Alejandro de Humboldt National Park

Humboldt covers the wettest and most rugged corner of eastern Cuba, and it was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2001 for the extraordinary concentration of species found nowhere else. The reason is the rock: serpentine and other toxic-metal soils that most plants cannot tolerate, which forced repeated adaptation and produced a flora that is largely endemic. It is also the last place the Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker was reliably reported, and where the almiquí, a rare insectivore, survives.

What you actually see

• The endemic flora - plants adapted to serpentine soils, with an endemism rate among the world's highest for an island.
• The Cuban parrot and tody - among the birds regularly seen on the trails.
• The Taco Bay trails - guided walks from the park entrance through forest and up to viewpoints.
• The rivers - clear streams cutting down through the forest to the bay.

When to go

November to April is the drier season, which matters here because this is the wettest region in Cuba. Even then rain is likely most days. Birding is best at first light, which means arranging an early start with the park.

Honest expectations

Guides are compulsory and the trails cannot be walked alone; this is enforced. The famous woodpecker has not been confirmed for decades and is very probably gone, whatever guides may hint. Trails are steep, muddy and hot, and the almiquí is nocturnal and effectively never seen.

Nearby

Baracoa is an hour southeast, and the Yumuri river mouth is on the road between them.