Cuba - Lonely Planet [366]
Four hundred and fifty years of solitude finally came to an end in 1964 with the opening of La Farola (the lighthouse road), a present from a grateful Fidel Castro to Baracoa’s loyal revolutionaries who had supported him during the war in the mountains.
Fifty-five kilometers in length, La Farola traverses the steep-sided Sierra del Puril before snaking its way precipitously down through a landscape of grey granite cliffs and pine-scented cloud forest and falling, with eerie suddenness, upon the lush tropical paradise of the Atlantic coastline.
Giant ferns sprout from lichen-covered rocks; small wooden campesino (country) huts cling to sharp bends; and local hawkers appear, seemingly out of nowhere, holding up bananas, oranges and a sweet-tasting local delicacy wrapped in a palm frond known as cucuruchu.
Construction of La Farola actually began during the Batista era, but the project was indefinitely shelved when it ran into problems with engineering and funds (workers weren’t paid). Reignited after the Revolution, the ambitious highway ultimately took 500 workers more than four years to build and consumed 300kg of concrete per square meter.
Today, La Farola remains the only fully paved route into Baracoa and is responsible for 75% of the town’s supplies. Listed as one of the seven civil-engineering wonders of modern Cuba (and the only one outside Havana), it crosses from the island’s driest zone to its wettest and deposits travelers in what, for many, is its most magical and serendipitous destination.
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The intermunicipal bus station (cnr Coroneles Galano & Calixto García) has two or three trucks a day to Moa (90 minutes, departures from 6am) and Guantánamo (four hours, departures from 2am). Bank on big crowds and bad roads. Prices are a few Cuban pesos.
Getting Around
The best way to get to and from the airport is by taxi (CUC$2) or bici-taxi (CUC$1), if you’re traveling light.
There’s a helpful Havanautos ( 64-53-44) car-rental office at the airport. Cubacar ( 64-51-55) is at the Hotel Porto Santo. The Servi-Cupet gas station (José Martí; 24hr) is at the entrance to town and also 4km from the center, on the road to Guantánamo. If you’re driving to Havana, note that the northern route through Moa and Holguín is fastest but the road disintegrates rapidly after Playa Maguana. Most locals prefer the La Farola route.
Bici-taxis around Baracoa should charge five pesos a ride, but they often ask 10 to 15 pesos from foreigners.
Most casas particulares will be able to procure you a bicycle for CUC$3 per day. The ultimate bike ride is the 20km ramble down to Playa Maguana, one of the most scenic roads in Cuba. Lazy daisies can rent mopeds for CUC$24 either at Cafetería El Parque (opposite) or Hotel El Castillo.
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NORTHWEST OF BARACOA
Sights & Activities
The Finca Duaba ( noon-4pm Tue-Sun), 5km out of Baracoa on the road to Moa and then 1km inland, offers a fleeting taste of the Baracoan countryside. It’s a verdant farm surrounded with profuse tropical plants and embellished with a short Cacao (cocoa) trail that explains the history and characteristics of the plant with some interactive displays. There’s also a good ranchón-style restaurant and the opportunity to swim in the Río Duaba. A bici-taxi can drop you at the road junction.
The Río Toa, 10km northwest of Baracoa, is the third-longest river on the north coast of Cuba and the country’s most voluminous. It is also an important bird and plant habitat. Cocoa trees and the ubiquitous coconut palm are grown in the Valle de Toa. A vast hydroelectric project on the Río Toa was abandoned after a persuasive campaign led by the Fundación de la Naturaleza y El Hombre convinced authorities it would do irreparable ecological damage; engineering and economic reasons also played a part. Rancho Toa is a Palmares restaurant reached via a right-hand turnoff just before the Toa Bridge. You can organize boat or kayak trips