Cuba Tour 2014

[PalmatierMeg]

PalmatierMeg & husband Tim the Darwinian Gardener joined 30+ other palm lovers who invaded Holguin, Cuba on 5-31-14. The day started at 3:30 a.m. in Miami when we left the Marriott for the Miami International Airport. We arrived two minutes before our 5 a.m. gathering time in a distant terminal from which poorly identified jets departed for Cuba (with which the US has had no relationship since 1960). We joined over 100 Cuban ex-pats going back with huge shrink-wrapped valises loaded with stuff unavailable to their relatives in their homeland. I wondered if our jet could carry all those tons of luggage and people. But it did.

Thus began the journey of a lifetime. But I'm going to post my many photos according to day taken - to the best of my ability. This topic is devoted to palms & plants. I will post a topic devoted to people & places in Ohana Nui later.

Friday, May 31, 2014

We arrived about 9 a.m. at the "International" Airport in Holguin, Cuba in the N/NE part of the country. We didn't realize it but we were about to step back decades into the past. First, we had to convert all our foreign currency into Cuba's pretty much worthless-outside-its-borders "CUCs". As Cuba refuses to recognize the US (& vice versa), they charge a non-refundable fee of 20% for dollars. But Tim & I were forewarned and exchanged our $ for euros (only 8% fee) before we left the US. Our first shock: restrooms had no toilet seats, no TP, no paper towels or working hand dryers.

Our jet and the Holguin International Airport

At the airport we were met by our guides and a bus (made in China, which made it the butt of many jokes by the guides). Despite the snide remarks, it carried us through some wicked unpaved roads over steep hills.

So, we set off through Holguin (a town but also a province). And soon we were swooning over palms and landscapes. I couldn't keep up with all the species in my notebook so some of my IDs will be questionable. Feel free to correct me.

The hills in Holguin

Copernicia sp (yarey?)

Copernicia yarey (?) I think

[PalmatierMeg]

Holguin, Cuba: May 31, 2014 continued

These fascinating trees grew all over but are poisonous, as are many plants in Cuba. What are they?

Coccothrinax litoralis (?) I think

C. litoralis (?) & PalmatierMeg

Juvenile Acrocomia crispa (nee Gastrococos)

We had lunch at this government-owned restaurant. Menu: Salty ham & tasteless cheese on stale white bread, tasteless cheese on same bread, salty ham etc., spaghetti (overcooked spaghetti noodles over 1-2 tbsp. canned tomato sauce) & I forget what else. Contrary to what we expected, Cuban cuisine for the masses is devoid of all spice except salt. One drink (bottled water, a soda or beer). Which reminds me: tap water in Cuba is too dangerous for foreigners to drink. Bottled water, beer, soda, wine, cocktails cost pretty much the same. Tim & I spent more cucs on bottled water than on anything else. And we learned to appreciate warm bottled water.

[PalmatierMeg]

Holguin to Moa, Cuba: 5-31-14

We saw many Roystonea regia in Holguin and all over Cuba.

After our insipid lunch we climbed aboard the bus and continued on to the tiny province of Moa on the northeast coast. It is known for its serpentine soil loaded with toxic metals like nickel. Moa is otherworldly with its starkly beautiful landscapes and specialized plants. We drove higher & higher into the hills of Moa on steep unpaved roads. Our driver Omar was a wonder. Finally, we reached a park named Salto del Guayabo in steady rain.

Landscape around Salto del Guayabo

We walked down a steep, muddy red clay road to the entrance of the park. There we found almost a cloud forest of palms and ferns - and a fantastic waterfall across a valley. Some people ventured down a steep, wooden staircase to the valley below but I didn't want to risk a fall. But I got great photos from my location.

Tree fern

[PalmatierMeg]

Holguin to Moa, Cuba: 5-31-14

We saw many Roystonea regia in Holguin and all over Cuba.

After our insipid lunch we climbed aboard the bus and continued on to the tiny province of Moa on the northeast coast. It is known for its serpentine soil loaded with toxic metals like nickel. Moa is otherworldly with its starkly beautiful landscapes and specialized plants. We drove higher & higher into the hills of Moa on steep unpaved roads. Our driver Omar was a wonder. Finally, we reached a park named Salto del Guayabo in steady rain.

