Cuba Day 7: Las Terrazas
Needing a little break from the capitol, we chose to take an 8 hour tour of the city of Las Terrazas
Me and Kristin on the steps of the Nacional at 5AM awaiting our tour bus to arrive. Neither of us
are morning people. I think you can tell that from our fake smiles in the photo, si?
Las Terrazas is an eco-tourism centered community that is situated in an area where a project of sustainable rural economy is being developed, based on the rational use of its natural resources. Our tour included: a guided tour of a French coffee plantation from the 19th century, a coffee tasting, 3 zip-lines through the jungle, lunch, and then an afternoon of swimming at a river with numerous waterfalls. This tour was booked at Hotel Nacional. I am sure there are other places to book tours more inexpensively, but we booked this one out of convenience, since M. was still staying there. This was a great tour and I highly recommend it, especially if you want to get out of the city and into the country for a while.
Our first view of the very lush and green Las Terrazas.
La Mariposa, the National flower.
The coffee plantation we toured.
Another photo of the coffee plantation.
The view from the coffee plantation.
Me cooling down after our coffee tasting.
Our zip-line instructor showing us the 3 courses we would be doing.
The 3 of us ready for our adventuress on the zip-lines.
It was nice to know that Che was looking out for me!
There I go on my 1st zip-line. Going, going...
...gone!
The coffee plantation and zip-lines were of course off-limits to Cubans, however the river was not. It was such a pleasure to be amongst locals for once!
Wonder what was going on in that car?
Some friendly Cubans saying hola!
The river we went swimming in.
Kristen, me, and M. under the waterfall.
M. jumping off the rocks.
After finishing the tour, we returned to the Nacional to use their glamorous pools and facilities. We figured since M. was still staying there we should take advantage of his good fortune. Then Kristin and I switched casas back to Sergio and Miriam's for the remainder of our stay. We decided to revisit Habana Vieja for dinner. I wish that I could remember the name of the restaurant we dined at that night, but the name escapes me now. The food was less than mediocre, which is what you will find throughout most of Cuba
Kristin and I's dinner guest for the evening.
Stick to eating at your casas while inCuba
Me and Kristin on the steps of the Nacional at 5AM awaiting our tour bus to arrive. Neither of us
are morning people. I think you can tell that from our fake smiles in the photo, si?
Las Terrazas is an eco-tourism centered community that is situated in an area where a project of sustainable rural economy is being developed, based on the rational use of its natural resources. Our tour included: a guided tour of a French coffee plantation from the 19th century, a coffee tasting, 3 zip-lines through the jungle, lunch, and then an afternoon of swimming at a river with numerous waterfalls. This tour was booked at Hotel Nacional. I am sure there are other places to book tours more inexpensively, but we booked this one out of convenience, since M. was still staying there. This was a great tour and I highly recommend it, especially if you want to get out of the city and into the country for a while.
The coffee plantation we toured.
Me cooling down after our coffee tasting.
The 3 of us ready for our adventuress on the zip-lines.
The coffee plantation and zip-lines were of course off-limits to Cubans, however the river was not. It was such a pleasure to be amongst locals for once!
Some friendly Cubans saying hola!
Kristin and I's dinner guest for the evening.
Stick to eating at your casas while in
Yes I agree Food in Cuba is medicore on a Good day,your best bet is eating the food your host cooks for you.As you said its cheaper and better tasting than most restaurants in cuba.
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That was a funny day! And look how red we are! Sun damage any, K & A?!?
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Can't believe Kristin did zip-lining in a dress! I have never done coffee tasting and can imagine that the coffee must be wonderful because it is so fresh and right at the source!
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These pictures are stunning. I am so jealous of you right now. It looks you are having so much fun!
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I agree, the food was super bad in Cuba. I just thought that was because I was staying at all inclusive resorts and that I was being picky... but even the people I was traveling with said the same thing. It lacks a lot of love and maybe because they can't get the right products because of the embargo or something.
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