Baracoa

Whilst there are direct flights from London to Havana with Virgin Airlines the seats get sold quickly, and our relative lateness in booking our holiday meant we travelled via Madrid with Air Europa.  It was not an airline we were familiar with, and judging by our outbound flight, not one to be recommended.  After delays at Madrid we finally arrived at our hotel in Havana at 11pm, to be greeted by a note from our tour organiser informing us of a 3am start next day to catch a flight to the other end of the island. 

 

Our early morning flight to Guantanamo on a Russian Antonov 158 was uneventful.  This, though was not to be our final destination that day.  We travelled by coach for 3 hours on a switchback road across the mountains to Baracoa on the Eastern tip of Cuba.  Baracoa was isolated and only accessible by boat until the construction of 'La Farola' in the 1960's, one of the most spectacular roads in Cuba, joined to the mountains on one side and supported by columns on the other.

 

 

Children selling mandarins beside the road on the journey from Guantanamo to Baracoa

Baracoa was the landing point for Columbus in 1492 and the first town to be settled on Cuba in 1511. Our hotel, El Castillo, was formerly one of the 3 forts protecting the settlement.  It looks down over the town, a ramshackle collection of single storied houses, painted walls and corrugated iron roofs.  Its simplicity and appearance, untouched by commercialism, gives it an immediate appeal, and it has consequently become popular with tourists.  Bicycles, push carts, and horse drawn buggies far outnumber the few 1950's Cadillacs or imported Russian Lada cars.

 

 

We rested through the afternoon and in the evening enjoyed our first Cuban meal, getting to know the other members of our group.  We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the meal, a selection of plates including clams, chicken, shrimps, pork, fish,

plantains, rice, salad, Swiss chard, and soups. 

 

Next day we toured a small farm where the crops grown included cocoa bean, mango, mandarins, coconut, and coffee.  We received a demonstration of the chocolate making process and enjoyed a cup of fresh hot chocolate.  Later we enjoyed a boat trip on the Rio Toa, Cuba's widest river and swam for an hour at its estuary and confluence with the Atlantic Ocean.

Looking across Baracoa from the hotel El Castillo, a converted fortress located high above the town.