Day 9 Thursday, January 17: San Diego to Vinales

	Bird of the Day: West Indian Woodpecker

casa particular in Vinales


Our breakfast was inside this morning. After breakfast, Jean Guy dropped by to say Bon Voyage. Like us, he was on his way to Vinales.



El Chino decided to try our Grassquit location again, but the only sighting was a Cape May Warbler.



Our day would take us to La Güira National Park. As El Chino notes in his tour description, this former estate has some standing colonial buildings, and its woodland trails echo with the cooing song of the beautiful Cuban Trogon, Cuba's national bird, so chosen because it has all the colours of the Cuban flag in its plumage. We were also pleased to see another Cape May Warbler and a Prairie Warbler.



A Louisiana Waterthrush appeared at the side of the pond and another one was feeding near some bright pink water lilies. Bill was pleased to spot a Least Grebe, some herons and a Purple Gallinule.



We got some good views of the West Indian Woodpecker and a Little Blue Heron.



We passed some workers who using their machetes to clear the grass at the side of the trail. Hilda tried out one of their reed brooms to sweep the walkway. We enjoyed exploring the trails, finding the statues and ruins as interesting as the birds.



Soon it was time to leave, taking a rough road into mountainous country. We would spend a few hours in the hillside discovering the cave where Che Guevara hid out and directed operations during the Cuban missile crisis, October 1962.



First we entered a camp - very quiet, few visitors here. Then we walked towards the cave where we met our guide. Che and 50 Cuban and Russian army personnel resided here during two rain and hurricane seasons. The caves and entrances are large yet well hidden by the surrounding vegetation allowing Che and staff to watch American military planes fly overhead. U.S. intelligence never detected them. Che divided the cave into departments: baños, communications, kitchen, meeting rooms, bunkers and barracks where he and his soldiers slept. Che slept in a hammock. There are target practice ranges, cooking and eating spaces, smoking and chess playing rooms, and corners where top secret messages were written and dispatched.



After this exposure to Cuban political history, we drove on to Vinales, a popular tourist town. Here we checked into our new casa and met our friendly hostess, Inesita. She gave "William" and "Colleen" a lot of attention.



After a bit of birding in Inesita's garden, El Chino decided to take us to a tobacco drying farm - as we know, Cuban cigars are popular world wide.



We made a short trip to see a "prehistoric" mural. We had hoped to see a Scaly-naped Pigeon, but the road was too rough to pass.



On the way back to Vinales, it started to rain - our first rain since we arrived nine days ago. Time to settle into our casa for dinner and a good rest.



Birds seen January 17, 2013
*new birds bolded

Bird of the Day: West Indian Woodpecker

1. Palm Warbler
2. Cuban Crow
3. Cattle Egret
4. Turkey Vulture
5. Northern Mockingbird
6. Olive-capped Warbler - lifer #43
7. Prairie Warbler
8. Cape May Warbler
9. Stripe-headed Tanager
10. Louisiana Waterthrush
11. Black-cowled Oriole
12. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
13. Green Heron
14. Red-legged Thrush
15. Purple Gallinule
16. Least Grebe
17. Northern Jacana
18. West Indian Woodpecker
19. Cuban Emerald
20. Great Lizard Cuckoo
21. Broad-winged Hawk
22. Common Ground Dove
23. American Kestrel
24. Cuban Bullfinch
25. Northern Flicker
26. Cuban Tody
27. Little Blue Heron
28. Black-throated Blue Warbler
29. Cuban Solitaire - lifer#44
30. Common Yellowthroat
31. Cuban Vireo

Trip Total: 122