Las Terrazas

Las Terrazas
Less than an hour's drive west of Havana puts you well into Pinar del Río, Cuba's westernmost province. The little town of Las Terrazas is not very old, but its big attraction is nature, not history. In 1984, UNESCO designated the area as one of its Biosphere Reserves, and the Cuban government built the little town to accommodate the tourists it would certainly draw. As our van left the main highway, we bounced along increasingly narrower roads, climbing into the Sierra del Rosario Mountains.
We seemed to be in an ageless jungle with a huge variety of lush greenery, but our guide told us that this was all a huge coffee plantation not so many years before. For whatever reasons, the coffee growers left this region for Cuba's eastern provinces. Coffee horticulture gone, the land was bare and terraced for a short time until the tropical jungle quickly reclaimed its own. Now you have to look hard to see evidence of the terraces, hidden by the thick leaves, vines and branches.
The small village of Las Terrazas has a super restaurant called EL Romero, a few gift shops full of locally made artworks, and a stunning tourist hotel with an open air lobby to take advantage of the tropical climate. Hikers' paths wind through the mountain, crossing streams, climbing and falling. The day we were there, tourists decked out as hikers trod every visible trail.
We had dinner at El Romero, and our guide for the day was Tito, the man who had developed the restaurant for its owner, the Cuban government. Tito's specialty is using locally available foods, and the menu is completely created using only foods grown locally. For example, the delightful salad was made of lotus shoots which were harvested from plants growing in the shallow waters of the mountain lake we gazed at from the restaurant balcony. We bought books of El Romero recipes, presented on compact discs, and when I got home I Googled for a source of lotus shoots. All I could find was one source on the other side of the world in Burma. I have a suggestion for Fidel and Raul: export lotus shoots, and you'll have more export business. I'll be the first customer.
As we dined, peafowl and other domestic birds paraded the grounds around the restaurant. They knew they were safe as the "local foods" served at El Romero are plant based foods only--no carnivores, please.. The other dishes rivaled the salad, and we all ordered something different, and we shared among our group. Tito was not only the creator of a terrific dinner, he was a local celebrity, and our van was waved through any gates where others had to pay an entrance fee.
As it happens, the island of Cuba is at its narrowest at Las Terrazas. It's only 40 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Straits to the north to the Caribbean Sea to the south. And, how fortunate the Sierra del Rosario Mountains are right there. We got back on the bus and ground up a little road, sometimes no more than two tire tracks and a little gravel. At the summit was the old head office of the coffee plantation, and everywhere you looked it was downhill. But, most surprising you could see both bodies of water, the Gulf and the Sea, in the clear times between the passage of wispy little clouds. Yes, the entire width of the island was within our range of vision.
Most people will agree Cuba is a beautiful place, and those who have visited Las Terrazas understand why UNESCO chose this beautiful area as one of its Biological Reserves.
Les Inglis