Landscape around Salto del Guayabo

We walked down a steep, muddy red clay road to the entrance of the park. There we found almost a cloud forest of palms and ferns - and a fantastic waterfall across a valley. Some people ventured down a steep, wooden staircase to the valley below but I didn't want to risk a fall. But I got great photos from my location.

Tree fern

Steep waterfall

Bactris militaris

Will finish up our first day (very long) in tomorrow's post.

[Cindy Adair]

Great posts Meg! I've barely starting sorting photos due to work demands, but am certainly enjoying yours!

[Peter Pacific]

Hi Meg, I love your Cuban post and will look for more! The palms are beautiful and I especially like the Acrocomia crispa (mine are a little larger than your juveniles in post #2). I will be in Florida soon maybe we can visit? I would love to hear of your adventure.

Peter

[avanza]

Thank you very much

Edited June 11, 2014 by avanza

[Alberto]

Tell us more! ;-)

[PalmatierMeg]

Holguin to Moa, 5-31-14 resumed

My husband also took photos of Salto del Guayabo. On the trip he concentrated on plants other than palms and "man on the street" photos.

[PalmatierMeg]

Holguin to Moa, 5-31-14 resumed

We hiked back up the red clay muddy slope in the rain and boarded the bus. We drove down into the valley we'd seen from the park and around a huge lake, then back up into the hills of Moa. The trip took 1-1/2 hours over mostly dirt roads. On a side note most of the roads in rural Cuba are unpaved. Even when paved, even major roads are usually pitted, 2-lanes and shared with trucks, buses, pedicabs, horse- and ox-carts, occasional cars, pedestrians and assorted barnyard animals. Speed limits soar to 40-45 mph. Going anywhere takes many hours, perhaps days.

We hiked back up the red clay muddy slope in the rain and boarded the bus. We drove down into the valley we'd seen from the park and around a huge lake, then back up into the hills of Moa. The trip took 1-1/2 hours over mostly dirt roads. On a side note most of the roads in rural Cuba are unpaved. Even when paved, even major roads are usually pitted, 2-lanes and shared with trucks, buses, pedicabs, horse- and ox-carts, occasional cars, pedestrians and assorted barnyard animals. Speed limits soar to 40-45 mph. Going anywhere takes many hours, perhaps days.

We headed up into the La Mensura National Park in the Nipe-Cristal mountains to stay the night in Villa Pinares de Mayara, a rustic government-owned lodge & "log cabins". Some of us got off the bus at a fork in the road to hike with our Cuban plant expert Raoul to find Coccothrinax orientalis (after many hours on the bus we needed some exercise) while others road up to the lodge to check in. Raoul told us our hike would be 1km, then back. But we began to realize that Cubans' concepts of time & distance did not correlate with ours. The 1km hike over a muddy, eroded dirt road was more like 3-4km. And dusk was falling. Raoul decided to call off the expedition and opt for a Sunday stop the next morning. We trudged back toward the lodge.

I managed to get this photo of a large Tillandsia

At the lodge we got the key to our cabin in the woods. I could not see well enough to take photos so I hope someone else posts some. What can I say about our lodging? US PalmTalkers who have seen the "Captain Obvious" commercials for Hotels.com may recall the most recent ad where a family finds itself inside a block dungeon ("the finger on the floor is unsettling") know what I mean. Except our unit was built of faux logs painted chocolate brown throughout. We had two bedrooms with two twin beds each, a tinier sitting room with two chairs, a fridge and an old portable tv on a stand, and a bathroom with no washcloths (Cuban hotels don't believe in washcloths), two threadbare green towels and a shower I was almost afraid to use. Each room had 1 25 watt cfl bulb. We had to use flashlights to look inside our suitcases. The floors were laid with some kind of dark brown tile or terrazzo covered with spots - like a disease. The tv got 4-5 channels, most with Cuban government "documentary/indoctrination" programs and a Spanish MTV type video channel that flashed (literally) back to the 90s. I almost got a grand mal seizure looking at it but I know where Miley Cyrus got her moves.

