Cuba - Lonely Planet [144]
As fascinating as a dusty Beatles bootleg, the Museo de la Lucha Clandestina ( 32-45-82; Calle 24 btwn Calles 43 & 45; admission CUC$1; 9am-5pm Tue-Sat, 8am-noon Sun) is stuffed with rarely seen artifacts of the revolutionary struggle against Batista. There are reams of letters written by the imprisoned Castro and others, timeworn M-26-7 regalia, and some revealing prison photos of the young Fidel and his band of merry Moncadistas hanging out in the Presidio Modelo, c 1954.
Astronomers and botanists needn’t get too excited about the Planetario y Museo de Historia Natural ( 32-31-43; cnr Calles 41 & 52; admission CUC$2; 8am-5pm Tue-Sat, 9am-noon Sun). This two-in-one museum/planetarium showcases the natural history, geology and archaeology of the island. There’s a replica of the Cueva Punta del Este cave paintings here if you can’t make it out there (Click here) and an often out-of‑order telescope. Ask a guard and you might get lucky.
MUSEO FINCA EL ABRA
This museum (Carretera Siguanea Km 2; 9am-5pm Tue-Sun) is 3km southwest of Nueva Gerona, off the road to La Demajagua (the continuation of Calle 41). Coming from Motel El Rancho El Tesoro, go southwest a few hundred meters on a dirt road to another highway. Turn right and cross a bridge over the Río Las Casas. At the next junction, turn right again and you’ll soon come to a sign indicating the access road to Finca El Abra.
The teenage José Martí arrived at Finca El Abra on October 17, 1870, to spend nine weeks of exile on this farm, prior to his deportation to Spain. Legend has it that the shackles he wore here were forged into a ring by his mother, which Martí wore to his death. The old hacienda is directly below the Sierra de Las Casas and it’s worth coming as much for the surroundings as for the museum. Cuban oaks and eucalyptus trees line the access road, and a huge ceiba tree stands next to the museum. A sundial (1868) is outside the museum. The adjacent house is still occupied by Omar Sarda, whose ancestor Giuseppe Girondella hosted Martí here.
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INTO THE BLUE
Protected from sea currents off the Gulf of Mexico and blessed with a remarkable diversity of coral and marine life, Isla de la Juventud offers some of the best diving possibilities in the Caribbean. There are 56 buoyed dive sites here including everything from caves and passages, to vertical walls and coral hillocks. Wreck diving is also possible further east where the remains of 70 ships have been found in an area known as Bajo de Zambo.
International Diving Center ( 39-82-82/-84), run from the Marina Siguanea, a few kilometers south of Hotel Colony, is the center of operations for the diving crowd. The establishment has a modern on-site recompression chamber along with the services of a dive doctor, and it is from here that you can organize trips out to the National Maritime Park at Punta Francés.
Boat transfers to Punta Francés take about an hour and deliver you to a gorgeous stretch of white-sand beach (complete with rustic restaurant) from which most of the main dive sites are easily accessible. The cream of the crop are Cueva Azul (advanced) and Pared de Coral Negro (intermediate), where you’ll see abundant numbers of fish including tarpon, barracuda, groupers, snooks and angelfish – along with the odd sea turtle.
Diving costs start at CUC$30. Nondivers can get to the beach for CUC$8; there’s a lunch buffet at a rustic restaurant for CUC$12.
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To loop back to town, look for the dirt road just before the museum. This road leads north to the island’s former marble quarry, which is clearly visible in the distance. The quarry is moderately interesting (if you dig big holes in the ground), but the real attraction is the climb up the hill, from where there are lovely views. After descending, continue north between a garbage dump and several rows of pig pens (not very attractive, but any loop has got to be better than backtracking, right?) to Calle 54 on the right. This street will bring you into town via the Planetario y