Roads Less Travelled.

This interesting trail takes the adventurer off the beaten path through the rough country on the island of Trinidad using the roads less travelled. It starts in Iere Village and traverses the Naparima-Mayaro Road into Princes' Town. From Princes' Town it traverses the Manahambre Road to Palmyra Village and then onto the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway to Valsayn. From here it goes into Port of Spain and then out to Arima.
Arima serves as the country's fourth largest Metropolitan Area. Located in North Central of Trinidad, the population in 2006 is 34,389 according to that year's census. The town petitioned Queen Victoria for municipal status as part of her Golden Jubilee in 1887. This was granted in the following year, and Arima became a Royal Borough on the 1st of August 1888. Historically, the third town of Trinidad, Arima has slid into fourth place as Chaguanas became the largest town in the country. The calypsonian Lord Kitchener (1922–2000) was a favoured son of Arima. His remains are interred in the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Cemetery, Arima. If you plan to visit the Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Cemetery take care and be aware of your surroundings because there are a few “questionable” characters that populate that cemetery looking for illegal drugs. Arima hosts an annual Borough Day anniversary celebration in August. The celebration incorporates Carnival-style street parades and usually coincides with the staging of the Santa Rosa Carib Community annual festival. The annual Arima Carnival includes street parades of masqueraders on Carnival Tuesday, J'ouvert bands on Carnival Monday, as well as a local calypso competition.
From Arima the commute takes you into Sangre Grande via the Eastern Main Road. There is usually quite a lot of dense traffic through Valencia, even on weekends, so be aware that the trek will grind to a halt here.
Sangre Grande is the largest town in northeastern Trinidad. It is east of Arima and southwest of Toco. Sangre Grande (pronounced, in the local English dialect, "Sandy Grandy" and sometimes "SangGrandy") is sometimes abbreviated to just "Grande". It is the seat of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation. The town falls into the Toco/Sangre constituency of the Elections and Boundaries Commission. The name Sangre Grande means big blood, and it has been suggested that the town was named for a battle that took place between the native Amerindians and the Spanish settlers. However, this interpretation is not supported by historical records. The true origin of the name refers to when, in the late 1770s, Spanish surveyors who were charting the island for the purposes of creating a map, found that the waters of two of the tributaries of the nearby Oropouche River were red as blood, hence the name. Similarly, the neighboring town is called Sangre Chiquito (small blood) is named for the presence of a smaller, similarly colored river in that town. Sangre Grande grew as a result of the growth of cacao cultivation in the late nineteenth century. It grew further when it became the terminus of the railroad. Construction of the railroad caused the town to migrate down the hill to meet the railroad. When the town relocated to the foot of the hill, the name Sangre Grande moved with it. As a result, the name of the pre-existing village, Cunapo, was largely, but not entirely, lost.
From Sangre Grande we begin to explore the real “countryside” of Trinidad. The roads out of Sangre Grande start of very good but progressively deteriorate the further out of town you go. This trek takes you through Sangre Chiquito, Upper Manzanilla, Plum Road, Plum Mitan, North Rampersad, Biche, Charuma Village, Cushe, Navet, Tabaquite, and then into Rio Claro. In my opinion this leg of the trek is by far the most appealing. The forests are very dense and green and there's ample opportunity to see lots of wildlife as you drive past. The road through Plum Mitan and most of the way into Rio Claro is extremely narrow. In most places it can accommodate only single lane traffic at best.
From Rio Claro the Naparima-Mayaro Road leads back to Princes' Town and then onto Iere Village via New Grant, Hindustan, Matilda, and so on.
Happy Trails...