Eastern Cuba: Authentically Amazing
Tour guides develop a preference for certain destinations. As a local tour guide, with 20 years in the making, I have one: The eastern region of Cuba.
You would probably think I am exaggerating when I confess that my complete satisfaction comes whenever I get assigned to a trip through the eastern region of Cuba. Not only am I aware that I will be enjoying the rhythms and dances of the east, but I am also conscious that I will be witnessing breathtaking views integrating farmland with mountain ranges that will eventually lead you to the most unimaginable ocean views in the Caribbean region, including, but not limiting them to breathtaking beaches, to rivers surrendering their warmth to the base of millennia-old elevations with their unique vegetation and to caves ready to be explored.
When you visit eastern Cuba, you come across humble, but joyful farmers. These people are ready to share a story with you, together with a fruit juice, a café carretero or some of their old recipes for spirits and, if you are lucky enough, even wine.
The roads also have many kiosks where the best fruit varieties in the country are sold, in other instances, handcrafts and coconut water are also available.
But the top of it all comes when you discover that the very early history of what was later known as Cuba, actually started in the east and the main events in history including the path to independence also started here.
If your itinerary takes you to Santiago, Holguin, Bayamo or Baracoa, you will be delighted to come across remnants of our native population –extinct to the travel brochures— but still active and open, with their foods, their traditional creole dances and language, as well as their culture in general.
If your itinerary takes you there, you will enjoy a swim in the warm waters of the Caribbean together with locals and the occasional fisherman ready to brag about his catch or even friendly enough to invite you over for a fresh and delicious red snapper in his humble dwelling and the company of his family.
The more to the east you drive, the clearer you discover the authenticity of the Cuban campesino with their harvests their animals and their true traditions that come from ages already gone.
La Farola Road
I love my drive around the southern coast of Santiago, I feel like enjoying the drive is as important to me as sharing information about it. I love my drive along “La Farola”, a road perched atop a mountain connecting Guantanamo with Baracoa. Here, the view to the forest and to the sea is unique in the island. But above all, I love learning about the making of the nation from long before the arrival of the Spaniards to the creation of the cities and towns that define our eastern region and make me, be eager to jump onto my next trip. Hopefully yours.
