Alexander von Humboldt National Park is on the UNESCO World Heritage list

Park “Alejandro de Humboldt” is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo

It`s named after he German scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 and 1801

Being one of the most important biosphere reserves in the Caribbean basin, the National Park, along with Cuchillas del Toa was declared a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site in 2001

The rivers that flow off the peaks of the park are some of the largest in the insular Caribbean

The park is said to be the most humid place in Cuba and this causes a high biological diversity

The park has an area of 274.67 sq miles of which 264.76 sq miles land area and 8.74 sq miles marine area

Elevation ranges from sea level to 3,832 ft on El Toldo Peak

16 of Cuba's 28 endemic plant species are protected in the park including such fauna as Dracaena cubensis and Podocarpus ekman

Hummingbird flies to the flower of a mango tree

Fauna present in the park includes various species of parrots, lizards, hummingbirds, the endangered Cuban Solenodon (endemic), hutia and snails

The Alexander von Humboldt National Park has historically been an area of land little used by man, with only one archaeological site from the pre-Columbian period being known, located in the coastal zone of Aguas Verdes

The park began to be laid out in the 1960`s, with the declaration of the Jaguani and Cupeyal del Norte nature reserves

This continued into the 80`s with the proposal of the Ojito del Agua Refuge, associated with the last sighting of the Royal Woodpecker, a last remnant of this species which was already extinct in its other habitats in the United States and Mexico

Termite nest

In 1996 these protected areas were united to form a National Park that was named after Alexander von Humboldt

There are unique flora and fauna elements in this unique ecosystem, with some of the highest indexes of endemicity in the archipelago

With a guide we've seen waterfalls and lots of tropical plants in Parque Natural Topes de Collantes

In the Escambray Mountains you will find the 110 square km

Parque Natural Topes de Collantes that lies 16 km from Trinidad

There is an extraordinary flora and fauna including several

endemic species such as the parrot cotorra

In an old Russian army truck we went into the

mountains whit very steep roads

This village was built for the workers of a coffee and banana plantation

On the south side of the park are deep ravines carved by storms

This is a beautiful landscape with valleys where coffee is grown

Coffee plant

Freshly picked coffee beans

Topes de Collantes is divided into smaller parks

We've visited Parque Guanayara with this guide

During the walk, which lasted over five hours, he let us

see and taste and told a lot about the local nature

Orchid

This fruit tasted like marzipan

Some tourists had their name in the bamboo stalks scratched

Higher up is the cold (16/25 C) and humid atmosphere ideal for

epifytplanten clinging to branches of eucalyptus trees

A very large termite nest

From afar we heard the roar of the 65 meter high

waterfall 'Salto el Rocio' that I found wonderful to see

A Cuban orange

In the Netherlands these are houseplants

The Tocororo is Cuba' s national bird because he

has the colors of the Cuban flag

Unfortunately I couldn`t get a better picture of him

Halfway you could choose to make a "Rambo tour"

with the guide or just follow the path

The Rambo tour went through the waterfalls, you had to swim,

dive and climb rocks

At the last waterfall you had to grab a liana and swing

over the waterfall and drop into the water

Halfway was a Cuban with a horse selling drinks

This farmer lived alone in the mountains far away from everyone