I've just returned from a birding trip to Cuba which was interesting and rewarding but surprisingly hard work. Considering the habitat, low use of pesticides and heavy farm machinery etc the number of birds encountered was surprisingly low. Most of the endemics are reasonably easy to find, especially with the aid of local guides but, given the time of year, such as Gundlach's Hawk are really pot-luck (we dipped) - better around breeding season. We clocked 137 species including 20 endemics.
The mosquitoes in Zapata are mighty fierce and quite resistant to any repellents but have to be withstood to connect with the key species.
I took a 'scope, having considered the various comments here and elsewhere. It was useful in the salinas at Zapata and also around Cayo Coko but quite superfluous elsewhere. It also provided us with an extra hour's delay at immigration where the local officer found it necessary to take down details of this and the rest of our gear. Apparently if we had been carrying a hard drive this would have taken even longer but they weren't at all interested in a tablet!
A great place to visit with friendly hospitable people and decent accommodation.
The mosquitoes in Zapata are mighty fierce and quite resistant to any repellents but have to be withstood to connect with the key species.
I took a 'scope, having considered the various comments here and elsewhere. It was useful in the salinas at Zapata and also around Cayo Coko but quite superfluous elsewhere. It also provided us with an extra hour's delay at immigration where the local officer found it necessary to take down details of this and the rest of our gear. Apparently if we had been carrying a hard drive this would have taken even longer but they weren't at all interested in a tablet!
A great place to visit with friendly hospitable people and decent accommodation.