Sunday April 21st and Monday April 22nd, 2019 - The Last of Humboldt and Gibara

We were sad to say farewell to our local guide, but he had arranged for us to meet another

guide in the Humboldt Park for our walk today. We had been told that this walk included crossing 5 rivers, which sounded as if is could get a bit wet, so when the word 'ox-cart' was mentioned, we opted for this solution to save us sitting in wet clothes for our drive to Gibara.

First, our driver needed his morning coffee, so we pulled in here.

He decided he didn't like my company, so he headed up to hide behind the mirror!

Always one to use the bathroom on a stop, I found this little guy in the sink

We discovered part of the reason for Baracoa's isolation as we drove north. It was  the 68 kilometers of unsealed road we had to negotiate - not only unsealed, but at times quite treacherously rocky and bumpy. I joked with our driver that I was now going to call him 'The Dodger', as he had dodged so many horse-drawn carts, people, bicycles, cars, trucks, dogs, oxen, and chickens. Now he was dodging rocks, mud and ruts!

Our driver was also a 'finder'. He suddenly pulled over in the middle of nowhere, having seen a person on the side of the road. As we pulled over, the man held up a sign with our guide's name! I was most impressed. It was our local guide for the walk. I had no idea where he appeared from, but there he was!

The view from the start of our walk was pretty nice.

Humboldt was designated World Heritage by UNESCO for its biological diversity. I had also read that there was karst topography here, but my research had not dug deep. I really had no idea what to expect on this ramble we were setting out on.

At first, the path was wide and badly eroded. The trees and logs were an attempt to repair the damage

Pineapples were wild here - they originated in Brazil and Paraguay

This palm provided a matting that was useful for many things

The path narrowed and it became quite jungly, as you see. All of a sudden, our guide disappeared into the jungle and began digging in the soil. I had no idea what he was looking for!

It turned out to be Monte iberia eleuth, the smallest frog in the Northern Hemisphere, measuring less than half an inch from snout to bottom.
What a treat to see him up close and personal!

We were told this leaf was used as a 'slate' in school to teach writing

We saw beautiful orchids

As we wandered through this lovely wildness, I just couldn't figure out how were were going to meet up with an ox-cart. The mysteries of bush communication eluded me!

There were some parts of the trail that were pretty demanding, but thankfully they were brief!

Then all of a sudden, lo and behold.......

Here was our campesino..........

.............and his lovely ox 'Diamante'

But first, a quick lesson on squeezing cane juice out of the sugar cane in the middle of the woods (I told you this was a place always full of surprises!)

One just needs a tree trunk and a lever........

......add a stick of sugar cane and press away! YUM!

But now to the serious business of getting across these rivers.

First, we had to get a picture with our rescuers!..........

........then away we go!

It was a bumpy ride, swayed a lot, but Diamante was steady, strong and smart. Even before we got anywhere near her, a quiet command from her driver had her backing up the cart and turning around on her own recognizance. I was impressed.  Pulling us through the water and over the rocks took effort for her - after her first river she lifted her tail (which as you see was pretty close to us) and relieved herself in a very healthy manner! I'm sure there are animal rights people who would question our decision to travel at her expense, but her work was part of an age old tradition, which is still serving this part of the world today. It does not exist solely for the benefit of tourists.

El Tocororo

Our guide was constantly vigilant for the sounds of the jungle. Happily, as there are no snakes or dangerous animals here, it was to listen for what may be nearby. Even though we were hauling along on Diamante's ride, he called for us to stop all of a sudden. He had heard the tocororo, which I had met once before, but had not been successful in getting a photo. This is Cuba's national bird - the coloring of red, white and blue matches their flag. I was so pleased to get such a good sighting before leaving.

Following our successful river crossings, we arrived at a little area where we were able to finish up with a short swim. It was near a campesino's bohio, so we changed in the 'greens'. As we leaving we were walking past the house and saw a table by the side of the path.

What on earth!

Sure enough, it was the campesino Starbucks!

Mmmmm.....what a delicious way to leave this place of so many surprises!

And so, sadly, the world of little snails and frogs, of horses and oxen was to be left behind. We drove the bumpy rest of the road to Moa, which was industrial and dirty due to a nickel/cobalt mine.

 We then  skirted through the edges of Holguin, where we noticed this biker  (below) being towed by a red car. You can see the yellow tow rope. This little scenario fit perfectly with the elements of surviving in this place. First, one faces difficult situations (broken bike, but still gotta get home). Second, you connect with others for help (the yellow rope). Third, you do whatever makes sense at the time for it to work out (you stick your leg out, because your hand is busy). We noticed that people are very faithful about using hand signals to let others know where they are headed - whether horse cart, or cyclist or whatever.

He didn't have a spare hand to signal - so he used his leg instead!

We noticed this guy being towed......

When we saw him stick out his leg instead of his hand, we all burst out laughing! It just seemed such a Cuban thing to do! It matched some of the common sayings I had heard repeated often in our time here - 'It does the job'! and 'It works'! Our shared mirth was a nice moment to have as we prepared to say goodbye to both our regular guide and driver. I have not said much about them, or identified them just in case I have said anything here that the Cuban government might be unhappy with - or the American government for that matter. It's a shame I have that concern, but after being grilled by their authorities both coming and going from Cuba, I'd just as soon not leave anything to chance. This goes along with another saying I heard frequently here 'You never know'!

Finally, another hour saw us to the small coastal town of Gibara, where we were to spend the next day.

Gibara

Gibara was a perfect place to spend our last day before heading back to our normal lives - lives that seemed so remote from this place that that is only 738 miles from my home here in Fernandina Beach. It was small and clean and easily navigable without a car. People were friendly - stopped us in the streets to ask where we were from and had either visited the US or had relatives there.

There is a flat-topped mountain here, too, which is why Gibara also claims to be Christopher Columbus's first landing spot.

It was a pleasant town

We arrived in late afternoon, so the soft evening sun highlighted some things nicely.

Cannon at Baterio Fernando VIII

Building in the main square

As was the case with many of the other eastern Cuban places we visited, there was some reconstruction taking place, but one didn't have the sense of widespread decay and disrepair that we had seen in Havana. Some of the places we had been were very colorful, vivid. I appreciated the more pastel palette used here.

Building under repair near the Baterio

Hotel Arsenita

One rocking chair on the left.......

......the other one on the right.....

.......two neighbors chatting across the street, one block from the malecon, in the cool evening breeze.

Not everything was in good repair - but it's still beautiful!

It was the day after Easter - but oddly, this is a bank window!

We were sorry to leave, it had been a wonderful adventure. But didn't we leave in style? We had seen this beautifully kept Chevy Bel Air sitting outside our casa early in the day. When we found it was our taxi to Holguin, we were very thrilled.

We arrived in Holguin in time for dinner. It was early to bed, as our flight left bright and early. As we went through immigration at the airport, the authorities wanted to start grilling us again. I found that rather aggravating. Fortunately, they seemed satisfied that we had followed the itinerary we had reported. I also mentioned that I was also Australian and waved my Australian passport at them, just in case it was about harassment of Americans. Happily they let us go quickly after that.

It was a good trip. I would go back to see more of the geologic and geographic features I missed, but navigating accessibility both political and geographical looks as if it might be a challenge. We learned that in our absence, there had been announcements that our government was going to reintroduce tougher travel restrictions. I thought the way we traveled was good for both us and the Cubans we encountered and I would be sad to see the opportunity taken away from us in the future.

Thank you for following me on this journey. If you want contact information for either of the agencies we used, or any of the guides, I would be happy to share with you. Not all was perfect, but it was all excellent!