The quiet village of Grande Riviere, on the northeast coast of Trinidad, is internationally recognised as a turtle-nesting site as varying species – including the endangered leatherback turtle – flock to its beaches every year.
The Grande Riviere beach is one of the largest nesting sites of the leatherback in the western hemisphere.
The village is also recognised for its high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, made from the country’s prized Trinitario cocoa. With several cocoa estates in the area and surrounding villages, turtle-watchers can also enjoy Bean to Bar tours with the Grande Riviere Chocolate Company and rest their weary bones after a long night at Mt Plaisir Estate Hotel, as all three businesses are situated on the Grande Riviere beach.
While tourists the world over swarm the community to get a taste of its natural beauty, it is not the only natural phenomenon the village experiences.
At least once every decade, the village is subject to intense flooding which wreaks havoc when the waters from two rivers that flow into the sea at the Grande Riviere beach meet head-to-head.
“The villagers say that two rivers, they have to kiss each other. They use that term,” the owner of the Mt Plaisir Estate Hotel, Piero Guerrini, told Sunday Newsday during a visit to the area.
On either side of the estate, there are two rivers – Grande Riviere and the Ferdinand rivers – which both run into the ocean.
[caption id="attachment_929170" align="alignnone" width="1024"] A nesting leatherback turtle at Grande Riviere. - PHOTO BY ANJANI GANASE[/caption]
In July, flooding caused by the river-shifting phenomenon came dangerously close to the beachfront property. Valencia East/Toco councillor Martin “Terry” Rondon and a team from the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation (SGRC) visited after heavy rain made the river overflow.
“There was a drop here (at the hotel’s edge, on the beach) of over 12 feet...but the river has found its way (and) the beach is recuperating.” During Sunday Newsday’s visit, it was observed that the sand had resettled, and the drop was only about four feet.
“Now (the sand) is starting to come back and most likely the next heavy storm, the water will level the beach again. That means all this sand here is fresh sand that will facilitate the next event.
“It’s just like Venice,” said the Italian-born hotelier, who has been operating in the area for 28 years. “You cannot avoid the water rising. When it rises, you have to be prepared for it. Of course, it will be better to have reinforcement, but that will cost a lot of money and it will encroach on the protected area and I don’t want to do that.”
He said nothing was done to reinforce the building.
“Honestly, I don’t want anything to be done. Yes, of course, I am worried, it will take a lot of work. and to do that work we will have to bring in heavy machinery on the beach again. and I do not agree with that.”
International fallout
In 2012, the Ministry of Works sparked an international incident after the river course diverted and
