Friday, February 8, 2013

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave

Since we are going through an unexpected snow storm in good ol' Canada (aka stuck at home, can't go anywhere at the moment), I thought to share some of the amazing pictures we captured in Guamá, Cuba. I spend about 10 days in Cuba during my Christmas break including few days in January 2013. Just looking at the images of a warm climate, wild animals and beautiful architectural buildings makes me less gloomy about the freezing weather outside of my window.

For inquiring mind, Guamá is a municipality in the Santiago de Cuba Province of Cuba. It is located in the south-west of the province, and contains most of the Caribbean Sea coast west of Santiago de Cuba. After it was invaded by the Spanish empire, most of the Indian tribes (Ciboneys and Taíno Arawaks) that inhabit the island were treated brutally by the Spaniard, where the slightest infraction of Spanish rule, or refusal to accept Catholicism, resulted in mass torture and executions. Tainos who never experienced any hard labor were forced to work in gold mines or sugar cane plantations until they died of exhaustion. They were initially replaced by Native American slaves from the Southeast, but eventually, most slaves were either Africans or persons of mixed African-Native American heritage.

 holding baby crocodile, their skin is so amazingly soft.