a few cars there already and as you may notice, the wilderness is tamed on both sides of the road by the family who cut the grass, manicure the bushes and plant beautiful flowers and palm trees here and there to keep their slice of paradise neat and tidy. I love this so much!
There is normally a food stall that the family runs under this white tent that was closed at this time due to it being not peak hours for them. They usually sell homemade cakes, bread, ice cream and wine! If you know Trinidad, you know homemade mountain food in this area beats anything, anyday!
As you can see, they have made their own signs as well. There was something so wholesome about everything here. They do everything themselves and they did it with such competence and excellence that it surprised me! They basically are living self sustaining in the wilderness up here and as you will see later on, they plant a lot of fruits and vegetables on the insanely steep land.
The views were immediately apparent and the mountains seem to low below us. The air was crisp, clean and so cold! We were lucky enough to have arrived when the visibility was amazing! I was told that usually, these areas are quite misty and hard to see anything, yet today, we were able to see all the way out to the northern coast to the ocean! These were literally views of undulating lands verdant and rich!
There was a little area with a railing that had an even clearer view of the north coast. You could see the family paved it with cement to make it all the more pleasing for visitors. I could not get enough of these views and I have not even put on the telescopic lens as of yet!
The above shots were taken with the telephoto lens that gives such an absolutely amazing view of the ocean such that you can see the currents and how huge they were in the body of waters that stretch the whole northern coastline of the island. I love the ones with the foliage in the foreground giving you that cosy yet vast feeling! Imagine there are so many amazing flora and fauna in these mountains!
I noticed a small village on the side of a mountain down below. It was told to me that it was called Morne La Croix, a small village on Blanchisseuse Road. These locations were miles away from city centres and I imagine life there must be so simple and carefree with ways of living that would be awesome to document.
There was a small unpaved road that sprouted from the hairpin turn. The family's house was there that well just as neat and well kept as the rest of the lookout. There were so many plants and flowers neatly planted and some were even available for sale! I was told to walk down the rocky path for more views as it went along the ridge of the mountain we were on.
This is one of the views along the pathway that gave you an amazing view of the main flatter parts of the island that were densely populated south of here. It is basically a nice unobstructed view through the northern range of mountains to the city of Arima and environs as well as even further down to central and south Trinidad!
What the pathway turned into a magical forested pathway that was still amazingly maintained and manicured as well as cultivated by the family! It was so beautiful and breathtaking that I forgot about the mountainous views of before!
There were so many fruit trees in abundance such as Gros Michel (that is now considered an extinct species of Banana) citrus trees and other local fruits such as Padu, Quaimet, Sapodilla and others!
Here was another view through the canopies that shows Lopinot on the other side of the mountain which we visited on the last post!
There were these two hibiscus flowers that were next each other that immediately caught my attention. They were huge, colorful and amazingly spectacular and stood out against the surrounding forest. They were as big as a person's face and I had not seen hibiscus flowers humongous like this before!
The Drone Shots!
It was only after I sent up the drone that the true beauty and breathtaking vast expanse of the northern range came into view! I could not get enough of the rolling mountain tops, lush, green jungle and the amazing beauty the northern range had to offer!
This was the view of the ridge that we walked along earlier. It seemed to be one of the higher peaks in the area and had lovely sharp geological features that emerged from the land.
Who knew that a simple hairpin turn amidst the jungle of the northern range would be so iconic in terms of showcasing a seldom seen view of what the island of Trinidad has to offer instead of the usual tropical beaches and parties. Just driving there alone was so enthralling that we drove so slowly taking in magical natural greenery and lush mountain sides along the way that made us feel we were in another country at times! Thanks a lot for coming along, cheers!