CubaPLUS Magazine

Distant about 17 kilometers from Nueva Gerona, the capital of the southern Isla de la Juventud, nature reigns, curls up and goes wild as if carelessly, in the so-called Jungle of Jones, one of the most mythical Botanical Gardens in Cuba, perhaps because it was the fruit of an obsessive passion of his creator for nature and of the love that linked him to his wife.

This 15-hectare forest, which has known good and bad spells, was chosen at the beginning of the 20th century by the marriage of Helen Rodman (maiden name), a naturalist, and Harry Sanford Jones, a biologist, both from Chicago, Illinois, to establish permanent residence in the place, even when they traveled frequently.

In the enclave they began to plant a great variety of plant species, many of them exotic that were brought to the country by sea and air. With true commitment and investigative spirit, the Joneses joined their lives and efforts to make a beautiful tropical botanical garden project a reality.

They had the collaboration of the US Department of Agriculture through Dr. David Fairchild. Along with the enjoyment of scientific experimentation, the place became a paradisiacal site, not exempt from the seductions that its rare foreign species, along with the native to the island, contributed. It was a quiet place that was also visited with pleasure by those who were going to receive treatment in the nearby therapeutic hot springs and the so-called Jungle of Jones was gaining fame.

At the death of her husband, Helen survived him for many years, without leaving the place, with a very lonely life. Upon her death, came the cloak of silence and abandonment. Legends were born. As if it were the tangled forest of Sleeping Beauty, everyone seemed to forget what a beautiful garden it was, with recognition even on a national level.

Until 1998, another couple of young spouses, Cubans this time, requested to take care of rescuing the valuable species of the site, something they noticed on a tour. Thus, the Jones Jungle began to be reborn since then. Among its legends there is the old Tree of Love, which by a happy coincidence of nature tightly intertwines branches in an embrace. They say it's the hug of the Joneses, who refuse to leave that place of bewitching beauty.