Tunapuna

Tunapuna

Tunapuna town is located on the east-west corridor of the island of Trinidad. The city is an important market and commercial center, and the headquarters of the Tunapuna-Piarco Regional Corporation. It is also the site of Trinidad and Tobago's only gurdwara, or Sikh temple, which dates back to the arrival of some of the first Indian immigrants from Punjab in 1929. Tunapuna has been a carnival site for over a hundred years. This regional carnival, which features traditional and conventional mas, steel band and stick fighting, is organized every year by the Tunapuna Carnival Committee. Tunapuna-Piarco is geographically one of the most diverse regions of Trinidad and Tobago. It is home to two of the country's highest peaks, El Cerro del Aripo at 3 084 ft and El Tucuche at 3 070 ft, both of which tower over the northern part of the region and the northern coast of Trinidad, and form part of the Northern Range. They are considered to be a continuation of the Andes Mountain Range on the South American continent, which is just 6.8 miles from Trinidad. The densely forested mountain peaks in the north are habitat to more than 100 species of mammals and 430 species of birds, plus Red Howler Monkeys, Capuchin Monkeys, Neotropical River Otters, Collared Peccaries, Ocelots and Red Deer. The region is also home to the country's largest cave system, the Aripo Caves, inhabited by oilbirds, and the highest waterfall in the country, the 300-foot Maracas Falls.