Locale: Cuba’s third largest city, Camagüey is the capital of Camagüey Province.  The main square in Camagüey, currently named Ignacio Agramonte Park in honor of the Cuban Revolutionary War hero, was built in 1528.  Unlike other Spanish colonial cities with their wide boulevards and spacious plazas, Camaguey’s old section is characterized by narrow, twisting, maze-like streets.  It has its charm, though, with its wrought-iron windows and red-tile roofs.  In 2008 the city’s historic center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Camaguey is also known as “The City of Churches” because it has more of these edifices than any other Cuban city.  Another name for the city would be “The City of the Jars” due to the significance of the clay pot or tinajón, used for various purposes, such as to capture rain water.  Clay pots, from the small and decorative to the very large, are everywhere.  Another of the city’s claims to fame is for being the birthplace of Cuba’s national poet, Nicolás Guillén.

Weather:  80s.  Sunny.

Events:  Breakfast at Air Margaritaville, rendezvous at the Miami International Airport Hotel reception desk at 11:45, check in at American Airlines, lunch at La Carreta near the departure gate, flight at 2:45, arrive Cuba 4 pm, customs and immigration, change dollars, short bus ride to hotel, walking tour of historic Camagüey, dinner at La Campana de Toledo, Plaza San Juan de Dios 18 (named for the bell which hangs in its courtyard, brought to Cuba from Toledo in Spain).

Itinerary: Charter flight on AA from Miami to Aeropuerto Internacional Ignacio Agramonte

Guides and Driver: Angel, CJ (Marazul-Miami), David, Liudmys and Carlos

Overnight: Gran Hotel Camagüey

Bird Species (partial listing): Eurasian Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto)

Observations: The hotel dates from the colonial period; our room, on the second floor, has high ceilings and a balcony overlooking the street.  It is clean and comfortable, and flipping through the stations on the TV, I couldn’t find any Cuban broadcasts.

I’ve seen flamenco in Andalucía, its birthplace, and I must say that the flamenco dancers we saw tonight, two young women and a young man, were excellent.  Their backup musicians were also very good, and I decided to buy their DVD (the group is called Andarte).

Reflections: We are a group of fourteen:  Marti (Sacramento CA) and me (North Brookfield MA), Tom (Northern California), Lee (Austin TX), Marsha (Woodland CA), Ann (Woodland CA), Kate (Burien WA), Beverly (Lee’s Summit MO), Wendy (San Leandro CA), Donna (Seattle WA), Marilyn (North Oaks MN), Warren (North Oaks MN), Russ (Waterville ME), and Suzi (Waterville ME).  So glad to meet you all, and I’m looking forward to our time together!

We are birding with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours; most, if not all, of the group have traveled with VENT before — I’d say that’s an endorsement of the company and its products.

Traveling to Cuba as a tourist is still forbidden by the US Department of the Treasury.  Our tour has been arranged by International Expeditions, as a People to People Cultural and Educational Exchange, which is allowed under Section 515.565 (search for Title 31, Money and Finance: Treasury, Part 515—Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Educational Activities).

Images:

We arrived at the international airport in Camagüey.

This is the view from the balcony of our room at the Gran Hotel, Calle Maceo 67.