Cuba - Lonely Planet [135]
Activities
The Jardines de Hershey ( 20-26-85) is a tract of land formerly owned by the famous American chocolate tycoon, Milton Hershey, who ran the nearby sugar mill. It’s pretty wild these days, with attractive paths, plenty of green foliage and a beautiful river, and this essentially is its charm. There are a couple of thatched-roof restaurants on-site and an all-pervading sense of peace and tranquility. It’s a lovely spot for lunch and a stroll. The gardens are situated approximately 1km north of Camilo Cienfuegos train station on the Hershey train line. Alternatively, if you’re staying in Playa Jibacoa, it’s approximately 4km south of Santa Cruz del Norte. The road is quiet and it makes a nice hike if you’re up to it.
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THE HERSHEY TRAIN
‘Cow on the line,’ drawls the bored-looking ticket seller. ‘Train shut for cleaning’ reads a scruffy hand-scrawled notice. To Habaneros, the catalog of daily transport delays is tediously familiar. While the name of the antediluvian Hershey Electric Railway might suggest a sweet treat to most visitors, in Cuba it signifies a more bitter mix of bumpy journeys, hard seats and interminable waits.
Built in 1921 by US chocolate ‘czar’ Milton S Hershey (1857–1945), the electric-powered railway line was originally designed to link the American mogul’s humungous sugar mill in eastern Havana province with stations in Matanzas and the capital. Running along a trailblazing rural route, it soon became a lifeline for isolated communities cut off from the provincial transport network.
In 1959 the Hershey factory was nationalized and renamed Central Camilo Cienfuegos after Cuba’s celebrated rebel commander. But the train continued to operate, clinging unofficially to its chocolate-inspired nickname. In the true tradition of the postrevolutionary ‘waste not, want not’ economy, it also clung to the same tracks, locomotives, carriages, signals and stations.
While a long way from Orient Express–style luxury, an excursion on today’s Hershey train is a captivating journey back in time to the days when cars were for rich people and sugar was king. For outsiders, this is Cuba as the Cubans see it; a microcosm of rural life at the sharp end with all its daily frustrations, conversations, foibles and – er – fun.
Seemingly stopping at every house, hut, horse stable and hillock between Havana and Matanzas, getting off is something of a toss-up. Beach bums can disembark at Guanabo and wander 2km north for a taste of Havana’s rustic eastern resorts. History buffs can get off at Camilo Cienfuegos and stroll around the ruins of the old Hershey sugar mill. The rest can choose between Playa Jibacoa, Arcos de Canasí and the beautiful Valley of Yumurí.
For more information on train times, stations and prices, Click here.
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Puerto Escondido Cubamar ( 866-2524; Carretera Panamericana Km 80) has a smallish water sports center at Puerto Escondido, 1.5km off the Vía Blanca, 7km east of Arcos de Canasí. It offers scuba diving at the usual price of CUC$30 per dive and two-hour snorkeling trips for CUC$10 (four-person minimum), both including gear. Deep-sea fishing is also available.
There is good snorkeling from the beach facing Campismo Los Cocos, and heading westward along the coast you’ll find unpopulated pockets where you can don a mask or relax under a palm.
Although technically in Havana province, Ranchón Gaviota ( 61-47-02; admission incl meal CUC$8; 9am-6pm), 12km inland from Puerto Escondido, is usually incorporated in day trips from Matanzas and Varadero and approached via a pretty drive through the palm-sprinkled countryside of the Valle de Yumurí. The hilltop ranch overlooking a reservoir offers horseback riding, kayaking, cycling, plus a massive feast of ajiaco (meat stew), roasted pork, congrí (rice with beans), salad, dessert and coffee. To get to the Ranchón from Havana province take the inland road for 2km to Arcos de Canasí and turn left at the fork for another 10km to the signpost.
Sleeping & Eating
Campismo Los Cocos (Cubamar;