A village in the Northern range

[Samuel]
We are staying in a village called Brasso Seco, with a family of Spanish origin, who run the village shop and also teach at the village primary school. We have gone for a hike to a nearby waterfall which was pleasantly cool in the midday heat. We didn't take a guide, as the paths round here are broad and well maintained, and we were told we couldn't miss the falls. in fact we walked past the place where we should have turned off, between two small rivers, and walked for a further half-hour beyond, through some very muddy stretches. Luckily we met a man repairing the underside of his pickup - not surprising it needed it, as the ruts were very deep. It seemed impossible for a vehicle to traverse such steep and waterlogged paths. He told us the way back, and commented that they had been saying for ages that it should be better signposted. So instead of a two and a half hour walk it was in fact three and a half there, though less back. And I had already been birdwatching on my own in the hills for two hours at dawn! The glorious thing about Brasso Seco is how safe it is. Everywhere else in Trinidad we've been warned not to walk alone, but here, where the village depends on its ability to attract tourists to its lovely trails we could go wherever we wanted. Everyone is very friendly and asks about the birdwatching.

This village is situated in the Northern range of Trinidad, and one can see the hills towering above. The hillside are covered with lush vegetation, though there are abandoned cocoa plantations along the track, as well as active banana plantain and cristophene (a kind of cucumber-like vegetable). There are lots of birds and lots of butterflies, many of them large, colourful and very beautiful.



We went on a couple of other morning walks - tired out by our all day marathon to the falls - once down a track to a spot on the river where Cathy swam - though it wasn't really very deep it was wonderfully refreshing.

And the next morning we did a circular walk up the hills above the village and back down at the other end. it was a steep climb, and took us three and a half hours. The views into the valley below were spectacular, the trees towering above us magnificently, but we didn't see many birds as the canopy was too high.