FORT ABERCROMBY

In the heights, in the heart of the tropical vegetation, the lookout overlooks the bay of Las Cuevas. This fort was originally a defensive fort built by the British in 1804, and was part of the military fortifications of the island like Fort George in Port of Spain. Las Cuevas was sparsely populated (about a hundred inhabitants in the early ^19th century) and feared attacks by the French. Las Cuevas Bay was also a good place to moor a boat and land, so it was necessary to keep an eye on it. But this fort never experienced a single attack: one year after its construction, the garrison in place sounded the alarm before the arrival of a French fleet. In the middle of the Napoleonic war, the battle raged throughout the Atlantic and as far as the West Indies. The officer then decided to burn all the huts, take all the weapons and entrench himself in Saint-Joseph across a road that still exists today for hikers. A twist of fate: Napoleon, who was then looking for a diversion in the West Indies, ordered the fleet to turn around and return to Trafalgar off the coast of Andalusia, where the English finally won the battle against the Spanish and the French combined. Perfidious Albion! The fort of Las Cuevas was never reinvested by the army and today only two cannons and a few stone walls remain. Tourists stop here to admire the view of the ocean and fishermen come to dip their fishing rods in these tormented waters.