We woke at first light and looked out of our window on the ground floor to find thankfully that nothing had changed and there was no visible damage. It was a bit blowy and had rained a bit but was obviously still quite warm as I saw a Little Yellow Pyrisitia lisa fly by. We tucked into our packed breakfast to find that there was yoghurt but no spoon, and jam but no knife to spread it! That’s Cuba! The all clear knock came at 9am so we were free to explore and talk to the staff. Many had been worried that their homes and families were at risk while they were here at work but thankfully no-one was hurt though some had suffered some damage to their homes. Amaury the Head Gardener rushed to find us at one point to tell us that one of his staff had just reported seeing a large snake in the hotel so we set off quickly to try and find it. We had been told by several people recently that they had seen presumably the same large snake outside in the flower beds nearby but every time we looked it wasn’t there. It had come in presumably to get out of the rain and had found a place to shelter beneath the handrail of a ramp. Enough of it was visible to make out that it was a Cuban Boa Chilabothrus angulifer and quite a big one at that, several feet long and quite thick. It was the first time we had seen this species and frustrating not to get a decent view of it.
The sea was not as rough as we expected and so it was frustrating not to be allowed onto the beach. Fair enough to stop people swimming but there was no danger whatsoever on the beach. At my age I don't like being treated like an 8-year old. So I had to be content with watching for seabirds using my telescope (glad I brought it) from the balcony next to the Mares pool – under shelter since there was still the odd squall of rain coming through. The sea didn’t disappoint and I saw Royal, Least, Gull-billed and American Common Terns, 2 Frigatebirds, 1 Sooty Shearwater, I Arctic Skua (Parasitic Jaeger) and best of all an adult Brown Noddy which was a new bird for me.
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