Today was an all day excursion to the village of Las Terrazas, about an
hour's drive into the hills to the west of Havana. Las Terrazas is located in a
very large national park which has been undergoing reforestation for many
years. Cuba had originally been beautifully forested, but the trees were cut
down over the years by many generations of commercial and household use,
particularly sugar cane production. In fact, when Cuba was first mentioned by
Christopher Columbus, it was 90% covered with trees. By the revolution in 1959,
it was down to 10%. Now, due to this work, it is back to about 25%.
We met our dynamic local guide, Oriol, at the entrance to the preserve. We
have two guides from Backroads with us all the time, as well as one guide from
Cuba, as well as local guides at each stop, so we feel well guided. The group
is 20 people, so having 4 guides pretty much all the time is a heck of a
ratio.
Oriol first showed us an abandoned coffee plantation area. It seems coffee
production stopped when Brazil and Columbia got much better at it, so displaced
Cuba internationally. We then took a several hour hike through the forest with
Oriol pointing out all the various plants and animals. Marina was particularly
enamored of the Mimosa plant, which collapses into itself when you touch
it.
It's hot and humid, but not unbearable. The hike ended in a farmer's yard
where we got to see how the rural peasants live. The farmer provided fresh
coconuts and pineapple for us to taste. We then strolled along a lovely river
in order to get to the bus.
After the hike, we had lunch and then coffee in the community of Las
Terrazas. It's hard to know how to describe this place. It is an idyllic
communal living area for over 1000 people, with pretty houses and apartments
surrounding common services, such as nursery school, store, doctors' offices,
etc. Our lunch was wonderful, in a family home, with Cuban music provided by a
particularly good combo.
Las Terrazas reminded me a bit of a kibbutz, although it also reminded me
of that old British TV series, the Prisoner! Lenny thought it was a showplace
for communism. There are several artists in residence, and we had a wonder
frozen coffee at a cafe after lunch. Apparently people love to be assigned
housing here since it is a much nicer place to live than in an apartment in the
cities.
I have to say that the highway to and from Las Terrazas was remarkably
good. It was 6 lanes total, and there was hardly any traffic. I guess there is
no traffic because there are so few cars, and it is hard to get a new one. This
is the opposite of most places we have been, which have fantastic cars, but
ridiculously overburdened roads (like in Russia).
Speaking of Russia, they don't like them much here. Cuban was pretty much
entirely dependent on Russia until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, at
which point they suddenly withdrew support. This left Cuba a mess, pretty much
starving. Cuba then developed a strong, internal organic farming sector, even
in the urban areas, which we will see tomorrow. This makes me realize that I
haven't mentioned the food, which has been quite good. Lots of plantain chips,
rice and black beans, chicken or fish, but all very tasty.
Our Cuban guide explained to us the food ration system and showed us her
ration book. Every Cuban, no matter your age, gender, employment status,
personal wealth, etc., gets basic rations at very cheap prices. The items were
rather carb heavy, however, mainly sugar (lots of it), rice, bread, coffee, a
little bit of salt, and a little bit of chicken legs. Other stuff you have to
purchase at regular prices. But I must say that I am impressed with a place
that says, everybody shall be able to eat at least the minimum.
By the way, there are two currencies in Cuba, which is very bizarre. There
is a convertible peso, which we use, and a local peso, which we do not use. The
local peso is worth 1/25 of the convertible peso. This two tier system extends
to pricing, such that the cafe where we had coffee today charges convertible
peso prices to us, and local peso prices to residents, at a dramatically lower
price. Kind of clever way to have the tourists pay more than the locals,
eh?
Tonight we will have a lecture from a writer based here about the Cuban
economy, then off to dinner in Old Havana.
Donna
No comments:
Post a Comment