Waterfalls of the Islands

Trinbagonians love a ‘lime’ especially by a river and when there is a waterfall also than that is ‘lagniappe’.  With the rise of eco-tourism awareness more tours and hikes take place to these falls. Listed below are some of the waterfalls of Trinidad and Tobago:

      Argyle Waterfalls - Tobago

      Rainbow Waterfalls - Tobago

      Paria Waterfall

      Marianne Falls

      Madamas Waterfall

      Sombasson Falls

      Edith Falls

      Rio Seco / Salybia Falls

      Guanapo Waterfalls / Guanapo Gorges

      Habio Falls

      Turure Fall

      Angel Falls

      Rincon Falls

      Rampanalgas Falls

      Three Pools

Enjoy the photos that were taken from the internet and make your plans to visit all of these natural gems.
See you there and save some curry duck for me.

Pointe-a-Pierre

 (The Nation’s lifeline)

The notable Pointe-à-Pierre area was one of the first areas in Trinidad to become settled after conquest resulting from the Cedula of Population of 1783.

But before the French were the Spanish and they were initially attracted to lands for its

scenic beauty as well as its rich soils. Also, within the region of Point-a-Pierre was a coastal feature that made it very popular with the Spanish conquistadors: its headland

which they referred to as "Punta de Piedras" or "Point of Stones." It was the French that translated the name to "Point-a-Pierre" and it has remained so ever since naming the entire settlement.

In circa 1797,Pointe-à-Pierre was also a very productive area with as many as 32 estates, 23 sugar mills 5 steam engines and about 24 rum distilleries which were said to produce as much as 7,650 gallons of rum.


After the abolition of Slavery in 1838, the ex-enslaved Africans squatted on the Crown lands in the area which proved to be a great problem for the authorities. It was at this

time that the Pointe-à-Pierre village sprang up. The adjacent Plaisance Estate also became a place popular for outings because of its natural hot springs which were believed to be therapeutic. The Pointe-à-Pierre coastline, although not noted for the best beaches in the country, was still a relatively popular bathing spot in the 1860's (Flower Pot) and was lined with resort cottages around this time.  


The popular hot springs of the Plaisance Estate seemed to be a pull factor in luring people to the area along with the Southern Main Road Estate tracks which had several houses along the periphery. However, by 1913, an oil company called Trinidad Leaseholds Limited bought all the estate lands in the area which were found to contain oil since 1857. Although at the time the oil refinery was basically a small centre and oil storage deposit, it soon grew to become one of the most important refineries in the western hemisphere during World War II, and constituted one of the largest contributions to the war effort by a private company. In 1991 the refinery was still the largest in the Caribbean.

Since then, Trinidad's oil refinery has changed hands several times.

Today, Pointe-à-Pierre is still an overwhelmingly oil based village most of the key refinery workers, especially those linked with the essential services reside in "The Camp" which formerly housed émigré personnel. In fact, within "The Camp" contains a primary school, a yacht club and a staff club equipped with a pool, tennis courts, squash courts and an 18 hole golf course.

In addition, the town is also the home of the Pointe-à-Pierre Wild Fowl Trust which is a wildlife reserve for waterfowl located within the premises of the Petrotrin oil refinery.

The region is very critical to the economy of Trinidad bringing in much of the country's annual income and employs many people in the oil industries. Oil and its products make up approximately 37-8% of the countries GDP. Although, the area is situated far south, it is still deemed one of the most significant areas of Trinidad and Tobago.

Local Folklore

“Reach home before dew ketch yuh.”

“Doh be outside at mid-day (or mid-night).”

“Doh go outside after dark.”

“If you hear any noise outside in de night doh look.”

“Put salt by de windows and doors to keep out soocoonyah (soucoupyant).”

I’m sure those of you born in the 1980s and before would have been warned about these things by a parent, grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, neighbour or somebody.

All of these admonitions and more would have been as a direct influence of our rich and colourful folklore, a folklore that would have been taken from the home lands of slaves, indentured labourers and colonists. Some of our folklore characters can be seen directly in the folklore those countries and again some characters are similar but have been influenced by other cultures and distilled in to a total Trinbagonian character. Each island of the Caribbean also have their very own unique characters.