We trekked down to the lodge for a buffet dinner - I think our group were the only people staying there but it is off-season in Cuba. I was so exhausted I can't remember what was there. Well, yes, salty ham, tasteless cheese, stale white bread (no whole grain bread ever)........ some cafeteria-type entrees, fresh guava & pineapple. No fresh vegetables except boiled yucca. No spices - even black pepper - just salt. One drink included (bottled water for us), extras at 1 cuc each. Fresh coffee but no decaf (Cubans don't drink decaf or tea).

After dinner we headed uphill to our little cabin in the woods. It had no a/c but the night air there was so refreshing a/c wasn't needed. I tried to imagine my youth when sleeping in a musty cabin was an exciting experience. But I vowed I would not step one bare foot on any floor and fetched my flip-flops. I wore them when I tried to shower under a trickle of water (the shower leaked all over the bathroom floor). I wore them until I got into bed and tried to ignore the threadbare linens. We slept in the front bedroom and left our luggage in the back bedroom, where we could hear every time the tenant next door flushed his toilet, coughed or changed tv channels.

We slept very well that night in the woods - here's to camping. But we had to rise at 6:30 pack up, get down to a buffet breakfast before departure at 8. Breakfast was - guess - salty ham, tasteless cheese, stale white bread (but with real butter), assorted fruit, undercooked scrambled eggs, unknown lunch eat, raw bacon (really). Cuban reastaurants invariably undercook eggs, bacon, french fries but overcook meat, fish and noodles. Tim & I choked down some scrambled eggs, pineapple and bread, but gave meats a wide berth.

The morning at this mountain chalet was gloriously calm and cool. I almost hated to descend into the hot, dry valley below. But palms awaited!

[PalmatierMeg]

Travels through Moa 6-1-14

Our bus headed out in a brief detour to find the palms we'd looked for the night before. We found Coccothrinax litoralis in the woods on both sides of the road

Coccothrinax occidentalis

[PalmatierMeg]

Travels through Moa 6-1-14

The photo posting feature keeps locking up on me. GRRRR

Coccothrinax occidentalis

[PalmatierMeg]

Coccothrinax occidentalis in Moa 6-1-14

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel through Moa 6-1-14

After seeing Coccothrinax occidentalis, we continued down into a lower altitude of Moa. We pulled off the road by an innocuous looking hill, disembarked and headed off into the brush to find scores of Coccothrinax moaensis. I was wearing cords, long sleeved shirt and hat to protect against many thorny, poisonous bushes but, somehow one of them found a way through my defenses and triggered an allergic reaction that hampered me the rest of the trip. Still, I wouldn't have missed these palms for anything.

Coccothrinax moaensis

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel through Moa 6-1-14

After seeing the Coccothrinax moaensis, we moved on to the most spectacular find yet: stunning Copernicia rigida!

We had to wade through what looked like an abandoned hobo camp and dump before we came to a colony of these fantastic palms. We all wanted one. Even husband Tim, not a palmophile, wants to get one. This palm looks like a giant blue shaving brush. Its leaves point straight toward heaven. Just spectacular!

Copernicia rigida

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel through Moa 6-1-14

Tim & I pose with Copernicia rigida for scale

We moved on again to another site I call "Valley of the Copernicias." Our bus pulled over a while later and we all piled out on the road shoulder on a rocky cliff populated with large spiny bromeliads above the valley. As far as we could see were Copernicias: rigida, hospita (I think) and many hybrids. Wow!

On the side of the road were several juvenile Copernicia sp

Valley of the Copernicias

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel through Moa 6-1-14

Valley of the Copernicias cont'd

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel through Moa back to Holguin 6-1-14

We turned west and headed back into Holguin to the Villa Mirador de Mayabe Hotel (government owned) where we had eaten lunch the previous day. The lobby was a playful wonderland of carved wooden furniture and tables. Our room was several steps up from campground chic but was still lit by 25 watt bulbs. But it was beautifully landscaped with tropical plants and atop a hill with a view of surrounding Holguin. The buffet dinner was typical fare-for-the-masses: over- and undercooked dishes of indeterminate ingredients, some fresh fruit, no fresh vegetables except for unripe tomatoes and wafer slices of cucumber, no seasonings, ham, cheese, white bread & butter, one drink included.

