Trinidad and Tobago: Port of Spain, Birds and Rainforest, 6 Nights

Land at Piarco, east of the capital, where your driver meets you for the ride into Port of Spain. Trinidad is a surprise for many Indian travellers: over a third of its people have Indian roots, descended from nineteenth-century indentured workers, and you hear it in the food, from doubles to roti. Try one tonight; it is the best introduction to the island.

A guided introduction to the capital. The tour circles the Queen's Park Savannah, a huge green common ringed by the Magnificent Seven, a row of ornate colonial mansions, and passes the museums, galleries, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Emperor Valley Zoo. It ends high on the Lady Young Road lookout, with the city, the harbour and the Gulf of Paria spread out below.

A drive into the forested hills of the Northern Range to the Asa Wright Nature Centre, one of the best-known birding places in the Caribbean. A local guide leads a walk through the forest, pointing out hummingbirds, manakins, toucans and tanagers, as well as huge butterflies; sightings are never guaranteed, but the variety here is remarkable. Bring binoculars and insect repellent.

After breakfast you are transferred to Piarco for the short flight to Tobago, which we book separately. On landing you are met and taken to the hotel. Tobago is smaller and slower than its big sister, with quiet beaches, reefs and forested hills. The rest of the day is free: many visitors head to Pigeon Point, a palm-lined beach with a famous thatched jetty, for the sunset.

A full day covering both coasts of Tobago: the wild Atlantic side, with its fishing villages and headlands, and the calmer Caribbean shore. The tour takes in rainforest, secluded bays, old forts and views across the island, with lunch included at a well-known island restaurant cooking with local produce. Bring swimwear for Argyle Waterfall, Tobago's tallest, which drops in tiers into cool pools.

An early start to find the forest at its liveliest. The tour follows the Caribbean coast to Castara, a fishing village with a bakery famed for its clay oven, and Englishman's Bay, a near-empty crescent of sand. Then it climbs into the Main Ridge Forest Reserve, protected since 1776, for a guided forest walk listening for the cocrico, Tobago's national bird, and watching for the white-tailed sabrewing hummingbird. The tour stops in Castara for lunch on the way back.

After breakfast your driver takes you to the airport for your flight home. Most international journeys from Tobago connect through Trinidad, and we time the connection to give you a comfortable margin. Hot pepper sauce, Trinidad rum, local chocolate and a bag of curry spices blended on the island all make good presents.