Cienfuegos Botanical Garden

After a slight delay getting into port due to high wind conditions, we finally did make it to Cienfuegos about 3 hours late.

Headed out in the afternoon to Cienfuegos Botanical Garden.  The place isn't that ;large, but that works to its advantage.  We were able to see the entire walking path of the park in about 30 minutes.  The path is lined with flowering and fruiting trees, plenty of wildlife, and cooler climate due to the surrounding forests.  A small visitor center houses 2 greenhouses.

Lots of rare trees including the massive elephant foot tree.  Many of the trees have gigantic air plants growing on the branches.  We did spot one very large owl.  Highly recommend this place.

We were able to sample an Indian Apple, a fruit that is apparently part of the mangosteen family.  Tart, citrusy and tasty.

From there, we visited a seaside concert in the resort area of Cienfuegos.  If we were ever to stay in this town for a long weekend, pick this area to stay around the Palacio de Valle.

Afterwards, we strolled through a mostly deserted Jose Marti Square in the center of Cienfuegos.

Here's some photos.

...and, hello Cienfuegos, sort of

We made it to Cienfeugos, sort of.  High winds have prevented us from entering the harbor, so here we sit a mile or two offshore, waiting for calmer weather.

Weather last night wasn't so bad, some minor rolling of the ship, but certainly some very heavy winds.  Hopefully we'll make it to shore later this afternoon.  In the interim, plenty of coffee and catching up on blog posts and emails.  More to come...

So long Santiago de Cuba...

So long Santiago de Cuba, hope we return someday...

last drive around Santiago de Cuba

After the El Cobre tour, the tour operator decided to drive us around Santiago de Cuba.  While this sounds like a good way to see some sites around town, what we really preferred to do was stay in El Cobre, find a bakery and barista, hang out on the town square, drink some coffee, listen to more music.  Oh well, while this tour had bright spots, overall, we'd give it a B- for leaving where we should have stayed.

In any event, we did get some nice photos of sites around Santiago de Cuba--lots of military monuments (some complete with battle scars), San Juan Hill, a monument to Che at the last spot he spoke in town, the Bacardi family home, the largest cultural center/theater in all of Cuba, classic architecture, everyday street scenes.  Here's what we found...