Cuba - Lonely Planet [148]
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Bus 38 leaves from the corner of Calles 18 and 37, departing for Chacón (Presidio Modelo), Playa Paraíso and Playa Bibijagua, about four times a day.
CAR
Havanautos ( 32-44-32; cnr Calles 32 & 39; 7am-7pm) rents cars, and can arrange transport into the military zone.
The Servi-Cupet gas station is at the corner of Calles 30 and 39 in the center of town.
HORSE CARTS
Horse coches (carts) often park next to the Cubalse supermarket on Calle 35. You can easily rent one at CUC$10 per day for excursions to the Presidio Modelo, Museo Finca El Abra, Playa Bibijagua and other nearby destinations.
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EAST OF NUEVA GERONA
The island’s most impressive but depressing sight is the Presidio Modelo at Reparto Chacón, 5km east of Nueva Gerona. Built between 1926 and 1931, during the repressive regime of Gerardo Machado, the prison’s four five-story, yellow circular blocks were modeled after those of a notorious penitentiary in Joliet, Illinois, and could hold 5000 prisoners at a time. During WWII, assorted enemy nationals who happened to find themselves in Cuba (including 350 Japanese, 50 Germans and 25 Italians) were interned in the two rectangular blocks at the north end of the complex.
The Presidio’s most famous inmates, however, were Fidel Castro and the other Moncada rebels who were imprisoned here from October 1953 to May 1955. They were held separately from the other prisoners, in the hospital building at the south end of the complex. In 1967, the prison was closed and the section where Castro stayed was converted into a museum ( 32-51-12; admission CUC$2; 8am-4pm Tue-Sat, 8am-noon Sun). Admission includes a tour, but cameras/videos are CUC$3/25 extra. Bring exact change. Admission to the circular blocks is free.
Cementerio Colombia, with the graves of Americans who lived and died on the island during the 1920s and 1930s, is about 7km east of Nueva Gerona and 2km east of Presidio Modelo. Bus 38 passes here.
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ASK A LOCAL
While Fidel was serving time in Presidio Modelo, President Batista came to visit the prison and its authorities. Fidel used the opportunity to stage a very noisy protest against the Cuban dictator. As a consequence, he was placed in solitary confinement for six months.
Juan, Nueva Gerona
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Cabañas Playa Paraíso ( 32-52-46), on a beach 2km north of Chacón (about 6km northeast of Nueva Gerona), usually doesn’t rent rooms to foreigners, but the bar & restaurant ( noon-8pm) are open to all. Playa Paraíso itself is no paradise, but more a dirty brown beach. Still, it’s in a scenic spot, with a high hill behind and a small island offshore. The wharf here was originally used to unload prisoners for the Presidio Modelo. If you’re driving around this way, there’s a better beach called Playa Bibijagua 4km to the east of Chacón. Here there are pine trees, a peso restaurant and plenty of low-key Cuban ambience. Nondrivers can catch bus 38 from Nueva Gerona.
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SOUTH OF NUEVA GERONA
Sights & Activities
The main reason to come here is for the diving at Punta Francés (see boxed text,), but there are a couple of other interesting diversions for those who have time.
Situated 6km west of Santa Fe in the direction of El Colony, La Jungla de Jones ( 39-62-46; admission CUC$3; 24hr) is a rich and verdant botanical garden containing more than 80 varieties of tree. Bisected by a network of shaded trails and punctuated by a cornucopia of cacti, bamboo and mangoes, this expansive and recently restored garden once belonged to two American botanists, Helen and Harris Jones, who set up the establishment in 1902 with the intention of studying plants and trees from around the world. The highlight of La Jungla is the aptly named Bamboo Cathedral, an enclosed space surrounded by huge clumps of craning bamboo that only a few strands of sunlight manage to penetrate.
Criadero Cocodrilo