Rob Sequin | Havana Journal

Cuba’s westernmost province called Pinar del Río is home to the magnificent orchid gardens in Soroa Cuba.

This lovely countryside region is seventy kilometers west of Havana and offers a beautiful twenty two meter waterfall and stunning little mountains called “mogotes” because of their round tops

Soroa is named after two Spanish brothers, Lorenzo and Antonio Soroa Muñagorri who arrived in Cuba in 1856 with the hope of making a fortune as coffee producers.

Nature lovers, flower aficionados and tourists in general enjoy Soroa Cuba for its diverse flora and wildlife. The Hotel Soroa offers horse riding tours and natural trails under the guidance of trained Cuban guides. One can also visit the ruins of French coffee plantations from the 19th century along with excursions to the Bayate River and the farmer community of El Brujito La Comadre.

Here’s a great video of Soroa in Cuba. Even though it is in German, the video shows you the beauty of this region.

Soroa’s natural environment also offers unique cycling and mountain climbing experiences. The Manantiales River and natural baths in the so-called Poza del Amor or “Love Pool” are not to be missed.

The region is the natural habitat of one of the smallest frogs in the world, in addition to 80 species of birds, many of which are endemic to Cuba, especially the tocororo (Cuban trogon), which is the national bird of Cuba.

The Soroa orchid garden features hundreds of varieties of orchids. It covers an area of 35,000 square meters and has more than 20,000 orchid plants. It also has thousands of ferns and trees that make it a truly unique destination in the world located in the Sierra del Rosario, a world biosphere reserve.

The first orchids arrived in Soroa in 1948. They were imported by the founder of the Soroa Cuba orchid garden, Tomás Felipe Camacho.

The Soroa Cuba photo gallery is a treat that will hold you over until you can visit this unique flower region in Cuba.

While in at that Soroa Orchid Garden, also known as the “Orquideario de Soroa” in Spanish, you can visit the Museo Comunidad Las Terrazas and stay at Villa Soroa at kilometer 8 in Pinar del Rio.

At this time, botanists from several Cuban provinces are planning the collection of orchid plants for replanting in Soroa after devastation by recent hurricanes.

They will start gathering and stockpiling orchids next month.

Soroa’s Orchid Garden scientist Jorge Lazaro Bocourt stated that the in vitro reproduction of orchids in this manner will help bring the Soroa Orchid gardens back to their full beauty.

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