Discover Trinidad & Tobago 2017 (#28)

In the south
Pitch Lake
This natural wonder is the largest
asphalt lake in the world.
But, since it is a giant lake of
self-replenishing bitumen
(oozing up from a geological
fault), it does look a bit like a
100-acre car park. Most of
the surface is firm enough to
walk on, though some spots
are too soft for traffic. Natural
springs, reputed to have
healing properties, appear at
the centre during the rainy
season. You can also smell
the gases escaping from bubbling
puddles on the surface.
The lake (75m/250ft deep)
has been commercially mined
since 1959, and its asphalt
exported around the world.
Before that, however, it was a
sacred site for the First Peoples,
who believed that a tribe
had once been swallowed up
by the lake as punishment for
eating hummingbirds, which
hosted the spirits of their
ancestors. A small museum
houses artefacts recovered
from the lake, which has been
called a “slow-motion black
hole”, with “feelers” stretching
out for miles. La Brea Pitch
Lake Tour Guides Association:
651-1232
San Fernando Hill
Taking its name from the First Peoples (for whom it was a sacred
site), the hill rises above the hubbub of industry below, offering
views of the city, the southwest peninsula and — on a clear day —
up the west coast to Port of Spain, and the mountains of eastern
Venezuela. It was saved from further scarring from quarrying by
being declared a National Park in 1980. Open daily, free of charge,
9am–6pm
Reflections in a pool in the Pitch Lake
nyla singh
44 discovertnt.com