Cuba - Excursions Outside Havana

Our Road Scholar group took excursions outside Havana to visit three different sites. In the first one, we travelled about 90 minutes west to a nature reserve and eco-lodge called Las Terrazas (The Terraces). On the second and third, we travelled east from Havana to visit a memorial to Ernest Hemingway, then to an Educational Facility for children.

Las Terrazas was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1985. It consists of a settlement planted on previously deforested hills in which terraces were built to prevent erosion. Tourists visit and stay at Las Terrazas as a natural habitat, rich in flora, animals, and birds. Approximately 1,000 Cubans live in the settlement, and the local economy is based on tourism as well as the production of fruit and coffee.

When we arrived at the heart of this large Park, we quickly saw that it was built on sloped land that had been terraced several decades ago.

A local guide gave us an illustrated lecture on how the previously deforested land had been terraced and settled.

The attraction to tourists quickly became visible

As is often the case in Cuba, we were treated to refreshments and some local music.

Che Guevara tee-shirts and pennants were available for purchase.

Lana took pictures of some Road Scholars.

We visited the elementary school built on the terraces in the settlement.

The flora and birds were beautiful.

This is my favourite photo in this post.

The bird is a Cuban Woodpecker, busily pecking within a few metres of our group.

This man is making paper as part of the production of artwork done by local inhabitants.

Some of the scenes in the terraces were lovely, including the laundry scene below this observation deck.

Nearby we also saw a cable run which tourists ride from a high terrace to a lower one.

On another day, we drove east from Havana to a small port. The harbourmaster at this port, we were advised, served as the inspiration for the character Santiago in Hemingway's acclaimed novel The Old Man and the Sea. We visited the memorial to Hemingway here, and watched while it received a fresh coat of paint.

This is the nearby bar that Ernest Hemingway frequented.

This view looks North onto the Atlantic Ocean. Perhaps this is the scene of the novel.

From the Hemingway Memorial, we drove inland to have lunch and to visit the educational facility for children. At lunchtime, I caught these men thatching a roof.

In the garden, Jarvis is enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.

At the school, both Lana and I were impressed by this boy's facility with the English language.

These schoolgirls seemed happy to see us.