Birdwatching Tour Cuba | Cuba Birdwatching | Cuban Birds

March 14th to March 23rd, 2010

Review by V. Dobson

"Shelagh Beattie and I travelled to Cuba joining the Sprachcaffe birdwatching tour for a mid-winter break and to see the countryside away from the major tourist resorts. We were met at the airport by Alexis Lopez, our guide, and Andrés our minivan driver.

All the accommodation was in comfortable and clean two- and three-star grade hotels. The meals were generous and always included salad and provided choices for the main course. We were happy that Alexis and Andrés kept us company at meal times when we were outside of Havana. They were always friendly, amusing and good companions throughout our stay. They were very punctual when a time was set and the Kia minivan was clean and sound mechanically.

Alexis’ English is excellent and he was able to add a lot to the enjoyment of our stay with his historical, geographical and political explanations about the country. His knowledge of birds is prodigious and we learned a lot. We also had the services of some local birding guides who joined us for specific areas. Once again they were friendly and helpful being at great pains to ensure that we could see the birds that they had spotted.

The Hotel Soroa has beautiful grounds and is adjacent to an orchid garden which we enjoyed visiting. The pools at Hotel Mirador San Diego and at Hotel Soroa were a delightful bonus. The pool at Hotel Giron had not been maintained recently and the water was rife with algae. While there is a beach with a protective barrier providing an area for swimmers, the area around the pool would be the preferred lounging area but was not attractive in the circumstances. The Hotel Playa Larga might have been a better choice than the Hotel Giron for that part of the trip being closer to the Zapata Swamp.

On our first day in Havana we took advantage of the central position of the hotel to explore the area. We were delighted to find an “island” of dancers on Paseo del Prado dancing the tango, and doing it extremely well.

We visited the Bay of Pigs Museum while we were staying in the Hotel Giron.

The final night in Havana had the added cachet of being the Ernest Hemingway “hangout” and is a charming hotel.

We were initially disconcerted to find that the “group of birdwatchers” was only the two of us – particularly since neither Shelagh nor I are experienced birdwatchers. However our lack of knowledge was never an issue. Overall we enjoyed the trip enormously and were very sad when it was over."