Cuba - Lonely Planet [302]
Alternatively, head down the street to Las 400 Rosas, an outdoor Convertible place that sells sodas, beer and snacks, and is situated next to the Museo Indocubano Bani.
Entertainment
Cafe Cantante (General Marrero No 320) This gregarious, music-filled patio is the top spot in Banes with honking municipal band rehearsals, discos, son (Cuba’s basic form of popular music) septets and zen-inducing jazz jams.
Casa de Cultura ( 80-21-11; General Marrero No 320) Next door to Cafe Cantante this venue, housed in the former Casino Español (1926), has a regular Sunday trova (traditional poetic songs) matinee at 3pm and Saturday peña del rap (rap music session) at 9pm.
Getting There & Away
From the bus station at the corner of Tráfico and Los Ángeles, one morning bus goes to Holguín (72km) daily (supposedly). An afternoon bus connects with the train to Havana. Trucks leave Banes for Holguín more frequently. A taxi from Guardalavaca will cost around CUC$20 one-way, or you can tackle it from a bike or moped in an easy day trip.
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BIRÁN
Fidel Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, at the Finca Las Manacas (aka Casa de Fidel) near the village of Birán, south of Cueto. The farm, which was bought by Fidel’s father Ángel in 1915, is huge, and includes its own workers’ village (a cluster of small thatched huts for the mainly Haitian laborers), a cockfighting ring, a post office, a store and a telegraph. The several large yellow wooden houses that can be glimpsed through the cedar trees are where the Castro family lived.
The Finca opened as a museum in 2002 under the unassuming name of Sitio Histórico de Birán (admission/camera/video CUC$10/20/40; 9am-noon & 1:30-4pm Tue-Sat, 9am-noon Sun), supposedly to downplay any Castro ‘personality cult.’ The modesty extends to the signage, which is nonexistent. Nonetheless, the museum is an interesting excursion containing more than a hundred photos, assorted clothes, Fidel’s childhood bed and his father’s 1918 Ford motorcar. With 27 installations, the place constitutes a pueblito (small town) and, if nothing else, shows the extent of the inheritance that this hot-headed ex-lawyer gave up when he lived in the Sierra Maestra for two years surviving on a diet of crushed crabs and raw horse meat.
You’ll find the graves of Fidel’s parents, Ángel Castro and Lina Ruz, to the right of the entrance gate.
To get here, take the southern turnoff 7km west of Cueto, and drive 7km south to the Central Loynaz Hechevarría sugar mill at Marcané. From there a road runs 8km east to Birán, from which it’s another 3km northeast to Finca Las Manacas.
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SIERRA DEL CRISTAL
Cuba’s own ‘Little Switzerland’ is a rugged amalgam of the Sierra del Cristal and the Altiplanicie de Nipe that contains two important national parks. Parque Nacional Sierra Cristal, Cuba’s oldest, was founded in 1930 and harbors 1213m Pico de Cristal, the province’s highest summit. Of more interest to travelers is the 5300-hectare Parque Nacional La Mensura, 30km south of Mayarí, which protects the island’s highest waterfall, yields copious Caribbean pines and hosts a mountain research center run by the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba (Cuban Academy of Sciences). Notable for its cool alpine microclimate and 100 or more species of endemic plants, La Mensura offers hiking and horseback-riding activities and accommodation in an economical Gaviota-run hotel.
Sights & Activities
Most activities can be organized at Villa Pinares del Mayarí (right) or via excursions from Guardalavaca’s hotels (CUC$78 by jeep or CUC$110 by helicopter; Click here).
At just over 100m in height, the Salto del Guayabo is the highest waterfall in Cuba. The guided 1.2km hike to its base through fecund tropical forest costs CUC$5 and includes swimming in a natural pool.
La Plancha (admission free), on the left on the access road a few kilometers before the hotel, is a small flower and crop garden containing everything from mariposas to sugarcane. More flora can be observed on the Sendero La