In the earlier days before streetlights became widespread darkness and fear were the choice of tools to teach values. Children especially lived in fear of douens, lagahoo, soocoonyah, lajablesse, Papa Bois while Bre Anansi was the trickster that taught another set of values.

Douens were said to the spirits of children who died before being christened; their feet were turned backwards and wore large straw hats. If people were out by themselves in forested areas around mid-day, the douen was said to scramble them and get them lost in the forest.

Lagahoo was the naked man with a coffin for a head and a chain around his waist that dragged on the ground as he walked. He was the evil spirit that walked at night and announced its presence by the sound of the dragging chain and the seven lit candles on the coffin. Anyone who looked at it was supposed to be struck blind and lose their soul to the devil.

The Lajablesse (la Diablesse) was the evil spirit that took the shape of a beautiful woman in flowing dress and large hat that covered her face. She avoided light and walked with one foot always hidden in the grass because it was that of a cow’s hoof. If any is seduced by her charms then she will take their soul but if any light shone on her she would scream and show her true features which were large, sharp teeth and a blood curdling laugh.

These folktales were brought from West Africa and France and all the other countries that slaves and indentured labourers came from. These stories were used to teach people values of family life, honesty and spirituality. But the proliferation of electric streetlights began eroding the fear of the darkness and eroding the teaching effect of the folktales.

But some people even to present will tell you about their encounter with a soocooyah or a hunter may tell you about his run in with, what could only be, Papa Bois. These tales are another reflection of the rich and diverse heritage of the Caribbean. Many local artists and authors have produced works of these characters.

Which is your favourite character?

Trinidad Volcanoes

Of the twin islands Trinidad has a number of mud volcanoes which are sometimes called ‘bouffe’, ‘morne’, ‘yard’ or ‘guaico’. The names come from the multi-cultural influences of islands history, ‘bouffe’ is French meaning ‘swelling’ and the language of the indigenous peoples, ‘guaico’ means ‘mud stream’.

The volcanoes are situated mainly in the central and southern areas and attract many visitors both local and foreign. Although there is activity in some of the volcanoes, it is very minimal and there are populated areas in close proximity to it. The most activity that has been recorded was in 1997 at the Piparo site which resulted in a part of the village being covered in mud. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-GClQNryHY) The occurrence could be classified as a disaster but the reaction by the people treated the event with the enthusiasm of a novelty concert or a mini carnival. The site is still visited but is now, for the most part, overgrown with vegetation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCQ6zbgW6d4)

The manner in which ‘Trinis’ deal with potential natural disasters are legendary. It is not unusual for impending catastrophe to be

greeted and marked by fetes and parties. Piparo eruption was no different and was greeted with people flocking to the still active mud-flow to take photographs and to bathe in the mud or to take some away as souvenirs.  What prompts this behaviour one may ask? If you ask any ‘Trini’ the answer might be the same ‘because God is ah Trini’. What creates this belief? Our unique location!

Trinidad and Tobago is located on the edge of the North American Plate that is sliding over the African Plate so we are out of the Zone of Subduction. We are located just out of the Volcanic Zone so we have no significant volcanoes and we are just out of the Hurricane Zone so it is not often that a hurricane reaches our shores. And if there is a violent eruption of Kick-em-Jenny, the underwater volcano just off Grenada, our Northern Range will block most of the possible tidal action.

Trinbago is indeed blessed.

Bring Back De Ole Time Days

So many of us reminisce for the ‘old time days’ and sometimes unconsciously the mind automatically compares common things with to the past and bring back a flood of memories and emotions. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfdyLtjgFL8)

So together you and I let’s take a little stroll down memory lane, complete with our bicycle rim 'roller'.

I'm sure that most of us have either turned the handle of this type of ice cream pail till our arms hurt but got some consolation from getting to suck the salty ice after the turning was done.

Some may have seen some of the older people baking bread it a dirt oven or may have been more fortunate to get some of that bread to eat. Most will say that it was the best tasting and no type of bread these days could ever taste better.

None of us however wanted to press clothes with this type of iron.

What memories or thoughts come to mind when we see these images?