Four hikers who were reported missing on Sunday had in fact chosen to camp out in the Matura forest as darkness fell upon them after a trip to one of the pools in the area.
The four friends–Marlensta Sookdeo, 22, from Aranguez, Rishad Ali, 28, from Monroe Road, Chaguanas, Satish Mungroo, from Aranguez, and Astron de Freitas, 32, from Belmont–went hiking to Mermaid Pool in the Matura Forest.
However, the group lost track of time on their hike out. When it began to get dark, they realised that they would not be able to find their trail so they decided to spend the night camping in the forest.
"We went on previous trails before but we did not estimate the hike would take that long," Sookdeo told T&T Guardian.
He said the group left the pool around 3 pm on Sunday but three hours later they realised that they were nowhere near their car. As it was getting dark, Sookdeo said the group decided to spend the night in the forest.
"It did not make any sense trying to walk through the forest in the pitch black dark. Nobody panicked. We just decided to stay the night," he added.
The group was able to find shelter under some trees away from the river bank. There they made a fire and tried to spend the night.
"Food and water was not much of a problem. We had water and we were not that hungry. It was lucky that one of us had a lighter, that way we were able to make a fire," he said.
Sookdeo said though they had fire, they were still very cold, especially since their clothes were wet from their bath in the pool. He also said the rain started to drizzle in the middle of the night which made their makeshift camp very uncomfortable.
"Our only problem was the cold. It was raining and all of us were still wet," he said.
Sookdeo said they had basic hiking experience and were able to find the trails when the sun rose.
"We woke up about 7.30 am and managed to find a trail. Three hours later we found our way out of the forest," he said.
When the group emerged from the forest there were two police vehicles parked near their car but no officers. As the group was changing out of their wet clothes, another police car arrived and informed the search party that the group was found.
"The police were really helpful. They took our information and then took us to Sangre Grande Hospital," Sookdeo said.
All four hikers were treated. Sookdeo said they all had sore muscles and some came down with the flu because of their night in the forest.
"I have a fever and runny nose. I am on sick leave until next week. Rishad, he has his own business so I do not know if he is staying home. But for the most part, we all made it out fine with some sore muscles," Sookdeo said.