Asa Wright Nature Center
Trinidad

One of the world's top bird-watching and eco-tour sites...

Long before eco tourism became a buzzword Asa Wright Nature Center was stunning visitors with its myriad variety of beautiful tropical birds and sensational hiking trails.

Today, most birders consider Asa Wright among the best birdwatching sites in the world.

The nature reserve is located in Trinidad and Tobago, a nation unmatched in the Caribbean for bio-diversity with one of the densest biota in the world. Sister islands that claim over 460 species of tropical birds, 600 plus species of butterflies, approximately 110 species of mammals, 55 species of reptiles, 25 species of amphibians, an astounding 47 species of bats, and 2300 species of flowering plants (700 of which are orchids), all packed into an area approximately 50 miles long by 37 miles wide. Stunning!

 Enjoy Your Caribbean Safari 

Your journey to the Asa Wright Nature Center begins in earnest as you drive pass the historic Santa Rosa RC Church (founded as a mission to the indigenous Caribs and Arawaks) in Arima (which reportedly means water), the fourth largest town in Trinidad.

Arima was one of the first areas settled by the Spanish. Spanish-Amerindian roots that are still visible in the faces of many of its people today.

Heading northward, our road twists, turns and rises quickly into the cloud covered peaks, and tropical rain forests of Trinidad's Northern Range. The drive to Asa Wright is approximately 6 miles (9k) from Arima, 8 miles (13k) from Blanchisseuse on Trinidad's North Coast, and about 1200 feet (366 meters) above sea level.

 A Once Rich Bounty 

Evidence of long forgotten plantations - yellow and red cocoa pods, bright red coffee berries, and stately dark green nutmeg trees - dot the hillside under a glowing orange canopy of flowering Immortelles, or Flame of the Forest, often planted to provide shade for the cocoa trees.

In the earliest days of settlement (1550-1650) exotic spices were so valuable that the sale of a single nutmeg would have fed most working families in Europe for a year. Exotic spices were literally worth their weight in gold, and a single cargo made its owner incredibly wealthy. Today nutmeg litter the forest floor, undisturbed, a silent testament to changing economic fortunes.

 Old Cocoa Plantation 

The Asa Wright Nature Center is itself a reclaimed cocoa, coffee and citrus plantation, now given over to environmental preservation and education.

Asa Wright is a center for university students, naturalists, and birdwatchers from the world over, and retains a small portion of it's now vast holding to demonstrate how commercial farming and environmental conservation can co-exist successfully.

But don't let Asa Wright's impressive credentials intimidate you. Your $10US (€7.50EUR) entry fee includes a birding tour scheduled at at 10:30 every morning, and another at 1:30 just after noon. What a deal.

 Birding Veranda 

Upon entering the Asa Wright Nature Center, the first thing that strikes you as you is its renowned "Birding Veranda".

Whether you are there early, up before breakfast, to watch the aerial ballet of birds looking for a free meal; you're there to enjoy the traditional English afternoon tea with your binoculars or camera still in hand; or you're there to relax at the end of the day with a glass of Asa Wrights famous rum punch; the Birding Veranda is always a hive of activity, year round.

 1500+Acre Reserve 

There is so much to see and do that visiting for the day seems almost a shame.

For the adventitious there are numerous hiking trails and bird watching tours that introduce you to the 1500 acres of tropical rain forest now under the protection of the Asa Wright Nature Center. Hiking and birdwatching tours, like a visit to Dunston Cave to see Trinidad's most accessible oilbird colony.

For those who wish a quieter day, or for the budding photographer wishing to take a few incredible tropical bird pictures, there's no need to go further than the Birding Veranda to enjoy a full day of bird watching; especially if there is a birding tour guide on hand to give name to the wild avian community visiting strategically placed feeders.

 Incredible List of Birds 

Our favorite birds were: the Silver-Beaked Tanager; the Great Antshrike; the Bearded Bellbird; the Toucans; the Tufted-Coquette, a Trinidad humming bird that's forgotten to take off it's Carnival costume; and, though relatively common, the brilliantly feathered Purple and Green Honeycreepers, both birds whose brilliant feathers must have featured prominently in early native Amerindian headdresses.

My personal favorite was the Red Legged Honeycreeper pictured here, with his brilliant scarlet tights, purple jump suit, black bandanna and cape, and streaked hair-do; I had to agree with the kids who thought he looked like a cool, chubby, miniature super hero, ready to fight crime and save the birding world. All he needed was a letter on his chest, and he'd be right at home in a Saturday morning cartoon.

There is such a variety of tropical birds to see, hummingbirds, manakins, woodpeckers, hawks, owls, motmots, common bananaquits, and a plethora of tanagers, the list goes on and on. In fact, there are over 140 tropical bird species that are regularly seen at the Asa Wright Nature Center.

 Breathtaking Scenery 

But for me it was hiking beneath the towering canopy of trees and the raw tropicalness of it all, so lush, so rich, so incredibly green that captured my heart.

A true Emerald Forest, dotted everywhere with bursts of vividly colored tropical flowers; encounters with Agouti, squirrels and large lizards; and breathtaking scenery, as every once in a while as we broke out of the dense forest during a hike.

 Twilight, the Final Hooray 

At night after you have savored your glass of Trinidad rum punch and enjoyed a brilliant Creole dinner there is still more to see. There are over 40 species of bats on the island, several of which can be seen at Asa Wright for those with enough gumption to venture forth into the starry, bat filled Caribbean night.

If you don't plan to stay at the Asa Wright Nature Center Lodge then you may want to arrange for one of the private Trinidad and Tobago tour guides, who specialize in bird watching, to help you pack the most into your visit. This way you'll be sure to see everything of interest to you during your short trip.

For normal Joes like us a trip to the Asa Wright Nature Center beats any zoo, anywhere in the world. What an amazing day we had, and what an amazing time you and your family will have at Asa Wright, soon to be...

Your favorite place to go birdwatching.

Here's some information about Birding & Eco Tours to Asa Wright.

Here's a selection of birding optics if you are looking for a pair of binoculars or a telescope for your next bird watching vacation.