Trinidad

Trinidad
Jan 30-Feb 1, 2026
AC984 YYZ-POS, AC985 POS-YYZ

Continuing our month of warm weekend escapes and new countries, we scheduled one last January trip to Port of Spain, Trinidad. We scheduled the trip before the US incursion on Venezuela and drug smuggler drone attacks. I’m not sure if it would have prevented us from booking, but how close we were to Venezuela was definitely top of mind.

Jan 31

The flight times to Port of Spain are not the most tourist friendly, as we had an evening departure from Toronto and arrived at about 1:30am. Not confident in navigating on our own, we arranged with the hotel for a pickup and transfer. Once at the hotel and checked in, we got some sleep before getting up for a late breakfast. After breakfast, we explored the downtown and signed up for a sunset tour of Caroni Bird Sanctuary.

Mural tells the history of The First People and Colonization, starting with Christopher Columbus in 1498

Celebrating the Olympic victories of Trinidad & Tobago

Monument to Captain A.A. Cipriania, a prominent politician, sits in Independence Square

The Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, our boundary beyond which we were warned not to go further, as the city got a lot grittier and less safe for us

Interior of the 1851 cathedral, cooled by the air circulating from the tilted windows

Main altar and stained glass

Large organ over the main entrance

The “Red House” buildings house the Trinidad Parliament

The original structure was built in 1844, but the current building was rebuilt in 1907 following a 1903 fire

Central Police Station

Emancipation Monument, on the site where the Emancipation Proclamation was read, officially acknowledging the freedom of the slaves of Trinidad in the 1830s

14ft bronze statue of the legendary cricketer Brian Lara in Brian Lara Square

Back in our hotel, they are starting to prepare for the upcoming Carnival celebrations, with the first parties (fetes) starting in the next few days

Ship docked in the harbour next to the promenade, outside our hotel

Starting our boat ride in the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, the Blue Heron is our first bird sighting

One last shot before we head deeper into the estuary

The path for the boat requires that you pay attention, to prevent getting blindsided by a low-hanging branch

Much of the mangrove tree root system is above water, even at a relatively high tide

Our first sighting of the star of the park, the red ibis, unique to this area

Unfortunately, before sunset the red ibis preferred to stay deep in the trees

Three red ibis doing their best to hide from the camera

A silky anteater, that actually lives on termites rather than ants, one of the smallest of the species

One of the many termite mounds ready to supply anteater food

Another blue heron hiding in the branches

Deeper in the swamp, we are getting a little closer to the ocean along the mangrove-forest-lined waterway cutting through the swamp

Somewhat-camouflaged iguana on the tree limb

Two smaller Trinidad tree boa snakes, mating on a tree branch, didn’t seem to notice us

Even without birds, the swamp is quite beautiful as we approach dusk

Better view of a silky anteater resting on a branch

Another of several boats taking a similar tour

Hawk carrying a successful catch back to their nest

One last overhead pass, we were thankful it had a firm grasp on the fish dinner

Tied up with all the other tour boats, we all wait for sunset and the flocks of red ibis

As we waited for sunset and the flocks of red ibis to return, we were lucky to also have a flock of flamingos to entertain us

A number of flamingos appeared to be trying to stand out in the crowd

A single red ibis caught beautifully in flight

One of the many flocks of red ibis, returning to their overnight nesting locations after a day out on the water

Two showboating flamingos

The deep pink flamingos are almost as red as the ibis

A less colourful sea bird breaking up the sea of red

Wide wingspan of red ibis

Just one day short of a full moon, we have nice natural light to support our navigation back to the launch area

A smaller flock of red ibis heading to their nests

Our reward for waiting is also catching two flamingos in flight

Graceful is not precisely how one might describe the flight of a flamingo

Last red ibis before we head back into the mangrove forest

With the exception of the moon, it is quite dark when we finally get back to the docks and our driver

Our tour guide was waiting for us at the dock, and we were quite happy with the tour. After a 20-minute drive, we were back at the hotel in time for cocktails and dinner. This was also my night to enjoy a glass of wine before I started dry February.

Feb 1

Having covered the highlights of the Port-of-Spain area on our first day, we were content to just enjoy time at the hotel sundeck by the pool, catchup on some travel planning and relax.

After a lazy day, the sunset over the edge of the hotel’s infinity pool

Unfortunately the flight times going home were as poor as those coming in, with our flight leaving at 2:30am and arriving in Toronto around 7:30am. We managed to catch a few hours of sleep in the hotel before a very early check-out and a few early morning hours in the airport. Although it was challenging, we both managed to get enough sleep on the flight to be ready for work on Monday morning, content to have escaped Toronto winter for another weekend.