The sky was dark grey and there was definitely rain in the air, but today was the day when we had planned to drive to Trinidad‘s east coast and a bit of bad weather wasn’t going to stop us! We were heading for Grande Riviere and Toco, places recommended both by our Airbnb host and our Rough Guide.
It took about two and a half hours to reach Grande Riviere. It was very overcast, but the threatened rain was confined to a few heavy showers, so the driving conditions weren’t too bad. Not until we left the main highway, that is! The east coast road was in a terrible state, the worst we’d seen in all our time in Trinidad. The potholes were big enough to swallow a car whole and, in places, the road had disappeared completely! It made for a very slow drive.
Once we passed the turnoff for Toco, the ocean to our right was the Atlantic rather than the Caribbean Sea. Across there, the next landfall would be The Gambia. The scenery was dramatic in places with lots of rocky outcrops being battered by the waves. This side of Trinidad is completely undeveloped and, unfortunately, very dirty, with swathes of beach covered in garbage washed up on the tides. We did glimpse some lovely-looking stretches of sand, but there was nowhere to park up and admire the view or go for a walk. We had to make do with Mark trying to take photos out of the car window whilst I picked our way through the pothole minefield!
When we finally reached Grande Riviere, I have to say it was a bit of a letdown! It is famous as a turtle nesting beach and, whilst we knew it was the wrong season to spot these amazing creatures, we had expected to see the beautiful beach described in our Rough Guide and, perhaps, some information boards. In reality, we couldn’t. There were buildings all along the roadside blocking every view of the bay and no obvious route through to see anything. I guess we could have parked up somewhere and hiked to see the hosts of waterfalls and river walks the town is famous for, but the heavy downpours put us off this idea. We ended up driving through the place to the end of the road, turning round, and heading back to Toco.
Similarly in Toco, there were no obvious sights to see or stopping places from which to explore on foot, so we continued on to Galera Point and its lighthouse. This is the most easterly point of Trinidad and, on a clear day, purportedly, the view across to Tobago, 20 kilometres away, is amazing! This wasn’t a clear day, though! We could just see a hazy outline of land in the distance – our first view of Tobago! We could see the line in the ocean, however, where the blue of the Caribbean Sea meets the rather more grey Atlantic.
We did pause to read the billboard erected to honour the achievements of local boy, Keshorn Walcott. At the age of 19, he threw the javelin 84.58 metres to win gold at the 2012 London Olympics and became the youngest ever Olympic champion at this discipline.
Sadly, the area around the lighthouse was rubbish-strewn and run-down. The toilets were completely wrecked. I don’t suppose many visitors venture out to this remote spot. When we were there, there was only one other car. Its windows were all open, but there was no sign of the driver or any passengers. Later, as we clambered over the rocks taking photos, we spied a man perched on a distant outcrop cradling a tiny baby in his arms. We didn’t try to get closer to him or inquire as to his well-being, but, as we drove away, I wondered if perhaps we should have.
From Galera Point, we retraced our route to rejoin the main road at Toco. We drove on, looking for Kay’s Pot, a destination food stop highly recommended by our Airbnb host. When we found it, it was closed! This seemed an appropriate end to a rather disappointing, somewhat melancholic, day.
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