Tuesday 17 August 2010

Toco Lighthouse

No trip to Toco is complete without visiting the lighthouse that sits on the north eastern tip of Trinidad. This is the edge of the island that looks out towards the Atlantic. The terrain on this coast is rocky and scrubby. The black rocks that line the beaches look like ancient lava. It is an evocative landscape that has something of the otherworldly.

On the day that we visited, we met Clint, the lighthouse keeper. A local Toco boy, Clint loves his job.

After a stint at the Chacachacare lighthouse, being back in Toco is a breeze. He loves it even though people say it's haunted. Haunted? I ask. Haunted? Yes, he says. Twice I heard my name called. No one there.
What about Chacachacare? No ghosts there? I ask, certain that I am going to get an earful of paranormal antics. But no, apparently Toco's lighthouse is the one that's really haunted.

We all climb to the top of the lighthouse to see the surrounding views of the coastline.Down on the ground again, we came across a little Noni tree growing in the midst of stones and rocks. It's the first time that I've come across the Noni flower. Noni has many medicinal qualities attributed to its fruit but I never knew that it also offered up this delicate white flower.

On the rocks leading out to the sea, this spider suddenly appeared, climbing out of a crevice in the rock.



6 comments:

islandgal246 said...

I used to visit a cousin in Toco as a child with my family. But never visited the lighthouse. I am yearning to get off this piece of coral rock to feel warm volcanic stones and wild landscapes.

Chennette said...

nice photos - I haven't been to Toco very often. The rocks are intriguing.

Anonymous said...

I love me my Toco.
I live in POS but have been going Toco every year for about 40 years now.
Even got married in Mission Village 13 years ago by Father Ryan.
Just spent 3 weeks in Rampanagas actually. Got quite a lot of Orinoco debris in our bay during the last week, have only seen so much once before. Found a yellow and blue macaw feather entangled in it. Saw a black hawk diving down to grab a dead fish that was floating amongst it. Quite a sight!

vicki

Unknown said...

I've got a friend with a noni tree who makes her own noni juice - I've been meaning to blog about it for the longest while

Anonymous said...

I live in central an i have never been to the lighthouse before.After reading and the pics i know dat it is a definite dat i indeed have to take a trip with my family and visit this amazing place dat we have in our country.

Anonymous said...

We spent our annual summer vacations in Toco. Exploring the lighthouse was a major event in our adventures in the village. There is so much history on that location, dating way back to the mis-fortune of the original Carib Indians who took there lives there to avoid religious conversion. Who knows, this may be the reason for the haunted stories.