Developing home market for ecotourism

Pat Ganase encourages Trinbagonians to enjoy nature in these retreats on our islands.

“Tobago has always had ecotourism,” says one environmentalist engaged in tourism.

And Trinidad? The country’s best known ecotourism destination prides itself on attracting visitors from all over the world for close to 60 years.

Who are these ecotourists that come from elsewhere, to be charmed by where we live here: the nature of forests and seashores and the animals and plants there? Do they always need to be foreigners?

The best thing about eco-tourism is that everyone can enjoy it, learn from it and become better citizen stewards of our own country. It does not require massive infrastructure, but does depend on strategic investments in long-term management of natural resources.

Perhaps the most important foundation is respect for natural spaces. Any vision of individual or community can only be enhanced and supported through policy, conscious use and the reliability of necessary systems.

The returns at the start may be slow, but over time can grow exponentially in outreach and returning visitors.

Over the last few years – and especially since covid – the most loyal visitors to Tobago have come from Trinidad. In fact, many Trinidadians return regularly to Tobago. And perhaps it is timely to start a groundswell of home ecotourism.

This column over the years has provided information to make us more eco-conscious. Is it working?

Today, we encourage you to visit some of the places that have attracted visitors over the years, places of which we can be proud for their quality of service, for their locations and for their conscious conservation of nature.

How to become an ecotourist at home

Start by enjoying what is near. In Trinidad, that means excursions to the beach. Check out La Brea. Feel the wind on top of Paramin at La Vigie. Take your children to the Caroni Swamp. Go to Grande Riviere and spend a night on the beach with the guides and protectors of leatherback turtles. Take a National Trust tour of our Western Isles.

Visit the Pointe-a-Pierre Wildfowl Trust and have lunch at the Freebird restaurant. Respect and observe the simplest rules: no littering; no taking (plants or animals). Leave it as you find it.

The Asa Wright Nature Centre has welcomed international visitors for over 60 years: first when it was the private home and estate of Asa Wright, the Icelandic woman who came with her British husband Henry Newcome Wright to settle on a cocoa and coffee plantation. Over the years, it attracted birders from all over the world and became a “bucket-list” destination for many.

Today, the visitor centre is run by the Hadco Group. Major renovations were undertaken to update accommodation and provide a comfortable experience.

The road through the Blanchisseuse-Arima valley is still winding and narrow and subject to slipping edges. The quarries still eat into the Northern Range limestone. Simla, the last home of William Beebe, is threatened by its quarry neighbour. But the Asa Wright Nature Centre remains a beacon of ecotourism beyond Trinidad and Tobago.

Hacienda Jacana is a former citrus estate on the forest edge in Talparo, in the heartland of Trinidad. Many roads lead here: through Tumpuna Road South past Brazil Village, or via Longdenville and Todd’s Road, or Las Lomas or Cumuto.

Accommodation – with kitchens – includes four two-bedroom greenheart cottages, a three-bedroom house, and a shared soak pool.

Over 170 bird species have been recorded on the property. With two ponds on the estate, you may see spectacled caiman, agouti, golden tegu, iguana, bats and frogs. Even if you’re not a naturalist, the property offers a quiet, peaceful and comfortable escape.

Tobago

The Man o' War Bay Cottages are set among rainforest trees on the edge of a calm deepwater bay. If you are satisfied to have the basics – bed, kitchen, bath – for the benefit and glory of waking up to the sight of the sea and going to bed with it shushing a lullaby, this is your place. Ten cottages among tall trees and rainforest gardens each have its own path to the shore beside a sheltered deepwater bay.

The village is in walking distance. Look for fresh fish. The village was laid out by Turpin ancestors around a central park, and has a hospital/ health centre, police station and library. Walk over the hill to Pirates Bay.

Kariwak Village has been the best-run small hotel on Tobago since it opened in 1982. It is a tiny oasis of flowering trees, garden pathways and comfortable rooms capacious enough for a family with two small children.

The special quality of its kitchen – from which emerged a cookbook – was conjured around food locally sourced and seasoned with herbs grown in the Kariwak garden. The Kariwak Ajoupa with koi ponds is the heart of its well-being philosophy.

But the world has been encroaching on the oasis, and over the fence the airport expansion is growing apace. Who knows, like other airports embracing natural spaces, Kariwak might be an asset when the Tobago airport is completed.

Cuffie River Nature Retreat is the proof that you don’t need to be on the sea for visitors to your island. At the end of Runnemede Local Road, just past the village of Moriah in Tobago, is the estate-turned-retreat, owned by Regina Dumas. The lodge hosts birders and nature-lovers in ten spacious guest rooms.

A former cocoa estate surrounded by a cool meandering river, there are many trees which attract a host of birds. Cuffie River Nature Retreat was constructed with green initiatives and remains cool and ventilated year-round. Guests enjoy the elevated saltwater pool or explore the nearby rivers and trails which connect to the Main Ridge Forest Reserve.