Back home feeling a little jet lagged!
Most of this blog is about Cuba. There is a Story Telling footnote at the end but a proper Story Telling Blog later this week. So if you don’t want to hear about Cuba and our mini birding trip stop reading now!
We went on a tour called Hemingway’s Cuba which included in keeping with the man quite a bit of consummation of Rum especially in the legendary Mojitos (Cubans do add liberal doses of Rum to their cocktails). I thoroughly enjoyed travelling about Cuba and touching recent History. The Guevara museum and Che’s sculpture I found particularly interesting. The country is in a state of flux with the impending changes in allowing Americans to visit legally. The country’s infrastructure is not ready and already under strain from the developing tourist industry. Towns like Santa Clara, Cienfuego, Trinidad all had their attractions. Havana’s faded colonial charm was appealing but the traffic was often choked and the diesel fumes ever-present. I can certainly understand why Graham Greene’s famous novel was set here!
The political system is gradually changing particularly because of the impact of tourism and as a result there are many contradictions resulting. The rationing system was fascinating, the two currency’s confusing! Getting hold of money often needs planning around bank opening hours, ATMs are few. Petrol stations are also scattered so if driving you need to watch your fuel gauge as well as the numerous horse and carts and the many cyclists carrying things. The impact of the revolution is positive in the way literacy improved and of course its outstanding health system which sees Cubans leading the fight in the world against many of the diseases. However it restricts innovation particularly for ordinary Cubans engaging outside the country e.g. the internet is not accessible in homes-the embargo has held back the country’s development significantly.
At the end of the tour we did four days birding with our wonderful guide Tania and briefly Ernesto. We saw 99 species with them so with birds seen earlier in the trip well over 100! So many highlights. The smallest bird in the world the Bee Hummingbird was something special. The colours and the sounds will stay with me for a long time. I will keep mentioning some of the birds in future blogs but we couldn’t believe the close views we had of the beautiful Cuban Tody and the Cuban Trogon. A bit more on the birds in my next couple of blogs.
Finally changing the subject a busy time coming up on the Story Telling front with a full week next week and a busy March. so much so I have had to turn down several gigs because of clashes. More later this week!