Other interesting animals and reptiles

The foothills of the central range provides the ideal habitat for the venomous mapepire (fer-de-lance) snake, and some interesting spiders. The tropical rainforest of Trinidad play host to many varieties of spiders, lizards, snakes, frogs and other reptiles. I thought all snakes laid eggs but the mapepire gives birth to baby mapepire.

 

A Mapipire Balsain killed during maintenance. I counted 34 young snakes in her stomach.



 

Another view of the baby snakes in their sacks.

 



Fish and Wild life

 

There exists a variety of wild life some of which can been spotted during the normal day on the estate these include the iguana, porcupine and brown spotted deer. The small naturally occurring streams which are active in the rainy season also attract some fresh water fish.



One of the active streams

Bird life

At any time there is a rich variety of birds and other wildlife such as the Kiskidee, Bluejay, humming bird, woodpecker, woodcreepers, green parrot, chicken hawk, and silver beak to name a few. For the avid bird watcher this is an ideal location given accessibility by road and friendly terrain.

 

Drying out after rains

Yellow breasted among branches

Parrots resting



  Parrots resting among flowering branches

 



   Nesting on the floor of the estate

 

 

 

Estate financing

Estate financing is by short term loans and fixed income from monthly salary. This method is used to finance the land preparation, purchasing of plants, and paying for assistance with the maintenance of the estate. This investment is expected to bring a fair return within the next three years. The fact that the plants can be obtained from the government station in Centeno Trinidad at subsidised prices greatly influences the decision to invest in cocoa production when compared to other crops.

Corlans Estate

The Corlans Estate consists of twelve acres, and on ten acres the emphasis is on the cultivation of cocoa. Hundreds of other tree crops are included in the estate such as, coconut, breadfruit, bananas, and cassava. The land is a friendly undulating firm clay type soil with small streams which are active in the rainy season.

Under the young breadfruit tree

Access

One can access the Coryal Village via one of several points, Sangre Grande in the East, Cumuto and the Cumuto main Road in the North, or from the west via Chaguanas through Brazil and Talparo. However the easiest access route is through Cumuto off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway which runs from Piarco to Valencia.

The environment

The physical environment is a mix of lush green tropical rainforest and the associated wildlife, abandoned cocoa estates, and some estates under subsistence cultivation. The Tamana caves are located a short twenty minutes drive away from the Corlans Eco Estate Coryal.

Young plantain and cocoa plants with forest back-drop showing wild orchids.