Picnic area, Manzanilla Beach, Trinidad

Finally, I have got as far as Manzanilla Beach, on the east coast of Trinidad! It feels so good to get out of the green rain forest for a while and edit photos that are a different colour! It felt so good to once again be at a beach, even if only for a lunch stop - we had loved the ocean at the Blue Waters Inn on the island of Tobago. This is where we stopped and had our lunch, brought along by our guide, Dave. On a previous day trip, our lunch had been sandwiches, so that was what we were expecting on Day 6, too. To our surprise, out came a white tablecloth and hot food from the Asa Wright Nature Centre (including Macaroni and Cheese!). It was such a great lunch, thoroughly enjoyed by us all.

"The word manzanilla is the diminutive form of the Spanish word for apple, manzana. The beach was so named by early Spanish settlers, who encountered what they thought were apple trees with small fruit. They were in fact the manchineel tree, bearing toxic fruit that closely resembles apples. The name of the area was still maintained even after the arrival of the British in 1797.

As a result of an agreement between Sir Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt, Manzanilla village served as a base of operations in the Caribbean for American soldiers in World War II in 1942. The area was established as a training camp for the army, where American soldiers trained in jungle warfare before being deployed in the region.

As one of the most sparsely populated areas on the island, Manzanilla has become a choice tourism destination for visitors seeking a quieter and less commercial beach experience. There are a few resorts, such as the Coconut Cove, that cater to tourists visiting the region for leisure. Despite its appeal as an attraction, Manzanilla is infamous for its consistently rough waters and dangerous undercurrents during high tide.

The beach is also known as a hatching site of the local leatherback sea turtle. Due to the abundance of these nests, Manzanilla beach has caught the attention of eco-tourists as a destination for turtle-watching." From Wikipedia.