Treasures of Trinidad, Trinidad, Cuba

To continue with the Valentine’s Day theme from last night, our hosts’ two-year old son picked some flowers in the courtyard and proudly presented them to me at breakfast…so cute! We enjoyed our breakfast on the veranda outside our room which was decorated in pottery. The house was home to grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, and their little one. Our room may have been the largest we’ve stay in on the trip thus far. It included to queen size beds, a large wardrobe with many hangers, coat hooks, and even Cuban shampoo and shower gel, not to mention cups wrapped in plastic like a US hotel.

Our tour began at 8 am again. This time we headed to a national park called El Cubano in the mountains of Escambay. We got to spend close three hours here, and I loved every minute. I was missing my nature fix. We hiked along the trail Huellas de la Historia to a lovely waterfall. I only wish I had my swim suit so I could jump in the cold, clear pool of water and swim in the caves!

Instead, we relaxed on the limestone rocks which somehow still felt tranquil to me despite sharing the area with a few other tour groups. The path we followed was overran undulating terrain. Sometimes the forest blocked the breeze just enough to make it a little warm and muggy, but for the most part, we enjoyed a nice breeze as we followed the creek, inspected the world’s largest wasp colony, and spent some time bird watching. I was so happy to see the national bird of Cuba, the Cuban Trogan. It donned the colors of the Cuban flag; red, white, and blue! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).