Chacachacare is an island in the Republic of

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

, located at 10° 41' north

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...

and 61° 45' west

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

. The island is in area. It is one of the

Bocas Islands This is a list of islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic republic in the southern Caribbean. Major islands * Trinidad * Tobago Bocas Islands The Bocas Islands lie between Trinidad and Venezuela, in the Bocas d ...

, which lie in the '' Bocas del Dragón'' (''Dragons' Mouth'') between

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Chacachacare is the westernmost of the Bocas Islands which belong to Trinidad and Tobago.

Patos Island Patos Island is a small island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. Since 1893, it has been home to the Patos Island Lighthouse, guiding vessels through Boundary Pass between Canada and the United States. The name comes from ...

, which lies further west, was part of Trinidad and Tobago until 1942, when it was ceded to Venezuela in exchange for

Soldado Rock Soldado Rock or ''Soldier's Rock'', formerly known as ''Soldado Island'', is a small island in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the Gulf of Paria 10 km off Icacos Point in TrinidadIUCN 1982, p.348 and north of the Venezu ...

History

The island was spotted by

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

on his third New World voyage on 12 August 1498, and his little fleet spent the night anchored in Monkey Harbour. He named the island 'Port of Cats' because he heard roars of what he thought were wildcats, mistaking the call of howler monkeys for wildcats. It has also been called "El Caracol" (the

Snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class ...

) because of its shape. At various times in its history Chacachacare has served as a

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

plantation, a

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

station and a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. ''M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Afr ...

. The Venezuelan revolutionary

Santiago Mariño Santiago Mariño Carige Fitzgerald (25 July 1788 in Valle Espíritu Santo, Margarita – 4 September 1854 in La Victoria, Aragua), was a nineteenth-century Venezuelan revolutionary leader and hero in the Venezuelan War of Independence (1811� ...

, who later joined forces with Simón Bolivar and was instrumental in the liberation of Venezuela from Spanish rule, used Chacachacare as a base for his successful 1813 invasion of Venezuela with a tiny band of 45 "Patriots". His sister, Concepción Mariño, played a part in the

Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...

from her estate on the island. The island became a

, established by the British government of the colony of

in the 1860s. The men and women of the colony were kept separate, they were not allowed visitors from the outside and were forbidden to leave. The lepers were cared for by French Dominican nuns, two of whom caught

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...

; one of the two committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

. In 1942, 1,000 U.S. Marines were stationed on Chacachacare and built barracks all over the island, bringing with them diesel generators, which provided electrical power to the island for the first time. The authorities began to relax the strict rules of the colony, for instance, allowing men and women to mix. With improved medical treatment for leprosy, and the decline of the Dominican order, the island was abandoned after 1984, when the nuns left their quarters and the last

leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria '' Mycobacterium leprae'' or '' Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve d ...

on the island died. In 1999,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

visited Chacachacare during the Miss Universe contest and contemplated having a casino and hotel built on the island; however, the idea has not been pursued. Today, Chacachacare remains uninhabited, except for staff maintaining a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

on the summit of the island. The

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Temple founded in 1945 continues to be functional with occasional religious activities. It is also regularly used for camping and visits by recreational boaters. Many Trinidadians go to this island, as well as Monos and Huevos, for day trips. This is popularly referred to as "going down the islands".

Lighthouse

Places

Bolo Rocks

The Bolo Rocks are a series of rocks located at the southwestern point of Chacachacare. They were named after a slave called Bolo who worked for a whaling station on the island.

Cabresse Island

Cabresse Island is a very small islet located just off the northern point of Chacachacare.

Gallery

File:Leper colony, Chacachacare, Trinidad. 1967.jpg, Approaching the leper colony on Chacachacare Island,

File:Chacachacare dry forest 2.jpg,

Tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

, Chacachacare File:Chacachacare map 1927.png, Map of Chacachacare (1927) File:Chacachacare dry forest 3.JPG, Trinidad and Tobago dry forest on Chacachacare showing the dry-season deciduous nature of the vegetation File:Chacachacare.JPG, Abandoned Nun's Quarters, Chacachacare

References

Notes Bibliography * *

External links

Tim McDonald. "Chacachacare: The sad legacy of an idyllic island in the Caribbean"
''

Tri-City Herald The ''Tri-City Herald'' is a daily newspaper based in Kennewick, Washington, United States. Owned by The McClatchy Company, the newspaper serves southeastern Washington state, including the three cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland (which ...

'' via Associated Press. Accessed 21 November 2022.
Chacachacare Interactive Map
Chaguaramas Development Authority. Accessed 21 November 2022. {{Islands of Trinidad and Tobago Gulf of Paria Uninhabited islands of Trinidad and Tobago Leper colonies Whaling stations of the Caribbean Whaling in the Caribbean