Granma Province

   BAYAMO
   AROUND BAYAMO
   DOS RÍOS & AROUND
   YARA
   GRAN PARQUE NACIONAL SIERRA MAESTRA
   MANZANILLO
   MEDIA LUNA
   NIQUERO
   PARQUE NACIONAL DESEMBARCO DEL GRANMA
   PILÓN
   MAREA DEL PORTILLO

Granma has ‘made in Cuba’ stamped all over it. This is the land where José Martí died, where Fidel Castro landed with his band of shipwrecked revolutionaries, and where Granma native Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed his slaves and formally declared Cuban independence in 1868. And, if history doesn’t swing it, you can always ponder over the geographical significance of Cuba’s longest river (the Cauto), its most pristine coastal marine terraces (in Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma) and its third-highest mountain (Pico Bayamesa; 1730m).

With much of its interior and southwestern coastal areas cut off from the main transport grid, one of Granma’s primary attractions is its isolation and the feisty individualism that goes with it. Street parties in towns such as Bayamo, Manzanillo and Pilón are a weekly occurrence here and are uniquely enlivened with homemade street snacks, hotly contested games of chess, and the kind of archaic street organs that were last seen in Europe when Cuba was still the property of Spain.

Juxtaposing pancake-flat rice fields with the soaring peaks of the Sierra Maestra, Granma is more rural than urban and even the two main cities of Bayamo and Manzanillo retain a faintly bucolic air.

But far from sucking on sugar stalks in the safety of their remote backcountry refuges, the resourceful locals are renowned for their creativity, particularly in the field of music. Two of the giants of Cuban nueva trova (philosophical folk guitar music) were born in Granma (Pablo Milanés in Bayamo and Carlos Puebla in Manzanillo), and in 1972 the province hosted a groundbreaking music festival that helped put this revolutionary new music style on Cuba’s – and Latin America’s – cultural map.

HIGHLIGHTS

DIY Hike Break out of the Marea del Portillo hotels and hike up to El Salto (see boxed text,)
Guerrilla Watching Trek up to La Plata in Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra
The Flower of the Revolution Drop by Media Luna and learn about the life of Celia Sánchez, Castro’s longtime muse and confidante (see boxed text,)
The Roof of the Nation Stand atop Pico Turquino and admire the bust of José Martí (see boxed text,)
Street Party Make time for pork roast, street organs and a game of chess in Bayamo’s Fiesta de la Cubanía

TELEPHONE CODE: 023
POPULATION: 829,333
AREA: 8372 SQ KM

History

Stone petroglyphs and remnants of Taíno pottery unearthed in the Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma suggest the existence of native cultures in the Granma region long before the arrival of the Spanish.

Columbus, during his second voyage, was the first European to explore the area, tracking past the Cabo Cruz Peninsula in 1494, before taking shelter from a storm in the Golfo de Guanacayabo. All other early development schemes came to nothing and by the 17th century Granma’s untamed and largely unsettled coast had become the preserve of pirates and corsairs.

Granma’s real nemesis didn’t come until October 10, 1868, when sugar-plantation owner Carlos Manuel de Céspedes called for the abolition of slavery from his Demajagua sugar mill near Manzanillo and freed his own slaves by example, thus inciting the First War of Independence.

Drama unfolded again in 1895 when the founder of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, José Martí, was killed in Dos Ríos just a month and a half after landing with Máximo Gómez off the coast of Guantánamo to ignite the Spanish-Cuban-American War.

Sixty-one years later, on December 2, 1956, Fidel Castro and 81 rebel soldiers disembarked from the yacht Granma off the coast of Granma province at Playa Las Coloradas. Routed by Batista’s troops while resting in a sugarcane field at Alegría del Pío, 12 or so survivors managed to escape into the Sierra Maestra, establishing headquarters at Comandancia La Plata. From there they fought and coordinated the armed struggle, broadcasting their progress from Radio Rebelde and consolidating their support among sympathizers nationwide. After two years of harsh conditions and unprecedented beard growth, the forces of the M-26-7 Movement triumphed in 1959.

Parks & Reserves

Granma has two expansive national parks: Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra (sometimes called Parque Nacional Turquino) and Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma. The latter is also a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Getting There & Around

You might have to resort to your first truck, guagua (local bus) or amarillo-inspired hitchhiking experience in Granma (see boxed text,). Bayamo is on the main Havana–Santiago Víazul bus and coche motor (cross-island) train routes, and a further train (but no Víazul bus) links Bayamo with Manzanillo. Outside this, you’re up against some of the poorest transport connections on the island, especially on the south coast. See individual towns for more details.

