Locale: Nestled in the Escambray Mountains, near the San Luis Valley, or Valle de Los Ingenios, Trinidad is one of the most meticulously preserved of the Cuban colonial cities and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.  This area was a prime sugarcane growing region, but toward the end of the late nineteenth century, the sugar mills, or ingenios, gradually disappeared (large sugar plantations were worked mainly by slave labor — note that in 1807, both Britain and the US banned the Atlantic slave trade).  Here, as in other regions of Cuba, there is a tension between historic preservation and the need for structural improvements to support the growing tourism economy.  However, many of the buildings around Trinidad’s Plaza Mayor belonged to wealthy families and are still intact; they currently function as house museums which showcase architecture or archaeology or municipal history.  The 44-meter high tower belonging to the Palacio Cantero is open to visitors; its height was intended to boast of family wealth.  Our guide explained that Trinidad’s Church of the Holy Trinity still houses an 18th-century wooden statue of Christ, which is an object of particular reverence for the city.  It was on board a ship carrying it to a church in Veracruz, Mexico, but the ship was driven back to Trinidad three times by bad weather and was only able to make the journey after abandoning part of its cargo, including this statue.

Weather:  80s.  Sunny.

Itinerary: Trinidad west to Cienfuegos, southwest to Playa Girón in Matanzas Province

Overnight: Hotel Playa Girón

Excursions: Bird walk near the hotel Las Brisas, buffet breakfast at hotel, walking tour of Trinidad including the market, birding at Parque El Cubano, lunch at the park, birding at Bermejas, buffet dinner at the hotel

Habitats: Beach.  Scrubby lowlands.  Tropical forest.

Bird Species (partial listing, by family): Common Ground Dove (Columbina passerinus), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), Cuban Emerald Hummingbird (Chlorostilbon ricordii), Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus), Red-Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), Bare-Legged Owl (Margarobyas lawrencii), Cuban Trogon (Priotelus temnurus), Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), Cuban Parakeet (Psittacara euops), Cuban Peewee (Cantopus caribaeus), La Sagra’s Flycatcher (Myiarchus sagrae), Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon fulva), Louisiana Water Thrush (Parkesia motacilla), Yellow Warbler (Setaphaga petechia), Yellow-headed Warbler (Teretistris fernandinae), Cuban Bullfinch (Melopyrrha nigra), Tawny-Shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius humeralis)

Guides and Driver: Angel, David, Liu, Orlando and Carlos

Observations:  I didn’t buy cigars from “The Russian” (though I thought about it); instead, I settled on a linen table runner, beautifully hand-embroidered in blue by a local señora.

The drink we were served at lunch at the Park ranchón is a regional specialty; it’s called canchánchara and is made with rum, honey, and lime.

We were warned that this hotel was not as luxurious as one might wish, and I must say I found it reflective of its origins as a Soviet-style beach resort.  At least our cabana was spacious, with a separate living room and bedroom and the bathroom in between.  The toilet had no handle, but from my experience in my own apartment, I knew you could lift the tank lid and then pull up the flapper valve and it would flush just fine.

Reflections:  Some people in our group, including my sister, complain of insect bites, and I see bites on my arms which I assume are from insects.  But I’ve been told that we don’t have to fear Lyme disease or malaria, so I remain unconcerned.  The bites aren’t even that itchy, so they can’t be chigger bites, which they say are very common.

Images:

The Iglesia Parroquial de la Santisima Trinidad dominates the Plaza Mayor.

This lovely señorita is celebrating her quinceanera.

Trinidad’s Plaza Mayor is beautifully preserved.

This ceiba tree in Parque el Cubano is a magnificent specimen.

Locale:  Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with a land mass of a little over 42,000 square miles and about 3,500 miles of coastline.  The main island is 780 miles long and 119 miles across at its widest point, 19 miles across at its narrowest.  Today we traveled from the north shore to the south.  Administratively, Cuba is divided into fifteen provinces; we’ve now been to three of the fifteen (we will not visit the five eastern ones, which include Guantánamo, probably the place name most familiar to Americans).

Weather:  70s.  Cold front with drizzle.

Itinerary: Cayo Coco south to Morón, south to Ciego de Ávila, west on Carretera Central to Jatbonico, west to Sancti Spíritus, southwest to Trinidad

Overnight: Hotel Las Brisas, Ancón Peninsula

Excursions: Birding at Cueva del Jabalí, buffet breakfast at hotel, birding on Cayo Coco near Hotel Tryp, lunch at hotel bar, long bus ride to Ancón Peninsula, check in at hotel, dinner at paladar Davimart

Habitats: Desert scrub, farmland, mangroves, urban areas.

Bird Species (partial listing, by family): Least Grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus), White-Crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala), Key West Quail Dove (Geotrygon chrysia), Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans), Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus), Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), Yellow-Crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), White Ibis (Eudocimus albus), Cuban Tody (Todus multicolor), Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway), Cuban Vireo (Vireo gundlachii), Cuban Crow (Corvus nasicus), Red-Legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus), Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina), Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum), Oriente Warbler (Teretistris fornsi)

Other Species: Blue-Headed Anole (Anolis allisoni) and Knight’s Anole (Anolis equestris cyaneus)

Guides and Driver: Angel, David, Liu and Carlos

Observations:  Supposedly, the “Cave of the Wild Boar” is a trendy disco!

The mini-pizza I ate for lunch at the bar was quite tasty (surprisingly, I suppose).

We are staying at yet another all-inclusive resort.  Our room is on the second floor and quite nice; however, the water pressure disappeared, so I took a sponge bath instead of showering.

Our welcome drink at Davimart was made with miel (honey).

Reflections: The roads in Cuba seem to be in good shape — maybe even more so than our roads in Massachusetts, which at this point in the year are riddled with potholes from winter weather. Our bus is Chinese-made, by the Yutong Bus Company; we see many of these buses, which all look fairly new.  Of course the American cars from the 1950s which we see everywhere are a Cuban phenomenon, and I have to say, they are quite the sight.  We also see European cars, from French, Italian, and German manufacturers, as well as the Russian Ladas, and there are Japanese-made cars as well.  It is difficult for individual Cubans to own their own automobiles, and horse-drawn vehicles are a common sight.

I have noticed quite a bit of trash by the roadsides though, and even on the beaches.  Maybe as Cuba becomes more developed, we’ll start to see Earth Day clean-ups as we have in the States (certainly we Americans ought to do better, and think about recycling and waste more often than once a year).

Images:

I am not sure how to interpret these sculptures of cows outside our hotel room.

The beach is visible in the background, behind the pool.

Mangrove forests are an ecosystem of high biological diversity.

Semi-feral dogs are a common sight in Cuba.