Round-the-island Trinidad tour part 10: the “deep south”:

La Brea—Point Fortin—the Cedros peninsula—Erin—Siparia—Penal—Debe—San Fernando

Beyond San Fernando, the South Trunk Road leads to the village of La Brea, site of an extraordinary Pitch Lake and (soon, unfortunately) of an aluminium smelter. The Pitch Lake is the result of a fault in the sandstone 250 feet down, through which crude oil or bitumen seeps. The pitch has been exported for decades, for use on roofs and road surfaces.

One of only three natural asphalt lakes in the world (the other two are in Venezuela and California), the Pitch Lake is a dark mass of slowly churning natural asphalt. It looks like an abandoned car park, and you can walk easily on the surface; but a car would start sinking quite quickly into the pitch. Swallowed objects may reappear years later as the pitch slowly swirls. A small museum contains Amerindian artefacts found at the lake. Open daily from 9am to 5pm. Admission fee includes a guided tour. The La Brea Pitch Lake Tour Guides Association operates the visitor facility. T: 651-1232.

The Amerindians of Trinidad are said to have believed that the Pitch Lake was created by the Good Spirit to drown a village whose people had sinned by killing too many hummingbirds. In 1595, the British adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh patched his leaking ships with pitch from the lake, and was pleased to find it did not melt easily.

A few minutes beyond La Brea, Vessigny Beach is one of the best southern beaches, with calm Gulf water and visitor facilities. Stay tuned to local advisories, however, as the construction of the alumninium smelter may cause closure of the beach. Another 10 or 15 minutes bring you to Point Fortin, now the centre of the LNG industry. After this, the road winds through woodland for a while, passing a turn-off to the popular Granville Beach.

Eventually (about two hours driving from San Fernando) you approach the southwestern tip of Trinidad: the fishing village of Cedros, a few miles of coconut plantations (a turn-off to the right leads to the broad sweep of Columbus Bay and its attractive beach), and the tiny village of Icacos, where the road ends. Certain sites along this coast are earmarked for more industrialisation.

On the way back, near Point Fortin, turn right towards Erin. There are good swimming beaches on the south coast here: Buenos Ayres (turn-off to the right) and Erin Beach have long stretches of sand used by fishermen, with calm water. The road slowly turns northward again, through Palo Seco, Santa Flora, Siparia, Penal and Debe; from Palo Seco the surface is good. If you want to explore further, try the road that leads from Siparia towards Fyzabad, a centre of labour protests in the late 1930s and still the rallying point for the labour movement each Labour Day, June 19. Or head towards Quinam Beach and nature park, or from Debe towards Barrackpore.

At Debe, delicious Indian delicacies are sold from a row of wooden stalls along the roadside.

North of Debe the road crosses the M2 Ring Road which links the Cipero Road towards San Fernando in the east with the Southern Trunk Road in the west. It is a pleasant drive in itself, through former sugar lands with a good view of the Gulf coast at the western end.

More in our round-the-island Trinidad tour:

• Touring Trinidad part 1: A walk around the capital, Port of Spain
• Touring Trinidad part 2: Around the Queen's Park Savannah
• Touring Trinidad part 3: the Port of Spain suburbs
• Touring Trinidad part 4: Chaguramas & the northwest peninsula
• Touring Trinidad part 5: Heading north: the north coast & northern range
• Touring Trinidad part 6: Heading northeast: the East-west corridoor & northeast coasts
• Touring Trinidad part 7: The east coast: Mayaro & Manzanilla
• Touring Trinidad part 8: Central & the west coast
• Touring Trinidad part 9: The second capital: San Fernando