Cuba - Lonely Planet [354]
Flat Top Hike through the tropical jungle to the top of Baracoa’s mysterious flat-topped mountain, El Yunque
TELEPHONE CODE: 021
POPULATION: 516,311
AREA: 6186 SQ KM
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History
Long before the arrival of the Spanish, Taíno Indians populated the mountains and forests around Guantánamo forging a living as fishermen, hunters and small-scale farmers. Columbus first arrived in the region in November 1492, a month or so after his initial landfall near Gibara, and planted a small wooden cross in a beautiful bay he ceremoniously christened Porto Santo – after an idyllic island off Portugal where he had enjoyed his honeymoon. The Spanish returned again in 1511 under the auspices of Columbus’ son Diego in a flotilla of four ships and 400 men that included the island’s first governor Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. Building a makeshift fort constructed from wood, the conquistadors consecrated the island’s first colonial settlement, Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa, and watched helplessly as the town was subjected to repeated attacks from hostile local Indians led by a rebellious cacique (chief) known as Hatuey.
Declining in importance after the capital moved to Santiago in 1515, the Guantánamo region became Cuba’s Siberia – a mountainous and barely penetrable rural backwater where prisoners were exiled and old traditions survived. In the late 18th century the area was recolonized by French immigrants from Haiti who tamed the difficult terrain in order to cultivate coffee, cotton and sugarcane on the backs of African slaves. Following the Spanish-Cuban-American War, a brand new foe took up residence in Guantánamo Bay – the all-powerful Americans – intent on protecting their economic interests in the strategically important Panama Canal region. Despite repeated bouts of mudslinging in the years since, the not-so-welcome Yanquis, as they are popularly known, have repeatedly refused to budge.
Parks & Reserves
A large swathe of northern Guantánamo province is given over to the Cuchillas de Toa, designated a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1987. Approximately one-third of this area is afforded extra protection in the Parque Nacional Alejandro de Humboldt, which in 2001 was named a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Getting There & Around
The Víazul bus service passes through Guantánamo all the way to Baracoa twice daily. Guantánamo is also accessible by train from Havana but the line doesn’t extend as far as Baracoa. Daily trucks link Baracoa with Moa in Holguín province via a rutted road. Both Guantánamo and Baracoa have airports with two to five flights a week to Havana.
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GUANTÁNAMO
pop 244,603
Despite the notoriety gained in the ongoing schoolyard-style feud between Cuba and the US, there’s nothing visually remarkable about Guantánamo – which accounts, in part, for its low profile on the tourist ‘circuit.’ But, amid the ugly grey buildings and hopelessly decaying infrastructure a buoyant culture has been putting up a brave rearguard action. Between them, the feisty Guantanameros have produced 11 gold medals, blasted a man into orbit (Cuban cosmonaut, Arnaldo Méndez) and spawned their own unique brand of traditional son music known as son-changüí. Then there’s the small matter of that song (see boxed text,).
‘Discovered’ by Columbus in 1494 and given the once-over by the ever curious British 250 years later, a settlement wasn’t built here until 1819, when French plantation owners evicted from Haiti founded the town of Santa Catalina del Saltadero del Guaso between the Jaibo, Bano and Guaso Rivers. In 1843 the burgeoning city changed its name to Guantánamo and in 1903 the bullish US Navy took up residence in the bay next door. The sparks have been flying ever since.
Orientation
Mariana Grajales Airport (airport code GAO) is 16km southeast of Guantánamo, 4km off the road to Baracoa. Parque Martí, Guantánamo’s central square, is several blocks south of the train station and 5km east of the Terminal de Ómnibus (bus station). Villa La Lupe, the main