It is illegal to kill the national bird, the turtledove, a brownish member of the pigeon family.
Text and photos: Rolando Pujol
About 177 km from Havana is Cayo Largo del Sur, a small island that is part of the Canarreos Archipelago in its southern portion. The islet, one of the most interesting tourist destinations in the country, offers 25 km of practically virgin beaches.
Among the diversity of species of flora that populate the key, there is a tree that has a special protection, the Yana, a variety of mangrove, which has survived for several centuries, dominating with its thick branches almost a hundred square meters in the middle of the uverales and coastal palms. Because of its antiquity, and the archaeological remains found in its surroundings, it is presumed that it coexisted with the last aboriginal communities that populated the key.
Considered a sacred tree because of its longevity and the legends that surround it, of spirits and deities that inhabit it, La Yana is visited by people from all over the world in search of spiritual purification and good fortune.
It is illegal to kill the national bird, the turtledove, a brownish member of the pigeon family.
