No, not the country. Australia, Cuba in the loverly (I assume) province of Mantanzas. MAP Australia seems to be some sort of outlier from Jaguey Grande (near the centre of the map).
Why am I going to this out of the way part of Cuba, you ask? Birds, of course. Australia is just outside of the Gran Parque Natural Montemar. This park either includes or is included within (or used to be called, I can't quite tell) "Cienaga de Zapata". Cienaga means swamp - note to self: bring lots of bug spray. Here is some info about the park.
The park borders the Bay of Pigs so I will get a bit of history too.
This excursion is going to involve renting a car so that should be interesting (aka life threatening). But Austalia is right off the main highway so if I can make it out of Havana without crashing, I should be ok (famous last words). I have already booked a room at Motel Batey Don Pedro. The lady who answered the phone was very nice and spoke some English. Between her bit o' English and my bit o' Spanish, I think I am booked for three nights (Nov 28 to Dec 1). She also said that they will help me find a guide when I arrive.
Update: When I went to find a map to include I discovered that Playa Larga is a much better base for the park. So now I am booked in at Hostal Enrique (Nov - 29 - Dec 1 - I also realized I got my arrival date wrong - I am just not good at pre-planning). Unfortunately, Enrique (or designate - I don't know who answered the phone) does not speak English. So I had to rely completely on my Spanish. I am pretty sure I am booked but for the life of me, I cannot say exactly how much it is going to cost. There seemed to be lots of price options (perhaps single vs double, with breakfast and/or dinner??) I guess I will find out when I get there and just hand over a mittful of cash and hope for the best. I think it was either $25/night or $45/night. Plus, I asked for a guide and that seemed to be doable.
Just to keep this post accurate though, I will stop in at Australia and take a picture.
Why am I going to this out of the way part of Cuba, you ask? Birds, of course. Australia is just outside of the Gran Parque Natural Montemar. This park either includes or is included within (or used to be called, I can't quite tell) "Cienaga de Zapata". Cienaga means swamp - note to self: bring lots of bug spray. Here is some info about the park.
The park borders the Bay of Pigs so I will get a bit of history too.
This excursion is going to involve renting a car so that should be interesting (aka life threatening). But Austalia is right off the main highway so if I can make it out of Havana without crashing, I should be ok (famous last words). I have already booked a room at Motel Batey Don Pedro. The lady who answered the phone was very nice and spoke some English. Between her bit o' English and my bit o' Spanish, I think I am booked for three nights (Nov 28 to Dec 1). She also said that they will help me find a guide when I arrive.
Update: When I went to find a map to include I discovered that Playa Larga is a much better base for the park. So now I am booked in at Hostal Enrique (Nov - 29 - Dec 1 - I also realized I got my arrival date wrong - I am just not good at pre-planning). Unfortunately, Enrique (or designate - I don't know who answered the phone) does not speak English. So I had to rely completely on my Spanish. I am pretty sure I am booked but for the life of me, I cannot say exactly how much it is going to cost. There seemed to be lots of price options (perhaps single vs double, with breakfast and/or dinner??) I guess I will find out when I get there and just hand over a mittful of cash and hope for the best. I think it was either $25/night or $45/night. Plus, I asked for a guide and that seemed to be doable.
Just to keep this post accurate though, I will stop in at Australia and take a picture.
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