Edi­son Boodoos­ingh

For na­ture lovers seek­ing a peace­ful out­door re­treat, La Ve­ga Es­tate in Gran Cou­va of­fers a unique blend of recre­ation, re­lax­ation and nat­ur­al beau­ty.

Span­ning 250 acres, the es­tate com­bines a gar­den cen­tre, na­ture park, walk­ing trails, swim­ming pools and ATV tours, mak­ing it an at­trac­tion with some­thing for every mem­ber of the fam­i­ly.

Es­tab­lished in 1983, La Ve­ga has grown in­to one of the Caribbean’s largest or­na­men­tal plant pro­duc­ers. Vis­i­tors can browse an ex­ten­sive se­lec­tion of plants, in­clud­ing or­chids, flow­er­ing shrubs, in­door plants, herbs and fruit trees.

The es­tate’s na­ture park fea­tures scenic walk­ing trails and sev­er­al lakes, where vis­i­tors can en­joy fish­ing. Lake­side huts are avail­able for day rentals, while those wish­ing to ex­tend their stay can book the Ja­cana Cab­in.

Camp­ing fa­cil­i­ties are al­so avail­able for vis­i­tors seek­ing a more ad­ven­tur­ous out­door ex­pe­ri­ence.

La Ve­ga’s sto­ry be­gan when en­tre­pre­neur Bertram Man­hin pur­chased what was then an aban­doned co­coa es­tate in 1983. The prop­er­ty con­sist­ed of over­grown co­coa fields, dense bam­boo and lush sec­ondary for­est.

Dri­ven by a pas­sion for land­scap­ing and plant col­lec­tion, Man­hin be­gan trans­form­ing the land, first clear­ing ar­eas for plant cul­ti­va­tion, then con­struct­ing a pond for ir­ri­ga­tion and sev­er­al green­hous­es.

Over the years, the es­tate con­tin­ued to ex­pand. To­day, five man-made ponds pro­vide ir­ri­ga­tion wa­ter for the green­hous­es, fruit fields and the wider es­tate. Three of the ponds are stocked with fish, in­clud­ing tilapia and pacu, al­low­ing vis­i­tors to en­joy recre­ation­al fish­ing. Rods and bait are avail­able for rent.

Na­ture trails wind through the es­tate’s rolling hills, of­fer­ing op­por­tu­ni­ties to spot some of the more than 100 species of birds record­ed on the prop­er­ty, mak­ing it a favourite des­ti­na­tion for bird­watch­ers.

Among the es­tate’s stand­out at­trac­tions is a ma­jes­tic 300-year-old silk cot­ton tree. Vis­i­tors can al­so dis­cov­er a col­lec­tion of ex­ot­ic fruit trees gath­ered by Man­hin dur­ing his trav­els around the world.

In 2015, the ad­di­tion of two 90-foot swim­ming pools fur­ther en­hanced La Ve­ga’s ap­peal as a fam­i­ly-friend­ly des­ti­na­tion.

More than four decades af­ter its trans­for­ma­tion be­gan, La Ve­ga Es­tate stands as a tes­ta­ment to Bertram Man­hin’s vi­sion and en­tre­pre­neur­ship, evolv­ing from an aban­doned co­coa es­tate in­to an in­ter­na­tion­al­ly recog­nised na­ture park and plant nurs­ery that con­tin­ues to at­tract vis­i­tors from across Trinidad and To­ba­go and be­yond.