by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here)
A fabulous Earthwatch project in Cuba is now in my rear-view mirror. I’m back home musing about the island endemism that pairs Cubans with our Channel Islands.
We have island foxes and Santa Cruz Island scrub jays that are found nowhere else in the world. Cuba is home to a host of endemics from the giant Cuban green toad to the cutest-ever Cuban tody.
The most obvious “endemics” of all are the 1950s-era cars dressed up in flamboyant colors to match the Cubans’ exuberant lifestyle.
In Havana you couldn’t go a block without seeing children playing ball or adults enjoying an informal jazz session. There were no guns in evidence and very few people who seem desperate. I felt considerably safer than I have felt in Central America.
I saw only a few who looked homeless. The poor staffed bathrooms in public establishments. There they requested a coin for the privilege of a tiny amount of toilet paper (even if you carried your own).
Cuba’s complicated history played out in the cacophony of buildings from different eras. Old Havana was replete with ornate architecture from the Spanish colonial era.
Many of these buildings have been or are being lovingly restored into fabulous hotels complete with cigar rooms and pianists playing in the lobby.
Outside the old city center, charmless concrete block buildings from the Soviet era seem designed to withstand frigid winters that never come.
After gathering in Havana, our group rode about five hours in a comfortable tourist bus through the Sancti Spiritus region. The rolling green countryside scattered with informal houses were reminiscent of Central America.
Augmenting the public transportation buses was an informal ride-share economy. Travelers held out money and indicated their desired direction with hand signals.
Arriving at the Banao Ecological Reserve project site, we were welcomed in an open-air classroom. The intended gathering building had been destroyed in September’s Hurricane Irma.
Our first day in the field was learning to recognize endemic plants, amphibians and birds.
The project’s mission was mapping the existing biodiversity. Guided by an Argentinean principal investigator and four preeminent Cuban scientists, we set up transects in the tropical forest along three trails.
We conducted baseline counts of species of trees, birds and reptiles. Slogging across rivers and up and down steep verdant slopes, our group initiated this long-term monitoring of native and introduced species.
Discussing forest transects, climate change, and lizard counts, it was often hard to remember our two countries — 35 minutes apart by plane — have been butting heads for more than half a century.
The economic system differences were evident in other ways.
The U.S. government’s renewed embargo on Cuba makes life a struggle not just for scientists and their research but for entrepreneurs who set up shop when President Obama loosened restrictions at the end of 2014.
Our leaders expressed frustration with the near impossibility of attending conferences off-island or even family weddings in the U.S. The embargo also made it difficult for us to explore (and spend money).
Our government allowed us to stay no longer than we were with our project. In contrast, the volunteers from Germany could stay for a tourist visit. The food was plentiful but without much variety.
Most seem proud to have remained independent from the U.S., in contrast to their Puerto Rican neighbors. Probably the most memorable endemics on the island are Cubans themselves. There is little likelihood of embargoing their spirit.
Cubans are building what just may be a sustainable social, political and economic pathway.
Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist
Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer, sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.