Cuba - Lonely Planet [218]
* * *
Unusually for a campismo, Villa Guajimico has its own Dive Center ( 54-09-46) serving 16 dive sites situated atop an offshore coral ridge. Dive packages with five immersions go for CUC$125.
Sleeping & Eating
Villa Yaguanabo (Islazul; Map; 54-00-99; Carretera de Trinidad Km 55; s/d CUC$20/26) Twenty-six kilometers west of Trinidad and 52km east of Cienfuegos, the Yaguanabo has 30 nicely situated Islazul cabins and offers horseback riding, boating on the Yaguanabo River as well as short walks along the Villa Yaguanabo trail.
Villa Guajimico (Cubamar; Map; 54-09-46; Carretera de Trinidad Km 42; s/d CUC$22/36; ) This is one of Cubamar’s most luxurious campismos and the 51 attractive cabins and idyllic seaside setting could easily compete with a medium-priced (three-star) hotel. The villa is a nexus for scuba divers and also offers bike hire, car rental, various catamaran/kayaking options and a couple of short hiking trails. It is also a fully equipped Campertour site.
Both accommodations have restaurants, but there’s a nicer option at Hacienda La Vega nearby Click here.
Return to beginning of chapter
Villa Clara Province
* * *
SANTA CLARA
EMBALSE HANABANILLA
REMEDIOS
CAIBARIÉN
CAYERÍAS DEL NORTE
BAÑOS DE ELGUEA
* * *
He wasn’t born here, never lived here and died thousands of miles away in the remote mountains of Bolivia, yet cocksure Villa Clara will always be synonymous with Che Guevara, its proudly adopted Argentine son.
For many people, the Che connection is the only reason to visit this undulating and surprisingly diverse province. But Villa Clara existed long before history’s most marketable guerrillero rolled into the city of Santa Clara and sabotaged an armored train.
Known formerly as Las Villas province, the land wedged between the Escambray Mountains and Cuba’s northern keys is a pretty pastiche of misty tobacco fields and placid lakes, originally colonized by farmers from the Canary Islands. Emerging above the coastal plains is Remedios, the region’s oldest settlement, a tranquil, picturesque town whose somnolence is rudely interrupted every December by a rousing, cacophonous firework party known locally as Las Parrandas.
Stuck in the middle and long an important junction for cross-country travelers, the city of Santa Clara hides a sharp youthful energy beneath its grandiose Che veneer. Home of the most prestigious university outside Havana, the social scene here is animated and cutting edge with a nightlife that includes Cuba’s first (and only) official drag show.
To the south the lofty peaks of the Escambray glimmer with outdoor adventure possibilities. Access here is by boat across Cuba’s largest upland lake, the mirror-like Lago Hanabanilla, stocked to the brim with largemouth bass.
North is the Cayerías del Norte, the island’s newest and fastest-growing tourist resort, though a network of flora and fauna reserves and the presence of the adjacent Buena Vista Unesco Biosphere Reserve have meant that development has been relatively sustainable – so far.
* * *
HIGHLIGHTS
Che City Trace the legend of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in Santa Clara’s mausoleum Click here and Tren Blindado
Quiet Corner Relax beneath the louvers in the unspoiled colonial pocket of Remedios
Nights on the Town Plug into the electric nightlife in Santa Clara’s Club Mejunje
Witches Villa Find plenty of magic but no brujas (witches) at Villa Las Brujas
Cuban Cure Submerge yourself in the sulfur springs at Baños de Elguea
TELEPHONE CODE: 042
POPULATION: 817,070
AREA: 8662 SQ KM
* * *
History
Located strategically in the island’s geographical center, Villa Clara has long been a focal point for corsairs, colonizers and revolutionaries intent