Complete Cuba Day 4

Day 04 - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - Drive to Sierra de Escambray; Visit Topes de Collantes NP; Participate in a Nature Walk; Visit a Local Coffee House; Walk Through the Cuban Modern Art Museum; Return to Trinidad and Hotel for Dinner

The day began with a bright sun and clear blue skies. We left the hotel at 8:00 on our way to the interior. We traveled back to Trinidad and then on the road to Topes de Collantes National Park.

About 30 minutes into the Sierra de Escambray, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, we transferred to an old Russian troop transport truck for the bumpy journey to the park.

We stopped at the Visitors Center to meet our naturalist, Luis who would be with us for the day. While Claudia filled out the necessary park passes, we took advantage of the restrooms.

Luis showed us on the big map where we would be hiking today. The temperature was 72 degrees and the humidity was 73%.

Back in the big diesel truck, Ernesto, our driver, took us up into the jungle-like cloud forest. We got out of the vehicles at Colino Park, formerly a private farm; it was "transferred" to the government for a national park.

Luis was very knowledgeable about the park as his family farms land in the area. It was not long before he spotted a Cuban trogon and many other birds endemic to Cuba.

He also told us about the many native orchids, tree ferns, and insects that we saw. Under the forest canopy were many coffee plants. We would learn more about the Cuban production of coffee later in the afternoon.

We crawled into Altar Cave not only to see this very large but primitive dark cave, but also to see if we could find a screech owl sleeping before he began hunting during the night.

After our three hour hike, we came back to the former farm home, now a small bar and restaurant. We were offered a unique drink called a "Jincila" made of ginger tea, honey, citrus juice, ice and rum.

The traditional meal of roast pig, rice and beans, potatoes, salad, and fruit was served picnic style. We are getting to be pork connoisseurs as we are now comparing all of the preparations, seasonings, as well as the different flavors of the pork.

At 1:30 we left the park and drove down the mountain to visit a local coffee house. Luis told us about the difficulties in producing coffee with the outdated machinery they have to work with to get a good product.

We also visited a very small coffee museum and had a taste of a Cuban blend. At 2:30 we thanked the coffee experts and drove for only five minutes to the Museo de Arte Cubano, a modern art museum dedicated to original art work by famous Cuban artists.

When we had visited the two floors of the museum, we saw the photography display in honor of Trinidad's 500th anniversary. We felt like it was our own neighborhood as we had just walked those same streets yesterday.

After an hour at the gallery, we began our journey back to the coast and to our hotel. Arriving at 4:30, we went to the lobby to exchange money.

Because of the lack of economic partnerships with the USA, we brought Euros, which are highly valued because of the many European tourists, and give a better exchange rate. American credit cards do not work here so the cash one brings is the money one has.

Our dinner was at the hotel; we ate about 7:00 and then returned to our room to pack and get ready for an early morning departure.

Accommodations: CLUB AMIGO ANCÓN - - - Meal: B, L, D

Great pictures and journals so informative

Very interesting. Never thought they would not be up-to-date on how to make coffee machinery.

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Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.

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