CubaPLUS Magazine

The commercial director of the Cuban National Botanical Garden, Daikel Adriano Abreu, reported this Tuesday that his scientific-student entity promotes tourist actions such as a recent night bicycle race, focused on nature tourism.

The professor of the Faculty of Tourism of the University of Havana, also praised the initiative and pointed out to Prensa Latina its development and repetition taking advantage of the areas of the Garden, an important extension for academic and information development.

A group of young people from different initiatives formed a work team under the name of El Experimento, to carry out said race. This project seeks to carry out the best events with minimum costs. Under this banner they held several meetings and competitions in Havana, including the aforementioned night race at the end of September (last weekend). The idea of a night competition appealed to these young people and was encouraged by the management of the Botanical Garden.

Thirty-seven people participated in the competition, including seven girls, members of MTB (mountain bike clubs) in the Cuban capital, as well as several triathletes, sports fans and members of the national skating team. The competition took place on a 6.88 kilometer (km) asphalt circuit within the facilities of the Garden, with three laps for a total of 20.64 km.

The idea was to prepare the athletes for future night events with more complexity. This competition added a meeting of the attendees and other lovers of these forms of active tourism with the presence of the disc-jockey (DJ or deejay), Dj Landeep, also a member of the MTB sports club called Los Negativos. Both the competition and the meeting included a weekend camping in the park. This is the first night competition to be held in the western part of the country, the precursor being one held in the central Cuban province of Sancti Spíritus in 2018.

The organizers and authorities of the Garden have the idea of holding other events of this type, due to its acceptance. The list of winners was extensive, say the sources, with prizes for the girls Alina Concepción, María Carla and Eva María Fernández. In the Elite category, Alex Villar, Leoandris Trista and David Vega triumphed.

For Master A, the winners were Ernesto Santiago Gómez, Ángel Daniel Safora, and Elián Méndez. Master B was won by Félix Media, Josbel Céspedes, and Henry Mayo. As for the General classification, the winners were Ernesto Santiago Gómez, Alex Villar, and Ángel Daniel Safora.

The commercial director of the Botanical Garden recently (September 24-29, South East of Cuba) participated in the 14th edition of the International Nature Tourism Event-Turnat 2024 and expressed satisfaction with the knowledge acquired during those days. He stated that it is a very efficient way to face current global travel trends, with actions related to nature, adventure and rural tourism, which they intend to take advantage of at the National Botanical Garden, through initiatives such as the one mentioned.

The National Botanical Garden is dedicated to the exhibition of tropical plant diversity and includes among its objectives the recreation of visitors. The center was inaugurated by the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro (1926-2016) on January 4, 1989, together with ExpoCuba, and has an area of 600 hectares, with four thousand plant species. (Taken from Prensa Latina)