Trinadad and Tobago

[gizmo]

Hi there. Asa Wright is a bird sanctuary in the Northern range. It is about a 45min to 1 hr drive from the port. You will drive through some dense rain forest on the way there. The sanctuary is on the mountain side with many trails and a small stream. You will see several types of birds but seeing you are in the floor of the forest you wont be seeing much scenery.

 

Thanks for the clarification of the scenery at Asa Wright. I posted that some of the views were great. Those views were from the bus which I did not mention. :)

[emac]

Heather

 

Here is the link to the tour we are considering in Trinidad, but I am still waiting to hear from them. The tour is Asa Wright and Northern Coast

 

http://www.trintours.com/naturetrinidad2.htm

Hopefully this will give us some scenery as well.

 

Elaine

[qm2lover]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all the help and advice.

Gizmo, our kids are now in their mid-twenties, hence they will probably sleep on the coach due to partying the night before and there isn’t much I can do about it now!!! Still undecided about what to do.

Thanks for the link to the tour company Elaine. Do you think the tour company route is more like the trip that Goneclear has described and therefore we might see the rainforest plus the coast line as opposed to the P&O trip that does not mention the coast line? And more thanks for the roll call links. I did look for one a while ago but couldn’t find any. They really are great and used them a lot for Princess.

Goneclear, thanks for all your help and ideas. Unfortunately our ship sails at 6 pm and we have to be back on board by 5.30 pm at the latest. If we could have gone to Caroni in the evening I would have no problem in deciding what to do. We saw on the news when Trinidad and Tobago qualified for the World Cup and celebrated with you. Congratulations, we will follow them all the way through.

Heather

[syndyj]

gm2lover,

 

I would believe both trips should follow the same route. You dock in Port of Spain and the only way to get to Asa Wright in a reasonable amount of time would be through Maraval, along the coast where you will get views of the ocean, past Maracas beach, Las Cuevas Beach, into the village of Blanshieusse and then into the rainforest where you start your assent to Asa Wright.

 

There is an alternative route which is through another town in the east called Arima, BUT that is a VERY long drive from the Port.

 

At Asa Wright all around will be rainforest, like Goneclear described, there is also a path that they take you down to observe the flora and fauna. The main house at Asa Wight has a verandah where all the hummingbirds visit.

 

I second Goneclear's suggestion of Maracas beach, the drive to the beach is very scenic, Maracas itself is not the white sand turquoise waters of other Caribbean beaches, but has it's charms.It is a long, sandy beach with lots of waves and you must try the bake and shark :)

 

[emac]

Hi Heather

 

When I originally contacted Trintours they said that they operate the P&O tour to Asa Wright and if I wanted Asa Wright/North Coast I would need to go on a different tour which they could arrange for me through a different department within the company. I emailed the contact I was given and I am still waiting for a reply. So this implies that the P&O tour does not cover the north coast but I may have got it wrong.

I've probably confused you more than ever now!

 

Regards

 

Elaine

[goneclear]

From checking the trinitours website It appears the tour goes to Asa Wright the long boring way that Syndy mentioned through Arima and returns through the north coast which will be the scenic part of the drive. I suggest that you get them to confirm that you will be returning via the north coast road of Yara, Las Cuevas, and Maracas. Before you get dissapointed with Asa Wright I have to stress that it is a very peacefull place that is mostly known for bird watching. If bird watching is not your thing you may be dissapointed unless you just like to walk in the forest as you can do alot of that to. Hope I have not made your choices more confusing. If you have any questions post them here and will be glad to respond.

[gizmo]

I don't recall who ran my tour to Asa Wright since it was through Hal. The route we took we did not see any beaches or coast line. I am sure it was the long boring route both ways.

 

goneclear,

I agree with your discription of Asa Wright.