We all climbed onto the bus at 6 AM, having consumed the bananas we had been told to pick up at dinner last night as the hotel couldn’t provide breakfast that early again. We drove a short distance to Cueva de Javali, a tourist site with a cave. The owners have dripping water and put out seed to attract the doves. Jon said that last year before the hurricane the vegetation was lush but now it’s very straggly and sparse. But the Key-West Quail-Doves, that we were looking for, appeared along with Zenaida and Common Ground Doves, so at least some of them have come back.
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| Key West Quail-dove |
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| Cuban Tody - just like a plush toy! |
We returned to our hotel for the big breakfast spread and had omelets, fruit, cheeses and guava juice. We then left again for the local beach, Playa Coco, and checked out the shorebirds which were continually being disturbed by joggers coming upon them.
The ocean was spectacular with ribbons of deep blue, turquoise, and surf. There were several kite surfers sliding back and forth through the water. A beautiful scene.
The bus took us back to Sol Cayo Coco at 11:30 so we could put our luggage outside our rooms for staff to transfer to the lobby. Most of us returned the the lobby bar for our last free drinks!! Bob and I had Piña Coladas and the others quite amazed me by having several!! At 12:30 some of us went in to the dining area for lunch, but as we had recently had breakfast and cocktails we weren’t too hungry!!
At 1:15 we had our blue bracelets cut off - meaning that all our freebies were cut off from us as well! We set off on the bus on the long ride to the third largest city of Cuba - Camagüey, founded in 1514 and located in the interior of the country as a protection from pirates.
We passed through farm land collectives, sugar cane fields, and small villages. The universal poverty was pretty shocking, but everyone seems to be living at the same level. When we finally arrived in Camagüey, Arturo, our bus driver had to navigate through its narrow streets which he did amazingly well. There wasn’t much traffic, mainly bikes and horse carts, but still it was tough maneuvering through the cobble stone alleys. We finally arrived at a small square full of pretty historic-looking hotels. They are all run by the same government people; we were scattered through three hotels.
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| Courtyard of our Hotel Avellanada |
Bob and I are in Hotel Avellanada, a one-story hotel of rooms with high ceilings and a beautiful courtyard. We had only a few minutes to dump our bags and then head to the Hotel Santa Maria where we did the List in the open air courtyard with Cuba Libres. We then headed up to the fifth floor for dinner. The buffet was mediocre, but the room had a beautiful stained glass window and a pleasant band. Jon arranged for breakfast at 6 AM tomorrow for our last day of birding.
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| Evening in Camagüey |
The ocean was spectacular with ribbons of deep blue, turquoise, and surf. There were several kite surfers sliding back and forth through the water. A beautiful scene.
