"La Serafina Trail tour", Las Terrazas

"La Serafina Trail tour", Las Terrazas

Walking along trails in the midst of lush evergreen forests, bordering rivers and waterfalls of crystal-clear water is the certainty that beautiful sites really exist and that human efforts to protect the natural environment persist. The Las Terrazas Community, located in the Province of Artemisa, is the ideal place for these tours, which is why we have designed a series of tours through various trails in this place for your enjoyment.

Sendero La Serafina: Our proposal is that you make this tour of more than 6000 meters, enjoying a wide biodiversity of vegetation, flora and fauna. On the way we will go up to an excellent viewpoint from where you can see the picturesque Community Las Terrazas, and finally we will arrive to the ruins of the Santa Serafina coffee plantation, an example of the presence of French settlers in the Sierra del Rosario. After the visit, we will descend through the valley of the San Juan River until we reach Rancho Curujey.

Area Values

The Sendero La Serafina: Located in the Sierra del Rosario, the first Biosphere Reserve declared for Cuba in 1985, it has a variety of geological and plant formations and a wide diversity of natural, historical and cultural resources scattered throughout its territory. It is located in the easternmost part of the Guaniguanico Mountain Range, in the Sierra del Rosario, in the province of Artemisa, sub-district of Montañas de Guaniguanico. The area occupies part of the Los Palacios Basin, which is filled by Cenozoic sediments of marine alluvial origin, a product of the erosion of the mountains located to the north, and separated from the Sierra del Rosario structural-facial zone by the Pinar del Rio fault. It presents earthy, carbonate and carbonated rocks of 7 formations, ranging in age from the Mesozoic to the recent past. There are two main geomorphological domains: the low mountains and the medium wavy high plains.

The reserve presents a high variety of ecosystems and habitats, which condition its flora and fauna. The flora is made up of 889 plant organisms, grouped into 608 upper plants (trees, shrubs and herbaceous) and 281 lower plants (fungi, mosses and lichens), with 11% endemism, although there are areas that reach up to 34%; while the fauna presents very high endemism in particular groups, such as mollusks, which can reach 40%. Amphibians and reptiles exceed 80% endemism.

These endemics of the flora are mostly of national distribution, although 17 of them represent pine species, among which the male pine (Pinus caribaea), a forest species of multiple economic interest, stands out. The endemic and monotypic Phyllomelia (Rubiacea) genus of the pine forest has only been documented worldwide for Cajálbana and Sierra del Rosario. Eleven percent of the endemics are mainly shrubs. Sierra del Rosario has several plant formations: evergreen, semi-deciduous, pine, quabales, mogote complex and secondary vegetation.

Of the fauna, the most studied groups are amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Ninety species of mollusks belonging to 26 families have been reported in different localities of two forest ecosystems. 16 species of amphibians, with 81.7% of endemism, have been grouped into one order and four families. So far, 33 species of reptiles have been reported, of which 27 are endemic, with 81.8% of endemism, grouped in 2 orders and one suborder, belonging to 10 families. There are 117 species of birds reported, in 17 orders and 30 families, 12 of which are endemic. Among the mammals, bats stand out with 11 species, and 2 native representatives of the order Rodentia.

Itinerary

• Reception and welcome cocktail with brief explanation of the Project.
• Walk on trails on the western slope of the San Juan River Valley (Along the route you can appreciate a wide biodiversity of vegetation, flora and fauna)
• We visit the ruins of the Santa Serafina coffee plantation located on the banks of the San Juan River.
• Picnic lunch depending on the chosen modality.

Departures

This tour starts at Hotel Moka located in Las terraces, but it can be done from other destinations:

• Cayo Levisa
• Pinar del Río
• Soroa
• Viñales
• Havana
• Shipyard

Details of the excursion

• The excursion is made in the company of a local guide.
• Difficulty Level: Medium
• Duration: 3 hrs
• Minimum Quantity: 2 Pax

Variants

You will be able to select the different variants:

• Collective or Private Tour
• Tour with or without Picnic: PICNIC: 1 Ham and/or Cheese Sandwich, 1 National Production Drinks, 1 Water and 1 Jam
• Tour departing from various destinations depending on the type of transport.