Cuba

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Travels with Mr. Burns

Sometimes you can push hard on doors of opportunity and they remain steadfastly closed. That was my experience in Cuba, where for innumerable reasons the careful plans I had laid kept being upended by unseen events. But the compensations of travel in this fascinating country are great—not least encountering its pervasive political messaging system. . . Read more »
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To the Bat Cave

One of the mangrove-related creatures I hoped to see in Cuba was the fishing bat, which takes small fish from the surface waters of wetland ponds in swooping aerial dives. While waiting for nightfall, when the bats are active, I visited a cave where another species, the butterfly bat, pours out of its roosts by the tens of thousands—a squeaking, fluttering horde. . . Read more »
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Croc Hunting

The vast Zapata swamp in on the southern coast of Cuba had long been on my wish list of mangrove sites, both because of its unique wildlife and also because of the basic intrigue of this country that has cocked a snoot at the Western world. My first quest was the Cuban crocodile. . . Read more »