Guantanamo, Cuba
Tourism Information
Guantánamo, Cuba's the easternmost province, is
approximately 1,000 kilometers from the nation's capital.
Its environment includes everything from near deserts to
regions featuring luxuriant mountain vegetation.
Mountains make up almost 99 percent of the Guantánamo's
territory. What we have here are rocky and calcinated areas
with scarce vegetation and lots of cactuses, as opposed to
forests and fields of green sugar cane.
However, the greatest attraction in the province can be
found in Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa, Cuba's
oldest city. Founded by Diego Velásquez in 1512, the
community is characterized by the amicable spirit of its
citizens and the beauty of a city surrounded by abrupt
coastline, luxuriant foliage, mountains and rivers.
The first capital of the island, its name comes from an
aboriginal term meaning "existence of the sea", referring to
the ubiquitous maritime surroundings and dearth of mountains
and rivers.
The city was often raided by pirates and corsairs who burned
it down for the last time in 1652. In response, a solid
defense system was built, including forts called La Punta,
Seboruco and Malachin, as well as the Joa and Caguase
towers.
This village was the first on the island to have a parochial
church, made doubly attractive because, not far from its
entrance, there was a statue of Hatuey, an Indian who became
the symbol of rebelliousness'—and because it sheltered the
cross brought to Cuban soil by Christopher Columbus in
December 1492.
Baracoa is one of the few Cuban villages located close to
where Indo-Cubans found refuge in the mountains and managed
to survive—to a certain extent. We can actually recognize
features inherited from these ancestors in today’s village
dwellers.
From Baracoa, "Sleeping Beauty"—a mountain resembling a
sculpture of a woman lying in the sunshine—can be seen in
all its glory. It is next to El Yunque, the most famous peak
in the area.
Nearby, Alexander von Humboldt Park plays host to a large
number of endemic species; for example, the aboriginal
mammal called manatee still lives in its waters and the
royal woodpecker can be seen in its forests.
Visitors can also sample some very peculiar foods made from
plants, meals such as bacán, composed of green plantain, and
canalú, made of tubers. Vegetable and meat soup and fish and
coconut milk are two other interesting choices offered on
Baracoa's many menus.
The economy of Baracoa is based on coffee and cacao, but the
province is looking forward to adding tourist attractions to
its list of assets in the near future.