Cuba - Lonely Planet [160]
There are also some casas particulares (CUC$15 to CUC$20) available in Sandino, 6km southwest of the Laguna Grande turn-off and 89km from Pinar del Río. Try Motel Alexis ( 84-32-82; Zona L No 33; r CUC$15-20) or nearby Casa de Estrella; both are signposted just off the main highway.
Getting There & Away
Two trains a day travel between Pinar del Río and Guane stopping at San Luis, San Juan y Martínez, Sábalo and Isabel Rubio (two hours). Passenger trucks run periodically between Guane and Sandino, but southwest of there, public transport is sparse, bar the sporadic Havanatur transfer Click here. Be sure to fill your tank up at the Servi-Cupet gas station in Isabel Rubio if you intend to drive to Cabo de San Antonio, as this is the last gasp for gas.
Return to beginning of chapter
PENÍNSULA DE GUANAHACABIBES
As the island narrows at its western end, you fall upon the low-lying and ecologically rich Península de Guanahacabibes, one of Cuba’s most isolated enclaves that once provided shelter for its earliest inhabitants, the Guanahatabeys. A two-hour drive from Pinar del Río, this region lacks major tourist infrastructure meaning it feels a lot more isolated than it is. The Guanahacabibes is famous for its national park (also a Unesco Biosphere Reserve) and an international-standard diving center at María la Gorda.
Return to beginning of chapter
PARQUE NACIONAL PENÍNSULA DE GUANAHACABIBES
Flat and deceptively narrow, the elongated Península de Guanahacabibes begins at La Fe, 94km southwest of Pinar del Río. In 1987, 1015 sq km of this uninhabited sliver of idyllic coastline were declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco – one of only six in Cuba. The reasons for the protection measures were manifold. Firstly, the reserve’s submerged coastline features a wide variety of different landscapes including broad mangrove swamps, low scrub thicket vegetation and an uplifted shelf of alternating white sand and coral rock. Secondly, the area’s distinctive limestone karst formations are home to a plethora of unique flora and fauna including 172 species of bird, 700 species of plant, 18 types of mammal, 35 reptiles, 19 amphibians, 86 types of butterfly and 16 orchid species. Sea turtles, including loggerhead and green turtles, come ashore at night in summer to lay their eggs – the park is the only part of mainland Cuba where this happens. If you’re here between May and October, night tours can be arranged to watch the turtles nest. Another curiosity is the swarms of cangrejos colorados (red and yellow crabs) that crawl across the peninsula’s rough central road only to be unceremoniously crushed under the tires of passing cars. The stench of the smashed shells is memorable.
To date, Guanahacabibes’ value as an archaeological goldmine is still in the discovery stage. Suffice to say the area is thought to shelter at least 100 important archaeological sites relating to Cuba’s oldest and least-known indigenous inhabitants, the Guanahatabey.
In late 2008 Guanahacabibes was on the verge of opening a long-awaited new visitors center designed to exhibit the park’s environmental riches and educate people about its ongoing conservation efforts.
Orientation & Information
Although the park border straddles the tiny community of La Fe, the entry to the reserve proper is at La Bajada where you’ll find the Estación Ecológica Guanahacabibes. Just beyond the office the road splits in two with the left-hand branch going south to María la Gorda (14km along a deteriorating coastal road) and the right fork heading west toward the end of the peninsula.
It’s a 120km round-trip to Cuba’s westernmost point from here. The lonesome Cabo de San Antonio is populated by a solitary lighthouse, the Faro Roncali, inaugurated by the Spanish in 1849, and a Gaviota marina and villa (see opposite). Four kilometers