Our room did have TP (but we brought our own), minimal shower pressure, two towels and a toilet seat, which is more than can be said for the ladies' room in the hotel lobby. The tv had a few more channels, including CNN broadcasting from the UK (no American newscasters permitted).

[PalmatierMeg]

Villa Mirador de Mayabe Hotel 6-1-14

[Explorer]

Looks to be a nice trip. I have been to those areas to. The blue Copernicia rigida I have also seen. About food in Cuba, you should go to private restaurants andcasa particulares. Well I did that. Often I had langosta on the menue. With a local bear a good meal.

And Cuba is much cleaner then lets say India...

Alexander

[MASOALA JASON]

Great photos of Holguin province. On my next trip there I want to travel along the northeastern coast. I agree with Explorer. I stayed with families the entire time and had amazing food. The bathroom situation is great in Cuba compared to Asia, Africa and the Middle East but I do enjoy good bathroom travel stories, so thanks for the laughs.

[Kim]

I'm really enjoying the photos and commentary, great stuff! More to come, I hope? There is something just so amazing about seeing palms in habitat.

[Peter Pacific]

Meg, you have me in stitches! Living in Latin America for so long nothing surprises me but Explorer and Masoala Jason are right, though. Cuban food is great but you need to eat in private homes where the people are more than accommodating. You and Tim had a fantastic trip that you'll never forget and I'm sure you'll never look at that Cuban section of your garden the same way again!

Peter

[bgl]

Meg,

I'm eagerly looking forward to each new instalment! Outstanding commentary and great photos, and this was clearly a very different travel experience! More to come, I'm sure...

Bo-Göran

[Walter John]

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks, All, for the kind remarks. For readers who are not US citizens, let me just say (without getting political) that US citizens do not have the option of pulling a visa and hopping a plane to Cuba. Nor is it advisable for US citizens to travel alone, rent vehicles (if we are even allowed to), do or say anything that rings of "Ugly Americans" as we tromp through their country. As far as the Cuban gov't is concerned, the US is the unacknowledged 800 lb gorilla in the room. The US gov't is also a big part of the problem but I'll say no more about that. The only way I could hope to see any part of Cuba was going on a group tour and FK Tree Institute managed the arrangements masterfully IMO. The tour was guided by able men who are also employees of the Cuban gov't. They had the sometimes unenviable job of herding and keeping track of 30+ foreigners (mostly Americans). Invariably, someone(s) managed to wander off on their own. But there was no chance that members of our group could be put up in private homes or eat every meal in privately owned restaurants, esp. outside large cities or resorts for wealthy Cubans and foreign travelers of means.

Even if I sound like I'm complaining, I still welcomed the chance to eat and sleep at places that wealthy Cubans and well-heeled travelers turn up their noses at. I got to travel to areas and see things that reflect the lives of the citizens that make up 80% of the citizens of this lovely island. I have a feeling few urban Cubans or visitors bother to venture outside cities & resorts to really look at the rest of the country. Doing that might not have been foremost in my mind either, except that's where the palms are.

[Cindy Adair]

I'm still enjoying this travelogue instead of going through my many photos.... I'm waiting for bad weather plus time off from work to coincide.

However, I actually found the hotels somewhat quirky, but charming (perhaps I got lucky with my rooms) and didn't even mind the many cheese sandwiches since that's my regular take to work lunch in Virginia! It could have been the great company with almost no electronics plus the amazing flora and fauna and architecture (plus frequent surprises) that will remain in my memory forever.

I'm fine with the F word as our fearless Cuban leader described it ( meaning flexible) and would return if it were feasible to see the Botanical Garden and the Orchid collection, etc. etc.

I look forward to more, Meg!

[Central Floridave]

Love the thread, photos, and commentary!

Cuba is so close yet so far away...

[PalmatierMeg]

Travel to Camaguey 6-2-14

We left Holguin & Moa behind and headed west toward the medeival city of Camaguey in central Cuba. On the way we stopped at a farm that held a trove of Copernicia baileyana. From what I understand, the Cuba gov't, at Raoul Castro's orders (after Fidel retired) lets some Cuban farmers private access to their land as long as they continue to work that land and pay the gov't a large % of their earnings. If they stop working their land, the gov't takes it back. The family working this land harvest fronds of their scores of Copernicias for use as roof thatching as well as doing subsistence farming. Our guides presented the senior lady of the family (Emelia) with some of the charitable donations our group brought to Cuba. She graciously allowed us to tour her Copernicia grove, which was spectacular - a forest of monster C. baileyanas with Acrocomia crispa thrown in.

