Cuba - Lonely Planet [365]
Pizzería Baracoesa (Antonio Maceo No 155) A recent renovation (ie new tablecloths) have upped the ante a little at this peso place, but it’s still got a long way to go to tempt you out of your casa particular.
Cafetería El Parque (Antonio Maceo No 142; 24hr) This open terrace gets regularly drenched in those familiar Baracoa rain showers, but that doesn’t seem to detract from its popularity. The favored meeting place of just about everyone in town, you’re bound to end up here at some point tucking into spaghetti and pizza as you watch the world go by.
Restaurante La Punta (Fuerte de la Punta; 10am-11pm) In an old fort overlooking the Atlantic, this historic restaurant now run by Gaviota was temporarily closed at the time of writing after the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Ike. It was due to reopen in 2009.
GROCERIES
Tienda La Yumurí (Antonio Maceo No 149; 8:30am-noon & 1:30-5pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) Get in line for the good selection of groceries here.
Dulcería La Criolla (José Martí No 178) This place sells bread, pastries and – when it feels like it – the famous Baracoan chocolate.
Drinking & Entertainment
Casa de la Trova Victorino Rodríguez (Antonio Maceo No 149A) Cuba’s smallest, zaniest, wildest and most atmospheric casa de la trova (trova house) rocks nightly to the voodoolike rhythms of changüí-son. Order a mojito in a jam jar and sit back and enjoy the show.
El Ranchón (admission CUC$1; from 9pm) Atop a long flight of stairs at the western end of Coroneles Galano, El Ranchón mixes an exhilarating hilltop setting with taped disco and salsa music and legions of resident jineteras (women who attach themselves to male foreigners for monetary or material gain). Maybe that’s why it’s so insanely popular. Watch your step on the way down – it’s a scary 146-step drunken tumble.
Casa de la Cultura ( 64-23-49; Antonio Maceo No 124 btwn Frank País & Maraví) This venue does a wide variety of shows including some good rumba incorporating the textbook Cuban styles of guaguancó, yambú and columbia (subgenres of rumba). Go prepared for mucho audience participation.
La Terraza (Antonio Maceo btwn Maraví & Frank País; admission CUC$1; 9pm-2am Mon-Thu, 9pm-4am Fri-Sun) A rooftop disco with occasional hot salsa septets that you’ll hear all over town.
Cine-Teatro Encanto (Antonio Maceo No 148) The town’s only cinema is in front of the cathedral. It looks disused but you’ll probably find it’s open.
From October to April, baseball games are held at the Estadio Manuel Fuentes Borges, southeast along the beach from the Museo Municipal.
Shopping
Good art is easy to find in Baracoa and, like most things in this whimsical seaside town, it has its own distinctive flavor.
Fondo Cubano de Bienes Culturales (Antonio Maceo No 120; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat & Sun) This shop sells Hatuey woodcarvings and T-shirts with indigenous designs.
ARTex (José Martí btwn Céspedes & Coroneles Galano) For the usual tourist fare check out this place.
Taller La Musa (Antonio Maceo No 124) Call by this place opposite the Casa de la Cultura where you can seek out typically imaginative Baracoan art.
Getting There & Away
The closest train station is in Guantánamo, 150km southwest.
AIR
Gustavo Rizo Airport ( 64-53-76) is 4km northwest of the town, just behind the Hotel Porto Santo. Cubana ( 64-21-71; José Martí No 181; 8am-noon & 2-4pm Mon-Fri) has two weekly flights from Havana to Baracoa (CUC$135 one-way, Thursday and Sunday).
Be aware that the planes and buses out of Baracoa are sometimes fully booked, so don’t come here on a tight schedule without outbound reservations.
BUS & TRUCK
The national bus station ( 64-36-70; cnr Av Los Mártires & José Martí) has Víazul (www.viazul.com) buses to Guantánamo (CUC$10, three hours), continuing to Santiago de Cuba (CUC$16, five hours) daily at 2:15pm. Bus tickets can be reserved in advance through Cubatur ( 64-53-06; Antonio Maceo No 181) for a CUC$5 commission, or you can usually stick your name on the list a day or so beforehand.
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LA FAROLA
Cut from the rest of the island by