Perfect Hiking Weather!

The wilderness to explore and have in the Sangre Grande area of Trinidad almost singlehandedly trumps the rest of Trinidad in lush beauty if we are speaking of hiking trails. You may have seen the hike in the Mathura Forest which was not far from here. Today we head to Fishing Pond in the eastern most part of Sangre Grande in North East Trinidad where there is a great hiking trail and lots of things to see and explore.

The skies were cloudy and this created my most favorite weather conditions for hiking. The cool and calm weather always trumps the scorching hot sun in my book and allows for greater longevity and stamina as well as reduced likelihoods of becoming dehydrated. The Sangre Grande East locations are mostly farmlands or untamed territories. We saw many banana and platain farms along the way.

Here is a closer look at the banana/ plantain trees on someone's farmland. They are not at all protected or barricaded against any sort of praedial larceny as these areas are relatively remote with not a lot of people passing through. We tried to see if there were any fruit bunches on there but could not all see any!

The roads themselves at times were not even roads at all! Just gravel driveways used by tractors and the farmers who usually drive trucks or 4x4's. The car was having a hard time with the roads but we were quite near. To put it into perspective, usually, all roads are paved in Trinidad, as we have our own pitch lake in La Brea so it was quite surprising to see unpaved roads!

There were many cows along the way as well, momentarily pausing their grazing of the lush green grass to look up at what was to them, a peculiarly loud and slow moving car, something that may not pass as often for them. I just love how curious cows can be!

We finally got to our starting point of the hike which was near a bridge that you can see in the photo above. There was a large sign and a river that flowed along the hiking trail for as far as the eyes could see, over which the bridge crossed. We left our belonging in the car and checked out the sign as we got ready for the hike!

The sign told us about our current location and much about Fishing Pond itself and it s ecology. It also told us about what other nearby attractions there were along the trails such as the Fishing Pond Beach or what the locals call the submarine which we will get to in a bit,

As we were reading the sign, this random dog shows up with a sly look on his face as if to welcome us to Fishing Pond. He was quite polite and received pets with grace. When he was quite satisfied, he went on his merry way and so did we!

This is what the river looked like facing northwards and in the direction we would heading on the walk. It is called fishing pond and I expected to see more boats but only, so far, saw one as you can see in the photo above.

This is the right hand side view of the river with not much to see as much as the other side. We can say this was the less scenic route but I believe it is definitely the way to the Fishing Pond Beach as indicated by the well designed sign.

As we began the walk, I began to take in the fresh clean air and the cool breezes as nature did its job as a highly potent stress reliever. There were both untamed lands as well as farmed land along the trail and we were immediately greeted by exampled of both just on the start of the trail as you can see on the right.

On the left side at some point, we saw this old, rusted and abandoned excavator there were lots of parts and pieces missing including its bucket and seemed to be falling apart at the rivets as time passed. It was so peculiar seeing it here like this from an era long gone. I wonder what it was used for in this area at its prime?

There were a mixture of coconut tree farms and banana/ plantain trees as well that provided quite a unique feel and character to the hike. We could see farmers using every inch of their land very efficiently by doing this. It was quite inspiring!

There were even patches that were left graded and empty as a blank canvas for the farmers to plant whatever it is they had intended for the season. Judging what we saw so far, it could be the bananas, melons or cucumbers. Who knows, maybe it would be an attempt at diversification!

It was a good while of walking before, in the distance, we saw a bright orange object with some offroad vehicles parked next to it. How peculiar! There was a little commotion going on around it as well with some people, who I assumed drove the offroad vehicles, dancing to music and so on. It is not uncommon for people to drive all the way here to hangout and drink on the trails.

We finally arrived at the orange thing and learned that we had indeed arrived at what the locals call the "submarine"! Someone who was there told informed us that it was not at all a submarine but a life boat of sorts used by the oil companies back in the day for offshore personnel. That explains why it was so bright orange for the search and rescue purposes!

It was quite interesting none the less and it can be an attestation that Trindadians could look for any excuse to make anything thing or place into a hangout spot for drinking! I guess the local residents called it sub as it was unorthodox as a boat in that that top was covered.

Come to think of it, from this angle, it definitely looks like one of those toy submarines you play with in the bath tub as a child! It was quite interesting to see the steering rudder and propeller at the bottom right of it. On the side you can also see that the capacity is 42 persons! I cannot imagine fitting 42 persons on this small vessel at all!

We decided to climb onto it to see inside. It was quite sturdy and did not at all buckle or shake with any sort of movement or attempt to ascend its sides which was quite reassuring. You can see from this side that some people had already defaced it with white spray paint. It was awesome seeing this vessel in such a still okay condition and I was glad to see one up close and be able to learn about it.

Sangre Grande's Fishing Pond is such a delight if you just need to take in Trinidad's eastern countryside and wilderness. It is quite relaxing with many things to see and explore. Its definitely not as magical or breathtaking as Mathura forest hikes which is literally just a stone's throw away but it is its own flavor of recreational hiking that stick with you when you leave! Thanks a lot for coming along! Cheers!