Cienaga de Zapata

Made a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2000, the Zapata Swamp is the largest wetland in the insular Caribbean and protects one of the last wild populations of the Cuban crocodile, an endemic species listed as endangered and genetically distinct from its more widespread American relatives. On its coast lies the Bay of Pigs, scene in April 1961 of the failed invasion by Cuban exiles backed by the American CIA against Fidel Castro's government, a Cold War episode that shaped relations between Cuba and the United States for decades afterwards. The reserve is also home to the bee hummingbird, the smallest bird in the world, at barely 5-6 cm long.