Las Terrazas, Cuba

Displayed:   times.

Only one place to stay here and that is the expensive but excellent La Moka Ecolodge, which is situated on a ridge above the self contained community of Las Terrazas. We arrived mid afternoon and had to wait for our rooms to be cleaned so we were escorted to the bar that overlooks the settlement of Las Terrazas through the trees, in fact the lobby of this hotel has a tree growing through it. Once at the bar we had West Indian Woodpecker and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker a few feet away on the balcony rail. Bird guides can be hired at $10 a person from the main reception desk. As we woke around 6am the next morning we noted that the cloud had enveloped the whole valley adding to the oppressive humidity. We met our guide at reception just before 7am, and headed off down to the lake (Coot only bird of note here) and followed a trail up into the hills. Our guide was of top quality, and within minutes, we had excellent views of Cuban Trogon, one of the species that was on my wish list for the trip. We also saw Yellow Headed warbler, Cuban Bullfinch, GL Cuckoo, Black and White warbler, West Indian woodpecker, Northern flicker, Grey Catbird, Cuban Grassquit, Mourning dove, Cuban Blackbird and Cuban Peewee and two of the birds of the trip Black Cowled Oriole and Cuban Tody (has to be seen to be believed!). Alas no sign of the elusive Bee Hummingbird. The walk was just under four hours so we could return to La Moka in time for last orders on the breakfast menu. Two other places of interest here are Rio San Jose. We followed the road from La Moka down to the Banos area and were rewarded with flyover Cuban Green woodpecker, American Kestrels in abundance, Belted Kingfisher and Louisiana Waterthrush . From information gleaned from the hotel desk, it appears that this place is busy with tour buses during the day so we counted ourselves fortunate to find this site fairly deserted in the evening. We were also told about the best palador in the area that is in the Union Jardin area, a track is signposted from the roadside. Here you park up by the small house in front of the cages that house chickens etc., we enquired about eating here and we told to return in an hour. This allowed some exploration of the shade coffee plantation at the rear of the house, at one point we could see six individual Trogons in the same area of forest at the same time along with Cuban Green woodpecker and Loggerhead Kingbirds making the most of the clearings to feed on airborne insects. The highlight was finding two Ovenbirds in the undergrowth that bordered a narrow stream.

Rate this tip:

Rate!

Add Comment >>

Your Name:

Your Comment:

General Tips about Cuba

» Required travel documents for Cuba
» Electric power
» Area code to Cuba
» Weather
» Varadero
» Cayo Romano
» Las Salinas
» Zapata Peninsular
» Las Terrazas
» Maria La Gorda
» Vinales Valley
» Credit & debit cards
» Currency exchange:
» Currency
» Tipping
» Shopping
» Nightlife
» Food & Drink
» Required clothing
» Telephone
» Visas
» Cuba climate
» Gifts from Cuba
» Getting Around the Cuba
» Assistance to tourist
» Cuba is a very safe country
» Health
» Lagguage
» Money in Cuba
» Cuban departure tax
» In order to stay outside hotels or in other non-authorized accommodations
» Immigration and Customs
» Isla de la Juventud
» Guantanamo
» Santiago de Cuba
» Granma
» Holguin
» Las Tunas
» Camagüey
» Sancti Spiritus
» Cienfuegos
» Villa Clara
» Matanzas
» La Habana
» Ciudad de la Habana
» Pinar del Rio
» Trinidad
» Santiago de Cuba
» Pinar del Río Province
» Baracoa
» Havana

   More travel tips about Cuba