Trinidad and Tobago Trip Report
9th - 16th March 2023
After Ecuador, I decided to spend a few days visiting Trinidad and Tobago, the southern-most islands of the Caribbean. Not renowned as wildlife destinations, I was dubious how much I'd get in the way of photo opportunities, but in fact I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of animal life that manages to survive on the two islands.
Trinidad
Starting with Trinidad I decided to base myself at Leatherback Lodge in the remote north-east of the island... which proved an excellent choice. It's a quiet, peaceful location with large grounds surrounded by woodland teeming with birdlife including parrots, toucans, trogons and even the strange oilbird.
As well as supplying good food and comfortable accommodation, the owners, Nella and Neville were invaluable in providing advice about the island as well as organising trips to other areas such as Nariva, Caroni and the impressive Leatherback Turtles at Matura Beach. (www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_Seekers)
Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) egg-laying
Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus)
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani)
Plumbeous Kite (Ictinia plumbea)
Oilbird (Steatornis caripensis)
Purple Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes caeruleus)
Nariva Wetlands
The first trip Nella and Neville organised for me was a superb tour of the Nariva Wetlands with Kayman Sagar (wwww.limelandtours.com). Nariva is a designated internationally important wetland with various habitats including mangroves, marsh and woodland which we explored in a two-person canoe.
Kayman has an incredible knowledge of the swamp and its impressive variety of wildlife which includes many different insects and birds as well as mammals like agouti, howler monkeys and the endemic Trinidad White-fronted Capuchin monkeys.
Trinidad Stick Mantid (Mantodea sp.)
American Pygmy Kingfisher (Chloroceryle aenea)
Trinidad White-fronted Capuchins (Cebus trinitatis)
Caroni Swamp
The next trip was one everyone visiting Trinidad should take regardless of their interests... a boat ride around Caroni Swamp (www.nananecotours.com). Another internationally recognised wetland, Caroni is home to a wealth of wildlife including flamingoes, many other birds, caiman, snakes and cute little silky anteaters.
The highlight though is the thousands of scarlet ibis which gather to roost in the mangroves each evening... one of the world's great bird spectacles, to rival the puffins of west Wales and flamingoes of east Africa. It was so good, I returned again the following day!
Scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber) roosting at Caroni Swamp
Central American Tree Boa (Corallus ruschenbergerii)
Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus) sleeping
Tobago
After an excellent few days on Trinidad I headed for a brief visit to Tobago. Unfortunately my stay was rather spoilt by an unpleasant car hire company (if you're in Tobago stay clear of Frankie's Tours!) who tried to scam me and left me stranded.
However, I'm sure my experience wasn't representative of the local people there and it's a beautiful little island with some very nice wildlife, particularly the birdlife in the Main Ridge Forest Reserve.
Ruby-topaz Hummingbird (Chrysolampis mosquitus)
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
Trinidad Motmot (Momotus bahamensis)... on Tobago!
Communal caterpillars
Rufous-tailed Jacamar (Galbula ruficauda)
I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much wildlife I saw during my brief trip to Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad doesn't have a great reputation for wildlife but there are over 120 species of native mammal, nearly 500 species of bird and a host of amphibians and reptiles including five of the world's seven species of sea turtle nesting... certainly the greatest biodiversity in the Caribbean. Like the rest of the region, wildlife sufferes from a culture of hunting and exploitation even in 'protected' areas, but people like Nature Seekers and Kayman Sagar are fighting to change attitudes and the leatherbacks and scarlet ibis are well worth the trip on their own! Ironically, although Tobago has a reputation as an eco-destination there is much less wildlife to be found there, but it too is worth visiting for the bird-life. I enjoyed my trip and would definitely recommend Leatherback Lodge on Trinidad as a base for exploring the islands, you can find their website here: www.leatherbacklodge.wixsite.com/website.
Mammal Species
Silky Anteater (Cyclopes didactylus)
Trinidad white-fronted capuchin (Cebus trinitatis)
Guyanese Red Howler (Alouatta macconnelli)(heard)
Red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina)
Red-tailed squirrel (Sciurus granatensis)
Lesser sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx leptura)
American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) flying in Caroni Swamp