Locale:  I’m sure that nearly all Americans have heard of the Bay of Pigs invasion, but most probably have only a hazy idea of what actually happened.  I was quite young when the event occurred and count myself among those who could not give you a coherent account of what happened during those early spring days in 1961.  On 17 April, the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 began its invasion of Cuba, with the intent to overthrow the Castro regime, at an isolated spot on the island’s southern shore known as the Bay of Pigs. Almost immediately, the invasion was a disaster for the exiles.  Within three days, the fighting was essentially over, with 114 of the invaders killed in action and over 1,100 taken prisoner.  Eventually, 1113 prisoners were exchanged for US$53 million in food and medicine.

Weather:  80s.  Sunny.

Itinerary: In and around Playa Girón and Zapata Swamp

Overnight: Hotel Playa Girón

Excursions: Early wake-up, picnic breakfast at hotel, birding at Bermejas with stops by the roadside and Moringa grove, visit to Museo Playa Girón, buffet lunch at hotel, visit to bird feeders in Palpite, birding in Soplillar, dinner at paladar Milly’s

Habitats: Marsh.  Open fields.  Farmland.  Flowering shrubs.  Seasonally-flooded savanna.

Bird Species (partial listing, by family): Gray-Fronted Quail Dove (Geotrygon caniceps), Blue-Headed Quail Dove (Starnoenas cyanocephala), Ruddy Quail Dove (Geotrygon montana), Great Lizard Cuckoo (Coccyzus merlini), Smooth-Billed Ani (Crotophaga ani), Greater Antillean Nightjar (Antrostomus cubanensis), Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), Barn Owl (Tyto alba), Bare-Legged Owl (Margarobyas lawrencii), West Indian Woodpecker (Melanerpes superciliaris), Fernandina’s Flicker (Colaptes fernandinae), Cuban Parakeet (Psittacara euops), Loggerhead Kingbird (Tyrannus caudifasciatus), Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia), Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla), Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotilta varia), Swainson’s Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii), American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens), Yellow-Throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica), Red-Shouldered Blackbird (Agelaius assimilis), Cuban Oriole (Icterus melanopsis)

Other Species: Black racer snake (possibly Alsophis cantherigerus adspersus)

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

Observations: Marti and I went for a swim in the Bay of Pigs (in Spanish, Bahía de Cochinos), before lunch.  There is a section of the resort marked off for swimming, inside a breakwater.  Marti got sea urchin spines in her foot but was able to extricate them successfully.

Milly’s featured genuine Cuban music and I enjoyed listening to the group.

On the way home, the bus almost hit an owl; we got out and I was able to see a Barn Owl in my binoculars (our guide uses a powerful flashlight).

Reflections:  We saw a number of billboards in the area condemning Yankee imperialism and celebrating the Cuban victory at the Bay of Pigs; however, these were less numerous and more muted than I was led to believe from some of the reading I did before the trip.

Speaking of the Revolution:  I probably still don’t understand the currency issue, meaning, I’m not sure why there’s a need to have two systems.  But there it is: locals use the Cuban peso, and the rest of us use CUCs, or the Cuban Convertible Peso.  As I understand it, the discontinuation of the US dollar as a medium of exchange in 2004 was retaliation for continuing US sanctions.  Okay, I get that.  The system is no trouble for us, the tourists, as we simply exchange our dollars, at almost a 1:1 ratio, and spend CUCs (and in my opinion, the little trinkets that tourists like to buy are just not that expensive).  Changes may be in the works, though.  A few years ago, an article in the Economist explained:

The Cuban peso (CUP) and the Cuban convertible peso (CUC) are both legal tender on the island, though neither is exchangeable in foreign markets. The CUC is pegged to the dollar and worth 25 times as much as the CUP. But whereas most Cubans are paid in CUP, nearly all consumer goods are priced in CUC. The system, which highlights divisions between those with access to hard currency and those without, has proved unpopular. On October 22nd state media published an official announcement that it is finally going to be scrapped. Cuba’s Council of Ministers, it said, had approved a timetable for implementing “measures that will lead to monetary and exchange unification”.

Images:

The Blue-Headed Quail Dove is aptly named.

We did not see as many of these billboards condemning the US as I expected to.

We are at the entrance to the Museo Playa Girón.

Here’s one of the displays inside the museum that I photographed.

We watched a Cuban Oriole at a feeder.

Notice the water line on these palms in this seasonally-flooded savanna.

Cows in Cuba don’t appear to be fenced in; we saw them everywhere.

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.