SAN FERNANDO HILL

San Fernando Hill, officially Naparima Hill, is a small mountain that is only 180 meters high, but offers a magnificent view of the surrounding plains as well as San Fernando. The city of San Fernando has grown at its feet over time and completely encircles it today. It is like an island of nature in the heart of the city. But this small mountain has above all a sacred symbolic importance for the Amerindians who populated this region before the colonization. According to the Warao tradition, the mythical hero Haburi and his mother had to flee the vindictiveness of the frog woman by seeking refuge in the Orinoco delta. But when they reached Trinidad, they were transformed into a mountain: Anaparima, the mountain of the world.

This myth, very popular among the Warao and other South American Amerindian tribes, is the origin of a pilgrimage tradition that has survived for thousands of years, going back to at least 6500 BC, and finally disappearing around 1900. Until that time, Native Americans or their descendants from all over the southern Caribbean and South America used to travel long distances by boat and on foot to pay homage to the mountain of Anaparima. Some tribal leaders even crossed by canoe from the Orinoco Delta in South America to Icacos, Quinam, Erin and Moruga, and walked to San Fernando for meetings of wise men. They believed that this hill was the home of a supreme spirit and a heroic ancestor, inventor of the first canoe and his mother, a divine ancestor. In 1920, the Indians of the Gwaranao tribe were still crossing for this eternal sacred appointment, and according to the records of the Angostura Historical Digest they caused a scandal in the city of San Fernando because they passed... all naked! Unfortunately, the sacred beliefs of the Amerindians were not respected by the settlers, who did not hesitate to use the stones of the hill for more than 200 years to build houses and buildings, so much so that the mountain was reduced by almost a third of its volume. After decades of popular protest, the quarry was closed and the hill was declared a protected area in 1980. Now it is a recreational area and a reforestation project is underway. You can have a picnic in the forest using the available barbecues and enjoy the view of the surroundings.