Cuba - Lonely Planet [294]
Situated 33km from Holguín via a scenic road that undulates through friendly, eye-catching villages, Gibara is a small, intimate place whose unique oceanside atmosphere gives it a distinct, almost non-Cuban, flavor. Redolent of a small Baracoa, the town’s beautiful bayside setting is characterized by pretty plazas, crumbling Spanish ruins and a postcard view of the saddle-shaped Silla de Gibara that so captivated Columbus.
Each year in April Gibara hosts the Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre (International Low-Budget Film Festival; see boxed text,), which draws films and filmmakers from all over the world.
Information
Most services line Calle Independencia.
Banco Popular de Ahorro (cnr Independencia & Cuba) Changes traveler’s checks.
Bandec (cnr Independencia & J Peralta) Also changes traveler’s checks.
Post office (Independencia No 15) There are few public phones here.
Sights
At the time of writing, Gibara was still recovering from Hurricane Ike, and many of the sights mentioned below were closed due to storm damage. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before they are revived and reopened.
At the top of Calle Cabada is El Cuartelón, a crumbling-brick Spanish fort with graceful arches that provides stunning town and bay views. Continue on this street for 200m to Restaurante El Mirador for an even better vantage point. You’ll see remnants of the old fortresses here and at the Fuerte Fernando VII, on the point beyond Parque de las Madres, a block over from Parque Calixto García.
The centerpiece of Parque Calixto García (lined with weird robles africanos – African oaks with large penis-shaped pods) is Iglesia de San Fulgencio (1850). The Statue of Liberty in front commemorates the Spanish-Cuban-American War. On the western side of the square, in a beautiful colonial palace (more interesting than the stuffed stuff it collects), is the Museo de Historia Natural (Luz Caballero No 23; admission CUC$1; 8am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Wed, 8am-noon, 1-5pm & 8-10pm Thu-Sun). Through barred windows you can watch women rolling cheroots in the cigar factory across the square.
Two museums share the colonial mansion (1872) at Independencia No 19: the Museo de Historia Municipal (admission CUC$1; 8am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Wed, 8am-noon, 1-5pm & 8-10pm Thu-Sun) downstairs and the Museo de Artes Decorativas ( 84-44-07; admission CUC$2; 8am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Wed, 8am-noon, 1-5pm & 8-10pm Thu-Sun) upstairs. The latter is more interesting, with nearly 800 pieces collected from Gibara’s colonial heyday. Across the street is Galería Cosme Proenza (Independencia No 32), with wall-to-wall works by one of Cuba’s foremost painters.
Activities
There are three decent beaches within striking distance of Gibara. Playa Los Bajos is usually accessible by local lancha (ferry), costing a few pesos, from the fishing pier on La Enramada, the waterfront road leading out of town. These boats cross the Bahía de Gibara to Playa Blanca, from where it’s 3km east to Playa Los Bajos. Should the ferry be out of action, Los Bajos is a rough 30km drive via Floro Pérez and Fray Benito. For more on Playa Blanca, Click here.
You’ll need some sort of transport (bike, taxi, rental car) to get to lovely, little Playa Caletones, 17km to the west of Gibara. The apostrophe of white sand and azure sea here is a favorite of vacationers from Holguín. The town is ramshackle, with no services except the thatched place guarded by a palm tree that serves as a bar in summer. The beach suffered damage from Hurricane Ike.
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THE POOR MAN’S FILM FESTIVAL
There’s no red carpet, no paparazzi and no Brangelina, but what the Festival Internacional de Cine Pobre (International Low-Budget Film Festival) lacks in glitz it makes up for in raw, undiscovered talent. Then there’s the setting – ethereal Gibara, Cuba’s crumbling Villa Blanca, a perfect antidote to the opulence of Hollywood and Cannes.
Inaugurated in 2003, the Cine Pobre was the