Exploring the quiet of Trinidad's northeast coasts and valleys

Although the East-West corridor, stretching from Port of Spain to Sangre Grande, is Trinidad's most densely-populated area, it's quick and easy to leave the heat and suburban sprawl behind to enjoy a quiet afternoon in one of the many cool valleys of the Northern Range.

A 20-minute drive on the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway takes you to the heart of the East; or you can take the slower, but infinitely more interesting Eastern Main Road. At St. Joseph, the island's capital in the days of Spanish rule and now an old-world village where Spanish parang music is still played at Christmas-time, the road swings north into the Maracas Valley. Ask directions for the Maracas waterfall, a short hike from the road. For serious hikers, a trail from Luengo Village at the far end of the valley crosses the mountains to emerge at Maracas Bay.

The village of Tunapuna, about 15 minutes drive from Port of Spain, is the jumping-off point for a visit to Mount St. Benedict, the largest Benedictine Monastery in the Caribbean. Follow St. John's Road north into the hills from the Eastern Main Road. Founded in 1912, the monastery offers a panoramic view of the Caroni Plains, as well as decorative gardens that invite a stroll, and refreshing afternoon tea. Below the monastery, on the other side of the Main Road, lies the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies.

In the East Indian village of El Dorado, the large Shiv Mandir (Hindu temple) welcomes visitors and is a favourite spot for colourful Hindu weddings, complete with tassa drummers. The road through the village takes you to the Caura Valley, where avenues of bamboo lead to two pools in the Caura River, popular for swimming or enjoying riverside picnics of mouth-watering curried duck.

A few kilometres past El Dorado, a 20-minute drive off the Main Road, past Surrey Village and on through lush rain forest, lies the Lopinot complex. Established as a cocoa estate by the French Count Charles de Lopinot in the early 19th century, the restored estate house has a small museum. Neighbouring Lopinot Village is a well-known centre of parang music.

At Cleaver Woods, just before the town of Arima, there's a re-construction of an Amerindian ajoupa (a long-house made of wood and palm leaves), a reminder of Trinidad's indigenous peoples. Arima itself is home to a small Carib community, the last surviving descendants of these original inhabitants. The Santa Rosa Festival in August, where a Carib queen is crowned, is their special celebration.

The Asa Wright Nature Centre, off the winding mountainous road that runs between Arima and Blanchisseuse, is a haven of tranquility for conservationists, naturalists, bird-watchers and wild-life enthusiasts. A small guesthouse on the estate offers comfortable accommodation.

Driving from Arima to Sangre Grande, both of which developed as centres for the cocoa trade, you can take the road up into the Heights of Aripo to view Trinidad's two highest mountains, El Cerro del Aripo and El Tucuche.

At Valencia, where local basketwork is sold, the Toco road forks left for excellent swimming in the deep pools of the Valencia River. The right fork continues to sleepy Sangre Grande, a market town with many of its 19th-century wooden buildings still intact.

Blanchisseuse, on Trinidad's north coast, takes its name from the French for "washerwoman". Indeed, wherever the main road crosses the Yarra River as it meanders through the Northern Range to the sea, village women may be seen, using the river as their main source of washing water.

But after a stay in Blanchisseuse village — strung out along many miles of coastal road that eventually turns south into the cool, thickly forested hills — it becomes obvious that the blanchisseuse must be the white spume and swirling foam that constantly surges over rock and beach as the Atlantic washes landward. This is a particularly wild and rugged area of coast, where fishermen learn to manoeuvre their tiny craft between rocks and reefs, and to carry their boats and engines up steep cliffs to the main road overhead.

The coastline west of Blanchisseuse is a popular playground for north Trinidadians: the beaches of Maracas and Las Cuevas are within easy reach of Port of Spain, and "liming" on them is virtually a national pastime, particularly on weekends. But only the most enterprising tour operators, hunters and hiking groups have explored the forests east of Blanchisseuse, pressing toward Paria where waterfalls, rocky pools and a pristine beach make even the arduous day's hike endurable.

Beyond Paria, Madamas, another beach at a river's mouth, is frequented by campers who get there either by boat from Blanchisseuse, or on foot from Matelot, further east. Matelot, a village that survives by fishing and subsistence agriculture, and by the insularity of being a long way from any commercial centre, lies on the Shark River. By road, Matelot is west of Toco and Grande Riviere — a three hour drive from Port of Spain and the furthest point on the road that winds around the north-eastern Galera Point through Toco, Salibia, Grande Riviere.

Most recently, the enterprising Kayak Company has introduced wilderness tours for the fit and adventurous: Trinidad's north coast by kayak. Those wishing to brave the Atlantic breakers — as the Amerindian residents must have done — in one- or two-man kayaks must first submit to kayak training in the surf. This is also prime surfing territory, incidentally; when the waves are rolling in, the main surfing beaches metamorphose into temporary campsites.

Going south from Toco, along the north-east coast, lies Matura, the most well-known beach for turtle watching (though Grande Riviere is fast rivalling it, both for the number of turtles spotted and because rustic accommodation has recently become available). The volunteer group Nature Seekers patrol Matura during the turtle season (March to August), and have provided car park and guide facilities for turtle watchers.

South of Matura lies the area known as Fishing Pond; it is accessed by going due east from Sangre Grande. Here you will find the oldest rice-growing region in Trinidad, in the Windbelt Lagoon, which is watered by the north Oropouche River and its tributary, the Caigual. Walkways through the fringing mangrove forest now permit walking tours through this rich and diverse ecosystem.