CaribbeanTrinidad & Tobago

The Hillsborough Dam was worth the journey to get there

By November 13, 2018 No Comments
Hillsborough Dam 1

Our second to last stop in Tobago is Hillsborough Dam holding the Hillsborough Reservoir, which is the major source of drinking water for the island of Tobago. It is located 870 feet above sea level and is managed by Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. The reservoir has a capacity of 225 million gallons. Construction was begun in 1944 and commissioned in 1952.

To get there we took the road from Mason Hall. Now, if you are driving along a paved road that turns in a gravel road and then turns in a dirt road and finally into a grass road that you do not think is a road at all, then you are actually on the right path. Haha. Steve and I kept wondering if we were going the right way as the road degraded more and more in form.

Once there we found a cool looking, but clearly old dam. The driveway to it is gated, but there is a small path on the side of the dam that will give you access to the top of Hillsborough Dam and the reservoir. Once there you can look out over the water at the rainforest. You will see lots of birds and animals here and you might even glimpse the local caimans, but don’t hold your breath.

As we were leaving we met a local who brought his small parakeet here to enjoy the quietness. There were several poles to hang a cage from and this particular bird was singing away as he flew around his cage in the outdoors. I have to say I was kind of amazed at how many of the locals owned small birds and this guy agreed saying Tobagonians loved birds.

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