Cuba - Lonely Planet [344]
TAXI
There’s a Turistaxi stand in front of Meliá Santiago de Cuba (Map). Taxis also wait on Parque Céspedes in front of the cathedral and hiss at you expectantly as you walk past. Always insist the driver uses the taxímetro (meter) or hammer out a price beforehand. To the airport, it will be between CUC$5 and CUC$7 depending on the state of the car.
Bici-taxis charge about five pesos per person per ride, but it’s illegal to carry tourists, so they’ll drop you a couple of blocks from Parque Céspedes.
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SIBONEY
Playa Siboney is Santiago’s Playas del Este, an exuberant seaside town 19km to the east that’s more rustic village than deluxe resort. Guarded by precipitous cliffs and dotted with a mixture of craning palms and weather-beaten clapboard houses, the setting here is laid-back and charming, with a beach scene that mixes fun-seeking Cuban families and young, nubile Santiagüeras with their older and balder foreign sugar daddies in tow.
In terms of quality, Siboney’s small crescent of grayish sand isn’t in Varadero’s league and the hotel choice (there is no choice, just one rock-bottom villa) is none too inspiring either. But what Siboney lacks in facilities it makes up for in price, location (it’s on the doorstep of Parque Baconao) and all-embracing Cuban atmosphere. There’s a plethora of legal casas particulares here (more than 30, which in a settlement of this size constitutes half the village) and a decent sit-down restaurant on a hill overlooking the beach. For those in need of a break from the culture-jamming and street hassle of sweltering Santiago, it makes a good little hideaway.
Sights
Had the Revolution been unsuccessful, the insignificant Granjita Siboney (admission CUC$1; 9am-5pm), a simple red-and-white farmhouse 2km inland from Playa Siboney on the road to Santiago de Cuba, would be the forgotten site of an unsuccessful and rather futile putsch. As it is, it’s another shrine to the glorious national episode that is Moncada. It was from this place, at 5:15am on July 26, 1953, that 26 cars under the command of Fidel Castro left to attack the military barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The house retains many of its original details, including the dainty room used by the two compañeras (female revolutionaries) who saw action, Haydee Santamaría and Melba Hernández. There are also displays of weapons, interesting documents, photos and personal effects related to the attack. Notice the well beside the building, where weapons were hidden prior to the attack. In 1973, 26 monuments were erected along the highway between the Granjita Siboney and Santiago de Cuba to commemorate the assault.
The adjacent Museo de la Guerra Hispano-Cubano-Norteamericano displays objects related to the 1898 American military intervention at Santiago de Cuba. Several scale models of both the land and sea battles are provided.
Overlooking the stony shoreline is an American war memorial dated 1907, which recalls the US landing here on June 24, 1898.
Sleeping
CASAS PARTICULARES
There’s an abundance of casas particulares in this small seaside settlement.
Ángel Figuredo Zolórzano ( 39-91-81; dgarrido1961@yahoo.es; Av Serrano No 63; r CUC$15-20) Nicely outfitted little pad, with a patio, at the end of the street.
Marlene Pérez ( 3-9219; r CUC$15-20) A seaside apartment with a balcony perched on the coast a block south of the post office. This place has a modern sheen and easy parking.
Ovidio González Salgado ( 39-93-40; Av Serrano; r CUC$20-25) A reader-recommended place above the pharmacy, serving great meals.
HOTELS
Villa Siboney ( 39-93-21; bungalow CUC$23) You’re wiser heading for the casas particulares first in this neck of the woods, but if for some reason they’re all full there’s always the bog-standard Villa Siboney; seven independent rustic cabins on the beach that sleep up to four people. Ask at the carpeta (reception desk), below the apartment building beside the commercial center.
Eating & Drinking
Restaurante La Rueda ( 39-93-25) Take note, dear diner, you are sitting