my trip to cuba :: part 2

endangered polimita only found in this region • view of the bay at the park entrance • roosters on our walk
After a busy first few days in Baracoa, we still had several things to do before flying to Havana. On the first Saturday morning, we piled into a jeep and headed to the nearby Alejandro de Humboldt National Park, a UNESCO site dedicated to the unmatched diversity of ecosystems and species.

view on our drive • seaside ruins • shells of houses
Before reaching the entrance to the preserve, we stopped at a small village on the ocean, that was completely destroyed by the hurricane. At first I couldn't even tell that it used to be a village at all, as it was mainly flat ground. There were a few foundations left from old structures, and about 3 shells of what used to be simple wooden homes. Most of the villagers are being housed in the concrete school house several hundred yards away from the shore. The last container we shipped to Cuba contained new mattresses for all the families.

working with the children
At the park we met with several of the directors there who will be working with the group on the next environmental book release. Also, another member of our group (a former science teacher) brought small microscopes to donate to the park, and we worked with a group of children in the park in learning to use them. The park is so beautiful and it sits on a gorgeous bay, which we admired as we ate cucurucho (a local snack made of honey, coconut, and fruit all mashed into a cone shaped container made of palm leaves), and drank coconut milk straight from the fruit.

cucurucho • beach where we stopped for lunch • park workers relaxing
That evening, the staff at our hotel gave us a lovely farewell party and we packed for the scenic flight to Havana the next morning. Even though the flight wasn't too long, the day was almost completely gone by the time we sat at the airports, retrieved everyone's luggage, took taxis to the next hotel, and all got ready for dinner. We ate at a restaurant with a flamenco dancing show, which was pretty entertaining.

Museum of the Revolution • communist card on display • interior
The first morning in Havana, I decided to get a bit edu-ma-cated about Cuba's history at the Museum of the Revolution, which is housed in the old Presidential Palace. It ended up to be a very good first-stop, as I did learn quite a lot and easily could have spent a few more hours looking through everything...towards the end, though, I started to wander a bit, and ended up all alone in Fidel's former ballroom. Kinda weird.

in the old ballroom • view from a window • artist I met
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped in front of an open window to peek in at some super colorful paintings, when the artist saw me being nosey and invited me in. The interior was filled with his pieces, and it was interesting talking to him (in a mixture of my bad Spanish, his bad English, and a little Italian to fill in the gaps) about his work. I continued on my way, past the clash of crumbling homes next to beautifully restored palaces.

buildings in Havana
Cuba in general, but Havana in particular for me was so visually interesting. As soon as we exited the airport on the first day, it was like a time warp...tons of 50s classic cars mixed with horse buggies, and ox-pulled carts. The colors everywhere were amazing, from the colorful Buicks, Cadillacs, and Chevys, to the pastel buildings, lush tropical landscape, and crazy murals. I met a handful of professional photographers milling about Havana's streets snapping away at the convergence of visual contradictions.

cars in cuba
And this was only the first day in this beautiful city...a full week was still to come...