Cuba - Lonely Planet [322]
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ASK A LOCAL
There’s a small, rarely visited museum in the village of El Plátano, a few kilometers southwest of Sevilla on the Manzanillo road. It’s in the former homestead of Guillermo García, a campesino who lived here during the 1950s and helped Fidel and the Granma survivors regroup.
Miguel, Marea del Portillo
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Sleeping & Eating
Hotel Marea del Portillo (Cubanacán; 59-70-08; s/d all-inclusive CUC$70/100; ) It’s not Cayo Coco, but it barely seems to matter here. In fact, Marea’s all-round functionalism and lack of big-resort pretension seem to work well in this traditional corner of Cuba. The 74 rooms are perfectly adequate, the food buffet does a good job, and the dark sandy arc of beach set in the warm rain shadow of the Sierra Maestra is within baseball-pitching of your balcony/patio. Servicing older Canadians and some Cuban families means there is a mix of people here; plus plenty of interesting excursions to some of the island’s lesser heralded sights.
Hotel Farallón del Caribe (Cubanacán; 59-70-09; s/d all-inclusive CUC$95/120; ) Perched on a low hill with the Caribbean on one side and the Sierra Maestra on the other, the Farallón is Marea’s bigger and richer sibling. Cozy and comfortable all-inclusive facilities are complemented by five-star surroundings and truly magical views across Granma’s hilly hinterland. Exciting excursions can be organized at the Cubanacán desk here into the Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma, or you can simply sit by the pool/beach and do absolutely nothing. The resort is popular with package-tour Canadians and is only open April through October.
Getting There & Away
The journey east to Santiago is one of Cuba’s most spectacular, but also one of its most difficult (there aren’t even any amarillos here). Public transport is sporadic to say the least and you’ll undoubtedly have to undertake the trip in stages. The occasional Cuban buses do pass; ask around in Pilón or Marea. Cubacar ( 59-70-05) has a desk at Hotel Marea del Portillo.
Getting Around
The hotels rent out scooters for approximately CUC$24 a day. Cars are available from Cubacar, or you can join in an excursion with Cubanacán (see left). The route to El Salto can be covered on foot (see boxed text, opposite).
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Santiago de Cuba Province
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SANTIAGO DE CUBA
SIBONEY
LA GRAN PIEDRA
PARQUE BACONAO
EL COBRE
EL SALTÓN
WEST OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA
CHIVIRICO & AROUND
EL UVERO
PICO TURQUINO AREA
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It all started here. Well…almost. Serving as the hinterland to Cuba’s second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba province is a mountainous mix of jungle-covered peaks and ruined coffee haciendas where all roads lead to the provincial capital. While Cuba’s first insurrection might have been sparked in Granma, this is where the revolutionary die was first cast, a hotbed of rebellion and sedition that produced warriors such as Antonio Maceo and Frank País, and patriotic poets such as José María de Heredia.
Traditionally, at least half of Santiago’s cultural influences have come from the east, imported via Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados and Africa. For this reason the province is often cited as being Cuba’s most ‘Caribbean’ enclave, with a carnival that is distinctly West Indian and a cache of folklórico dance groups that owe as much to French culture as they do to Spanish.
Indomitable in the early colonial era, Santiago de Cuba enjoyed a brief spell as Cuba’s capital in the 16th century and it has retained a capital city’s pride and presence. But, with a population of just under half a million and little in the way of heavy industry, the city has fallen way behind Havana in terms of economic importance.
Fortuitously,