On a familiar curve of road between fishing villages on the north coast of Tobago, I have the unique experience of feeling hummingbird feet on my hands. I’m at Shurland James Hummingbird Nature Park, a bird sanctuary with an alfresco café located near the entrance to Main Ridge Forest Reserve, the world’s oldest protected tropical rainforest. My family is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, and I’ve visited my grandfather often since he returned in retirement, but this was my first time exploring the rainforest.
Tobago, the smaller of the two islands—it’s only seven and a half miles at its widest—has an abundance of dreamy, accessible shoreline. The water is tempting, but Tobago has striven to expand its identity to include ecotourism and off-ocean activities. On my last visit, curious, I reached out to David Rajpaulsingh, an experienced guide and the co-owner of Island Girl Tours. He suggested a mellow rainforest trek.
We stopped at the hummingbird park and café, where bird feeders have helped repopulate the rare, endemic, iridescent green-tailed sabrewing hummingbird. After a rainforest-to-table lunch of fried local fish, rice, plantains, and callaloo, we drove into Main Ridge, which was set aside in 1776 for conservation purposes. When I marveled at the range of flora enveloping the road, Rajpaulsingh explained that, because it has remained so untouched, the rainforest is a window onto the island’s original biodiversity.
Next came the main event: a two-hour hike on the reserve’s Gilpin Trace trail. Above a trickling stream, a blue-backed manakin bird, one of the 260 or so species found on Tobago, contrasted with the greenery. The route, lined with waterfalls, ended at the picturesque Bloody Bay beach, where I took a refreshing swim. It was just us and the fishermen reeling in the day’s catch. As I processed this new experience on an island I thought I knew so well, I understood even more why my grandfather had come home.
This article appeared in the December 2024 issue of Condé Nast Traveler. Subscribe to the magazine here.
