Birdwatching Trip Holiday Package. Cuba Destination

Day 1. Occidental Miramar Hotel ****
On arrival, in Havana, we will be met by our local guide and driver. NO LUNCH INCLUDED. Check-in the elegant Occidental Miramar Hotel in the upscale embassy section of Havana. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner in hotel.

Day 2. La Guira National Park. Soroa Hotel ***
Breakfast in hotel. Pick off a Minivan rented in the Business center in front of our Hotel . Our Birdwatcher specialized English speaker tour guide will be the driver, also .Our destination for today is the Sierra del Rosario Mountains. Many species of orchids thrive in these warm, moist conditions. We will visit an Orchidarium, operated by the University of Pinar del Rio, to see some of these orchids in their natural surroundings. On the way we will stop at La Guira National Park where we will visit the ornamental gardens of the old Cortina estate. Here, Great Lizard Cuckoos scuttle along the branches, looking for lizards and tree frogs, in the beautiful park-like setting. This former estate has some standing colonial buildings, and its woodland trails echo with the cooing song of the beautiful Cuban Trogon. This is Cuba’s national bird, so chosen because it has all the colours of the Cuban flag in its plumage. We’ll also visit Cueva de los Portales. These limestone caves were the headquarters of Che Guevara during the Cuban missile crisis of the early 1960s. They have become somewhat of a national monument and are interesting from both a geological and an historical point of view. Lunch at Mirador de San Diego Hotel. Then we’ll continue to Soroa Hotel for over-night and dinner. After dinner we hope to do some stargazing in the wonderfully clear mountain air, as we watch for possible Stygian Owls hunting overhead..

Day 3 Sierra del Rosario. Soroa Hotel**** MAP
After breakfast, we will set off for the Reserva Sierra del Rosario, Cuba’s first Biosphere Reserve. Introduced forestry practices were so successful here that they became a model for similar forestry schemes in other parts of Cuba and the world. This is a very good area to listen to the haunting song of the Cuban Solitaire, a bird that is endemic to Cuba. After a hike along one of the many trails, we’ll have lunch in Cafetal Buena Vista. In the afternoon, we will visit the village of Las Terrazas, a model commune village. Our day will end with a visit to a restored 18th century coffee plantation, formerly owned by French coffee planters from Haiti, who fled to Cuba after the slave revolts. Return to Soroa. Dinner in hotel..

Day 4 Parque Natural Cienaga de Zapata. Playa Larga Hotel ** MAP
Breakfast in hotel. Today we’ll take the Autopista from Soroa to Playa Larga. Although this entails several hours driving we‘ll break up the journey with a number of stops. Our destination is the fabled Zapata Swamp. Our home for the next two nights will be at Playa Larga Hotel, on the Bay of Pigs. Stop en route at the National Botanical Garden to walk around the most interesting areas of the park. Then we will continue to Zapata. Lunch at National Botanical Garden with a guided birdwatching tour included( Ecorestaurante). Arrive to Cienaga de Zapata. Visit the national park’s interpretive centre and a rehabilitation and breeding centre for the rare and endangered Cuban Parrot. Dinner in hotel..

Day 5 and 6. Hotel Playa Larga *** HB
We will spend several days exploring the various habitats that comprise the new national park. One day will be devoted to Cienaga de Zapata, where a small population of the local Zapata Wren will draw us out into the muddy marsh. We will try for Zapata Rail in this area, also, although this is, after all, a rail, and one would be lucky to actually see it. Spotted Rail and Yellow-breasted Crake are here, as well, and the western race of Zapata Sparrow. Besides the wetlands, the park also encompasses many forest areas, including Soplillar where we will look for Bee Hummingbird, Key West and Blue-headed Quail-Doves, and hopefully Gundlach’s Hawk. The area surrounding Bermejas will be our best site for Gray-headed Quail-Dove and Fernandina’s Flicker. Stygian Owl and Cuban(Greater Antillean) Nightjar are the possible rewards of an evening stroll. Nights at Playa Larga . Lunch and Dinner at Hotel Playa LARGA