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.

History

People have made little use of this land: only one pre-Columbian archaeological site is known, on the coast at Aguas Verdes, and in the 18th and 19th centuries escaped slaves used some outlying places as refuges. The park took shape from the 1960s with the Jaguaní and Cupeyal del Norte reserves and, in the 1980s, the proposed Ojito del Agua refuge, linked to the last sighting of the Cuban ivory-billed woodpecker; in 1996 these areas were joined into a national park named after Alexander von Humboldt, who visited Cuba in 1800 and 1801, and in 2001 it was declared a World Heritage Site for its size, range of altitude, complex geology and wealth of endemic plants and animals (Wikipedia, Alejandro de Humboldt National Park).

What you'll find

• 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.

What to expect

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.

Key facts