A Sunset Drive
The North Coast Road of Trinidad is just that, a long winding road that snakes along the northern coastline atop huge mountains. The result of this is that the views of the ocean and the valleys that you get are amazing and it makes for a brilliant Sunday leisurely drive. This is just what we decided to do and left in time to catch the setting sun. We would not be able to cover the whole of the northern coastline before dark abut at least we could get to the more popular areas. There was a bit of traffic and we managed to get to the first stop on the long winding road just as the sun was beginning to meet the horizon. Along the north coast road, it is mostly forested area with hardly any sort of civilization. The air is crisp, clean and fresh. Its a bit cold but it adds to the refreshing nature of the experience.
Our first stop took us to the Maracas lookout, one of the more popular stops along the way. Here you can find lots of refreshments and eats on your journey and the main attraction, being the breathtaking view hits you in the face as soon as you stop off. Imagine this, you're driving for hours amidst lush green tropical forest with little peeks and glimpses of the ocean only here and there. Then suddenly you meet this huge open area at the side of the road with a clear view of the ocean, sky and small islands in the distance!
As you can see, the first view with the sun setting is the western view while the latter photos are the scenes you get when you face eastwards. The legendary peninsula that is seen at least once in every Trinidadians Instagram! I did cover this in my blog about Maracas beach but nothing beats the view of these amazing places at sunset!
We stayed at that lookout until the sun had set and thereafter we continued the journey just for little while longer even though it was getting dark extremely quickly. The sky though, was getting redder and more brilliant in color and it felt like the twilight was so dreamy and surreal. We managed to get to the other final location just on time to witness the wonderful view of the valley below with a heavenly canopy of mist that just made the whole view exponentially more tranquil and heavenly!
The camera does not at all do it justice as we hurried got out of the car and fumbled around with our camera phones to get the photo. the ISO was so high and exposure compensation kicked in too and the dynamic range of the sensor rendered these images useless. But you can imagine at least with the ones provided how awesome it was! It felt like we were in Shangri-La or something, zen and much like a paradise with crisp cool air and nothing but the sound of the wind blowing through the grass and leaves. I remarked how brilliant it would be to come here and meditate on evenings.
Nothing beats a leisurely Sunday drive on the North Coast road with friends. This was the first time that I got to see a sunset at this part of the country and from atop mountains looking down at breath taking oceans, peninsulas and misty valleys that make you feel you've achieved a state of enlightenment or arrived at Shangri-La! I left my heart in the mountains that day and I wouldn't mind living there and taking in the misty sunrises and sunsets with a nice hot cup of tea.
