So who did we here about most while in Cuba? The Castro’s?? Absolutely not. The talk, visions, advertising and so on all focused on Che Guevera and Ernest Hemingway! Interesting.

Che

Papa

And here are some images that are more “impressionistic”.

The streets and buildings were interesting, some in good repair, some not. Here are a few images from our journey.

Eleven years ago, Karen and I visited Cuba for a week with about 15 people on a “charitable mission”. This was the only way to get there at that time. So we packed school supplies and medicines, and visited both a school and a hospital while in Havana. The rest of the time we were just tourists.

The visit was quite fascinating. Cuba is a lovely country scenically. We visited Havana, Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara by mini-bus with a wonderful guide Osmos and an equally wonderful and hilarious driver Fernando (who was a smaller Bruce Willis and knew it!).

Our initial lasting impressions were of the Cuban people, who were friendly, warm, and seemingly reasonably happy. At the same time there were elements of sadness – unable to travel, relatively poor, limited futures, economic struggles and so on. Many were working, some relaxing, others in costume. Music is very popular as well. Here are a series of images from the trip.

While I am normally taking pics of our dear little elephants, sometimes on hot afternoons I sit on the deck and watch for birds. Here are a few taken on the last visit.

First, a Golden-tailed Woodpecker.

And an African Golden Weaver:

Then a Kurrichane Thrush:

Next an African Hoopoe:

An African red-eyed Bulbul:

A Burchell’s Starling

And lastly, a Forktail Drongo

We visited in August when the headcount was nine, all under about five years old. Here are a few images.

Three of us spent a day photographing birds at the LaLomita Photography Ranch, located just west of Uvalde, TX. The ranch is 20 acres in size, fairly heavily treed, with four shooting blinds. Each blind is surrounded with vegetation and has a small pond, several stump-like wood structures, some with a drip line. The bird population is generally quite good, and the birds fairly close to the blind. Thus sharp images with suitable backgrounds are normally achieved. Here are some recent images.

Northern Mockingbird

Green Jay

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Orange-crowned Warbler

Lesser Goldfinches

Orange-crowned Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Black-crested Titmouse

House Finches

Green Jays

Bewick’s Wren

Verdin

Verdin

Long-billed Thrasher

Barn Swallow

House Swallow

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Goldfinches

Pyrrhuloxia

Cardinal

House Sparrows

Yellow-rumped Warbler

At the end of our Ring Road tour, we spent two full days in Reykjavik. We stayed at the Konsulate Hotel, located right in the center of the city’s main areas. Visitors to Iceland can read about all the best hotels and restaurants – there are many – and I am not going to get into details of the ones we visited. But I will tell you here where we ate and what we did.

Restaurants

Old Iceland – small intimate cafe located a few blocks away from our hotel. I would highly recommend this place as the food was excellent. We particularly liked the arctic char.

Kol – located near the main church. Good food, nice menu. We ate lunch there (and Hahn’s went back for dinner). Nice soups especially the carrot, and a really flavorful cod.

Hofnin – nice homey two story restaurant at the harbor. Owner always there (we ate two dinners). The langoustine with risotto was wonderful.

Baejarns Beztu Pysurg – hot dog joint beside our hotel. There since 1937 and very popular. Hot dogs with dried onions, mustard, ketsup and remoulade. Not bad.

Sights

Perlan Museum – Planetarium/museum featuring the wonders of Iceland, with great videos of the most recent volcano eruption, extensive historical and animal exhibits and a 100 m long ice cave.

Hallgrimskirkja Church – Largest in Iceland and 244′ tall, this church towers over the city and offers nice views. Inspired by the basalt columns at Svartifoss waterfall. Built 1986.

Waterfront – Typical city waterfront with commercial, fishing and tourist (whale watching) vessels. Nice to visit.

Shops and Blocks

The city has extensive shopping on interesting streets, and is worth spending time walking around.

Food Favorites

• cod
• arctic char
• lamb
• fish & chips
• beef (OK)
• breads
• soups – lamb, tomato, carrot
• langoustine
• shrimp
• skyr

Our last day on the road before returning to Reykjavik. Mostly driving but we did stop to see a pair of wonderful waterfalls, and a raging stream. But first a wonderful hot spring.

Deildartunguhver is the most powerful hot spring in Europe. Billowing clouds of steam rise from scalding water bubbling from the ground. and of course a new spa Krauma nearby offers sleek hot pools, a cold pool and two steam rooms.

Then the picturesque twin waterfalls of Hraunfossar and Barnafoss. Hraunfossar is a fascinating series of waterfalls seemingly originating in a field without a river of lake. The water is actually streaming through rivulets in the Hallmundarhraun lave field. Another waterfall nearby is Barnafoss, which is more like a series of rapids caused by the water of Hvita entering a narrow passage.

Nearby we stopped to watch a raging stream run down from a nearby mountain.

We spent two nights at the Fosshotel in Lake Myvatn, dining there both evenings. Myvatn is a calm, shallow lake at the heart of a volatile volcanic area that sits squarely on the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Nature’s violent masterpieces are everywhere: crazy colored mud pots, huge craters and jagged lava fields.. Most of the points of interest are linked by the lake’s looping road.

The classic tephra ring Hverfjall is an ancient and near symmetrical crater rising 452m and 1040m across. It is an awe-inspiring landmark in Myvatn.

Next is the giant lava field at Dimmuborgir (literally Dark Castles). A series of walking trails runs through the landscape, utilized for some scenes in Game of Thrones. This area was created by the flow of a lava lake over a marshy area some 2300 years ago.As the hot lava spilled over the marsh, the water began to boil and the rising vapors created the area’s distinct lava pillars.

In the area is Krafla, one of Iceland’s most interesting volcanoes. The caldera is located along a 90km fissure zone in the north. It erupted nine times between 1974 and 1984. The west side is an active geothermal area, rich with fumoroles and solfataras (mud springs).

There are numerous fascinating structures and vistas around the lake. Here are a few.

After our companions enjoyed a swim in the thermal baths, we lunched at an interesting spot called the Vogafjos Cowshead Cafe. The cafe sits with a nice view in one direction, and the cowshead against the opposite wall complete with a window. The food was excellent.

Overnight Stay

We spent a second night at The Fosshotel, and enjoyed another dinner there. After dinner we were treated to a brief view of the famous northern lights, our first and only view on the trip as many nights were cloudy. The first two images were shot by Karen on her cell phone.