We awoke around sunrise to find our vessel, Harmony V, entering the Bahía de Casilda, on the Caribbean coast of Cuba. It was a spectacular setting, with the colonial city of Trinidad decorating a near mountainside and the cloud-capped Sierra de Escambray mountains behind.
One group headed into the mountains, where they set out along a forest trail accompanied by a local specialist guide. Guests were thrilled to have many superb bird sightings, including pygmy screech owls and the national bird, the tocororó, or Cuban trogon.
The second group headed into Trinidad, Cuba’s best preserved colonial city and justifiably a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A guided walking tour of the cobbled streets and plazas included a visit to the Templo a Yemayá, where Israel Gómez, (a high priest of santería) explained this Afro-Cuban religion. We also visited the home studio of Lázaro Niebla and Leanys Hernández, where Lázaro explained the background to his skillful craft carving stunning bas-relief wooden art pieces, and his wife Leanys spoke about her 34-member cooperative of lace-workers and their enterprise keeping alive this traditional craft.
Following lunch, the second group traveled into the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) to Sitio Guaimiro—a former 18th-century sugar baron’s mansion, where a guide regaled the history behind this restored building, adorned with period murals. Meanwhile, the first group enjoyed a lunch of roast suckling pig before descending the mountains to explore Trinidad, including a visit with Lázaro and Leanys.
By 5:00 p.m. we had returned to the ship, which promptly set sail for our long passage to Isla de la Juventud. After cocktail hour, we enjoyed staff recaps, followed by a delicious dinner before a screening of the renowned documentary movie Buena Vista Social Club.
Travel writer and photographer Christopher P. Baker has been hailed by National Geographic as: “One of the world's leading authorities on Cuba travel and culture.” He has written and photographed six books about Cuba, including the best-selling Moon ...
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Finally… we get the chance to explore our beloved port, Cienfuegos, “the pearl of the South. Cienfuegos is a colonial mid-sized city, with clean streets, architectural gems, and the sea in all directions. After a historical walking tour this morning, we proceeded to the scenic peninsula Punta Gorda for lunch, followed by a performance by La Colmenita Children’s Theater, cocktails on the rooftop of Hotel Union, and our farewell dinner on board Harmony V .
This morning we departed Cienfuegos, our base of operations, to explore one of the most fascinating areas of Cuba, both from a historical and a natural history point of view. One of the highlights of the area is the Playa Giron Museum, a testimony to a crucial historical event in the modern history of Cuba and Cuba-US relations. This area was the stage for the Bay of Pigs Invasion, a failed military invasion of Cuba, authorized by JFK and undertaken by the CIA-trained Brigade 2506, a counter-revolutionary military group made up of mostly Cuban exiles who traveled to the United States after Castro's takeover, on April 17, 1961. Launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua, the invading force was defeated within three days by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under the direct command of Fidel Castro. The failed invasion, hailed as a major David-versus-Goliath victory against Imperialism, helped to strengthen the position of Castro's leadership, made him a national hero, and deepened the rift between the former allies. It also strengthened the relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. But the historical interest of the area is far from the only attractive thing about it. The Bay of Pigs is located within the Zapata Swamp, one of the most important protected natural areas in Cuba. Within this geographical location are numerous areas designated for environmental preservation, such as Zapata Swamp Natural Reserve and Las Salinas wildlife sanctuary, part of the larger Ciénega de Zapata Biosphere Reserve (IUCN category VI) which in total is over 6,000 km² and the largest protected area, not only in Cuba, but also the Caribbean. The swamp is not only known for its size but also for being the best-preserved wetland in the Antilles, designated as a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971. This protected area is home to over 900 indigenous plant species, 175 species of birds, 31 species of reptiles and over 1000 species of invertebrates. Some of the most notable are local endemics to the area, such as the Zapata wren, Zapata rail, and the Zapata sparrow. The Zapata Swamp is also one of the only habitats of the smallest bird species on our planet: the bee hummingbird. Our explorations of the area began with an early, pre-sunrise departure for the keenest among us, our destination is the Bermejas region of the Zapata Swamp where we met our dedicated local birding guide, Orlando. We managed to see a total of 19 endemic species, including the Cuban bare-legged owl and Cuba tody, in just two hours! Outstanding! After a visit to the Bay of Pigs Museum, we all spent some time at a stunning area of coastline named “Punta Perdiz,” where some relaxed under the shade of palm trees while others took to the crystal-clear waters to explore patches of coral reefs home to dozens of colourful Caribbean reef fish species. After our water activities we travelled on to the picturesque coastal town of Playa Larga, a small fishing village increasingly opening up to tourism, where we had a wonderful lunch of fresh catch-of-the-day before being treated to an update on the conservation status and work in the area by National Park director Frank Medina. In the afternoon, we travelled to the small community of Palpite to visit the Korimakao Community Arts Group. Korimakao, an indigenous word that means “man who carries his house on his back,” was founded in August 1992 in the heart of the Zapata wetland, on the initiative of one of the leaders of Cuba’s 1959 socialist revolution, Faustino Pérez. After a visit to the area by Fidel Castro in 2001, the construction of the Korimakao Centre became one of the highest priority sociocultural projects in the country and is now an important source of local employment. What was initially thought of as a movement that would recruit local talent has begun to draw candidates from all over the country. This fascinating day ended with a visit to the small house of a villager, two blocks down from the centre, named the “Hummingbird House.” Plants and feeders in the garden of this house are an irresistible magnet to the country’s two hummingbird species, the emerald and the bee, as well as many more birds. None of us returned to Harmony V without great looks at possibly Cuba’s greatest natural marvel: the smallest bird in the whole wide world.
