main ridge forest reserve

Hire a local guide you get so much more out of it. so beautiful its possible to hike across the island. Fantastic bird watching lots of endemics.Go back at night the fireflies are amazing 2006 2008

First off, you definitely need a vehicle to get up to the Main Ridge. Secondly, you need to get there between 6 - 7 am. Once the above two are set, for any nature and wildlife photographer, it is a dream. Loads of species to photograph. No need to get into any forested trails as a lot of photos can be captured just with a slow drive stopping at various points along the road. If you do wish to get into some trails, I recommend a guide. Also make sure to check out Gilpin Trail. White tailed saberwing hummingbirds to Blue backed manakins. Ensure to take along your water. No need to take too much as their are a number of natural springs along the way where you can refill your bottles with clean spring water.

A pristine environment, this forest is chock full of bird life. There are the typical Caribbean and Central American birds, but the are a few endemic species. The trails can be a bit muddy and are not roundtrip.TIP: Hire a good guide before you go (Peter Cox is a great guide). You will see far more birds as the guide points things out and knows where to go. TIP: Make sure you borrow a pair of Wellingtons as the path can be muddy.TIP: There are a few different paths you can take. The Gilpin Trail is the most famous but let your guide direct you to the trail with the best current birdwatching.

A must-do in Tobago - the oldest rainforest reserve in the hemisphere offers some impressive views. Go with a tour guide.

This is a long lovely drive through the main ridge! The air is clear and the flora is breathtaking! It's great for bikers or nature lovers. There are so many varieties of plants it's amazing! The air up here is clean and unpolluted. The temperature is also lower and cooler. A great site seeing drive!

This is the oldest forest preserve in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to the mid 1700s. We went on a morning trip with amazing local bird expert Newton George, and we were rewarded by amazing sightings of blue-backed manikins, yellow-headed caracaras, a hummingbird on its nest, and many other lovely birds. In addition you see awe-inspiring views and get to hike on what used to be the major north-south road. I can imagine traveling via horseback on that road! It was truly a wonderful and inspiring adventure. Our only concern was finding a bathroom, but fortunately there are public restrooms in nearby villages that only cost $1 TT to use. :)

My husband and I are birders and we heard about Newton George from fellow birders. We linked up with him via e-mail and were not at all disappointed. We met him at Roxborough and from there he took over the driving using his spacious and comfortable van.He is an excellent and experienced spotter and very personable. His wife packed a cooler with a filling breakfast for two so that was quite welcome as we had left our hotel at 6am and had not had time to eat anything that morning.The trip was very fruitful in terms of species sightings. We saw numerous jacamars, trogons, hummingbirds, golden olive woodpecker, common pootoo, visited the lek of the blue-backed manakin.We certainly will whenever we can, attempt to make another trip to Tobago using Newton George as our guide. We recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone wishing to use a guide in Tobago for the purposes of birding/bird photography.