Discovering an Unknown Lookout!

Since we started flying over to Tobago for summer vacations, we realized that most road trips were always filled with discovering new, exciting and mostly unknown locations. While driving on mountainous roads of the east coast of the island to get to a far away beach, we saw on Google maps what looked like "Mount Dillon Lookout". Of course we were on the mountain side coastal road as you see there in the above photo but what if we could get to that lookout on the top of the whole mountain and get even more amazing views than we already were? We all unanimously decided to delay the beach arrival as it was just a few minutes drive away again anyway and head to the mysterious lookout at the summit of the mountain we were on that seemed to be nearby!

When I punched in the way point on the maps, it said that the lookout was just 5 minutes away but we had to turn the car around and head back the way we came for a few meters to take a branching roadway we had unknowingly passed. The lush jungle and forest that were on both sides of the winding and steep roadways did a very good job of covering up side roads as you drive by admiring everything around you!

It wasn't more than 3 minutes before we met the side road leading up the mountain in very steep manner. Turning onto it, the car needed a lot more torque and so I switched into the lower gears in the transmission to climb the thing! As the engine roared, I wondered if this was a good decision as getting trapped out here in the middle of the tropical jungles with no civilization for miles would be horrible!

We finally reached the top of the mountain where there seemed to be a large broadcasting or communications tower and a supporting building on the left while the lookout and a park or sorts was on the right. The anxiety quickly turned into relief when we saw that the place was so beautifully kept. The grass was well maintained as well as other trees and so on.

This is what the lookout looked like, a sprawling plateau with lush green grass, an elevated walk path and park benches to sit down and enjoy the view which we will get to in a bit! There were no railings as one would expect of a lookout for safety, just raw nature if you will. It would seem that this place was frequently visited anyway and we had to place to ourselves!

The communications tower seemed to be owned by the local service providers called TSTT or Telecommunications Service of Trinidad and Tobago as their brand colors of purple and teal blue were on the supporting building. I wonder what it was primarily used for? There even seemed to be a cellular mast on the top as well and I guess it was great to have coverage where we were out in the middle of the Tobagonian east coast mountain range!

The view from the lookout was amazing to say the least. We could actually see the rest of the coastline as it sprawled all the way to the east as well as the each we were heading to after we had our fill of this magnificent lookout. The breeze was invigorating yet cool and it made us feel like we were actually on top of the world!

The beach we could see from atop the lookout was Castara Beach which I did a post on recently as well. It was quite weird being able to see an entire town and beach from so high up with tiny ant like fishing boats seen coming and going. It all looked so still yet so alive. So small yet so big!

This is a shot of my wife and mother in law strolling the elevated pathway, a ridge of sorts along the lookout taking in the high level of breeze and the magnificent views! the sun was not scorching or too hot as the cloud cover was perfect for this type of mountainous unsheltered exploring!

Here is another view of the entrance of the lookout which was just mostly well maintained lawn, some fruit trees that were sadly not yet in season and a parked blue van that seemed to have no one in it! Maybe it belonged to whoever maintained the area, who knows!

At the end of the ridge or elevated pathway were some more fruit trees and a cul de sac of sorts that ended the pathway as well as the plateau that was walkable after which there was steep and deadly cliff or drop off.

I decided to make the bench under a coconut tree my base of operations to set up and fly the drone to see what more breathtaking views we could muster from this amazing yet hidden location! The winds were wild and gusty but I was willing to take the risk otherwise it would bother me for the rest of the vacation that I did not fly at least to see what could be discovered!

On first take off, I immediately saw even more breathtaking views that we were missing by not just being able to fly! There were amazing vistas, undulating hills and steep mountainsides, beauties and gems of Tobago that were begging to be shown to the world!

Look at that coastline! Locals never see their country like this and this was just amazing to just be able to see and captures! When I posted these shots on instagram, people could not believe that this was their beloved Tobago. There were so many unseen and hidden gems on this coastline along I had to struggle not to get carried away, loose battery in the heavy winds and loose the drone, not being able to fly back.

Just over the edge of where we were on the elevated walkway, there seemed to be nothing but a steep drop off and just boring ocean down below, but when I angle the drone down to see what it looked like, I saw amazing differentiated shores with colorful virgin untouched reefs and blue waters!

It was other wise impossible to see this without the drone or by being in a boat down below which would not have given you a view of the reef or the water color. I was so grateful to have been able to capture something so hidden and mostly unseen! There were even little rocks and islets that peppered the coastline so far down below. This was the Caribbean at its best!

It really was an experience like no other being on the summit of mount Dillon that day. On the maps I saw someone labeled the location as "Top of the World" and I chuckled that it was the same thing I thought when I was taken aback by the breeze and the tremendous views. It really does feel like you are at the edge or top of the world! Tobago never disappoints when we decided to stop off at random places, never yet discovered, thanks so much for coming along, cheers!