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ARIMA my home...

Follow the link to the government site to read about Arima through the eyes of Michael Anthony. The link also provides a list of towns and villages that could be of interest to you.

Here is the link:  Arima | Town & Villages

Many of the names of towns and villages that you see on a map of Trinidad and Tobago can be attributed to the Amerindians that were indigenous to our isles. Arima, meaning ‘water’, is one such example. Founded by Capuchin monks in 1757, it is one of the earliest settlements on the island. Situated in the idyllic foothills of the Northern Range, it served as a meeting point for neighbouring estates and for the most part, led a quiet, sleepy life. Nothing remains the same and during that turbulent period of the region's history change was on its way.

Its calm reverie was broken in the 1780s, when the Mission of Arima as it was known, was used by Governor Jose Maria Chacon as a transfer point for all the Amerindians from the neighbouring districts, allowing distribution of the arable land to newly-arrived French planters under the Cedula.

This continued until 1828 when Arima was no longer preserved as a Mission. By the 1870s, a radical transformation took place with the rapid spread of the cocoa industry. Planters began to clamour for a more efficient system of transportation into Port of Spain. Arima, historically the hub for the outlying districts saw the inauguration of the first railway line in Trinidad for both passengers and freight.

Today, the town of Arima has retained some of its original flavours as the hub via which people from the North and East coasts traverse in order to do their shopping or travel into the capital. Arima’s economy has changed from an agricultural base to an industrial one, with the establishment of factories and housing estates along the outskirts of town. The area still remains home to much of the Amerindian population, though you would be hard-pressed to find anyone of pure blood today. The feast of Santa Rosa, in which descendants of the Carib tribe parade in full regalia is still celebrated on the streets of the town, and on this special occasion a new Carib ‘Queen’ is selected.

Source: http://www.visittnt.com/