On our travels, we passed fields of bananas. Roadside stands sold them in bunches but (to date) no restaurant offered them at meals. Very strange.

Copernicia baileyana at Emelia's farm

[PalmatierMeg]

More Copernicia baileyana

[PalmatierMeg]

More Copernicia baileyana

We traveled further west along Cuba's savannah and stopped to see many Copernicia hybrids.

[avanza]

very very nice tour Meg.

Thank you very much

[PalmatierMeg]

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Las Tunas (menu: salty ham, tasteless cheese......yadda, yadda). However, we discovered a freezer that sold Nestles ice cream at a great price (Nestles is a Swiss company, so its products have a monopoly on ice cream sales - no US products welcome. Coke comes from Mexico; Tim said it tasted awful). This gov't restaurant's ladies' room had no toilet seats, no TP, stall doors that did not close/lock and, if I remember rightly, no working faucets although hand blower did work - or maybe the opposite scenario. The toilets would not flush unless you filled a bucket at a faucet in the hallway and flushed manually. This is also the place where a glowering restroom attendant watched the patrons haul water, then demanded a tip for doing nothing.

After lunch we traveled to the Las Tunas Botanical Garden where our horticultural guide Rauol works hard at restoring it. A rainstorm moved in so we dodged raindrops and dark clouds.

Rauol specializes in succulents but is knowledgeable in many plants. I started my visit in his succulent nursery.

[PalmatierMeg]

Las Tunas Botanical Garden, 6-2-14

When the rain came we moved into the shadehouse

Amorphallus sp

Licuala sp (any ideas?)

Pinanga sp

[PalmatierMeg]

The rain let up a bit so we could go out into the main garden.

Thrinax sp

Unknown

Sausage tree

Copernicia macroglossa

Hemithrinax ekmanii

Unknown blue fan palm (Coccothrinax Azul?)

Agave bed

[PalmatierMeg]

Las Tunas BG

Resident herd of goats

Founder

[realarch]

Outstanding Cuba diary Meg! Quite a gift for writing commentary I might add.

In spite the lack of conveniences, it sounds like a great trip and we appreciate you sharing

your travels with us.

It was also a pleasure meeting you and Tim while in Miami and enjoyed having the opportunity to chat about this and that.

The 'other'

Tim

[Explorer]

Great photos of Holguin province. On my next trip there I want to travel along the northeastern coast. I agree with Explorer. I stayed with families the entire time and had amazing food. The bathroom situation is great in Cuba compared to Asia, Africa and the Middle East but I do enjoy good bathroom travel stories, so thanks for the laughs.

You should go to the most easterly point also where you can see plenty Roystonea violacea growing just along the road to Maisi. That would be a very good palm for people in tropical and near tropical/subtropical to grow! I had collected seeds there but they did not germinate. The trunk is more or less violet, especially when wet after rain.

Alexander

[Explorer]

Some pictures of Roystonea violacea can be seen here. I made them in 2011.

Roystonea violacea in Eastern Cuba

Alexander

[PalmatierMeg]

Great photos of Holguin province. On my next trip there I want to travel along the northeastern coast. I agree with Explorer. I stayed with families the entire time and had amazing food. The bathroom situation is great in Cuba compared to Asia, Africa and the Middle East but I do enjoy good bathroom travel stories, so thanks for the laughs.

You should go to the most easterly point also where you can see plenty Roystonea violacea growing just along the road to Maisi. That would be a very good palm for people in tropical and near tropical/subtropical to grow! I had collected seeds there but they did not germinate. The trunk is more or less violet, especially when wet after rain.

Alexander

I asked if we would see R. violacea but, alas, we weren't going that far east - only so much time and too many palms. I also got the feeling - maybe incorrectly - that authorities didn't want us mostly Americans clodhopping around that area or too near Guantanamo.