Trinidad and Tobago: The Rough Guide
Nudging the South American mainland they were once attached to, Trinidad and Tobago (usually shortened to T&T) form the southernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles chain and the most influential republic in the Eastern Caribbean. They are the most exciting, unexplored and uncontrived of Caribbean islands, rich in indigenous culture. A cultural pacemaker best known as the home and heart of West Indian Carnival, the nation can boast the most diverse and absorbing society in the region. Trinidad and Tobago remain relatively inexpensive, and are well-geared to independent travellers without being fully fledged tourist resorts. Natural reserves of gas and oil twinned with a strong manufacturing industry have ensured economic independence, and you'll find the islands refreshingly unfettered by the pretensions of the tourist trade. Visitors are not corralled in all-inclusives or holed up on private beaches, and - though you could easily spend two weeks exploring seashores, which range from palm-lined white sand fringed by translucent waters to secluded, wave-whipped outcrops - you'll find there's far more to T&T than suntans and snorkelling. These are among the richest destinations for eco-tourism in the Caribbean, combining the characteristic flora and fauna of the region with the wilder aspect of the South American mainland. You'd be hard pressed to come up with anywhere that offers such a variety of habitats in such a compact land area (Trinidad covers no more than 4830 square kilometres, Tobago just 300). In Trinidad, you can hike through undisturbed tropical rainforest where towering canopies of mahogany, teak and balata bedecked with lianas and epiphytic plants shelter opossums, red howler monkeys and ocelots. The wetlands and mangrove swamps harbour all manner of exotic wildlife, including the endangered West Indian manatee and the giant anaconda, while leatherback turtles lay eggs on remote and rugged beaches. Huge blue emperor butterflies flit around the cool wate
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