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BAYAMO

pop 143,844

Predating both Havana and Santiago, and cast for time immemorial as the city that kick-started Cuban independence, Bayamo has every right to feel self-important. Yet somehow it doesn’t. Instead, bucking standard categorization, Granma’s easygoing and understated provincial capital is one of the most peaceful and hassle-free places on the island.

That’s not to say that Bayameses aren’t aware of their history. Como España quemó a Sagunto, así Cuba quemó a Bayamo (meaning ‘as the Spanish burnt Sagunto, the Cubans burnt Bayamo’), wrote José Martí in the 1890s, highlighting the sacrificial role that Bayamo has played in Cuba’s convoluted historical development. But, while the self-inflicted 1869 fire might have destroyed most of the city’s classic colonial buildings (see below), it didn’t destroy its underlying spirit or its long-standing traditions.

Today, Bayamo is known for its cerebral chess players (Céspedes was the Kasparov of his day), tasty street snacks and quirky old-fashioned street organs (imported via Manzanillo). All three are on show at the weekly Fiesta de la Cubanía, one of the island’s most authentic street shows and Bayamés to the core.

History

Founded in November 1513 as the second of Diego Velázquez de Cuellar’s seven original villas (after Baracoa), Bayamo’s early history was marred by Indian uprisings and bristling native unrest. But with the indigenous Taínos decimated by deadly European diseases such as smallpox, the short-lived insurgency soon fizzled out. By the end of the 16th century, Bayamo had grown rich and was established as the region’s most important cattle-ranching and sugarcane-growing center. Frequented by pirates, the town filled its coffers further in the 17th and 18th centuries via a clandestine smuggling ring run out of the nearby port town of Manzanillo. Zealously counting up the profits, Bayamo’s new class of merchants and landowners lavishly invested their money in fine houses and an expensive overseas education for their offspring.

One such protégé was local lawyer-turned-revolutionary Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, who, defying the traditional colonial will, led an army against his hometown in 1868 in an attempt to wrest control from the conservative Spanish authorities. But the liberation proved to be short-lived. After the defeat of an ill-prepared rebel army by 3000 regular Spanish troops near the Río Cauto on January 12, 1869, the townspeople – sensing an imminent Spanish reoccupation – set their town on fire rather than see it fall into the hands of the enemy.

Bayamo was also the birthplace of Perucho Figueredo, composer of the Cuban national anthem, which begins, rather patriotically, with the words Al combate corred, Bayameses (Run to battle, people of Bayamo).

Orientation

Bayamo is centered on Parque Céspedes. The train station is located to the east of the park and the bus station to the southeast; they’re about 2km apart. General García (also known as El Bulevar), a bustling pedestrian shopping mall, leads from Parque Céspedes to Bartolomé Masó. Many of the facilities for tourists (including the bus station, Servi‑Cupet gas station and main hotel) are along the Carretera Central, southeast of town.

Information

BOOKSTORES

Librería Ateneo (General García No 9) On the east side of Parque Céspedes.

INTERNET ACCESS & TELEPHONE

Etecsa Telepunto (General García btwn Saco & Figueredo; per hr CUC$6; 8:30am-7:30pm) Quick, easy internet access.

LIBRARIES

Biblioteca Pública 1868 ( 42-64-87; Céspedes No 352; 9am-6pm Mon-Sat)

MEDICAL SERVICES

Farmacia Internacional (General García btwn Figueredo & Lora; 8am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat & Sun)
Hospital Carlos Manuel de Céspedes ( 42-50-12; Carretera Central Km1)

MONEY

Banco de Crédito y Comercio (cnr General García & Saco; 8am-3pm Mon-Fri, 8-10am Sat)
Banco Financiero Internacional ( 42-73-60; Carretera Central Km 1) In a big white building near the bus terminal.
Cadeca (Saco No 101; 8:30am-noon & 12:30-5:30pm Mon-Sat, 8am-noon Sun)

POST

Post office (cnr Maceo & Parque Céspedes; 8am-8pm Mon-Sat)

TRAVEL AGENCIES

Campismo Popular ( 42-42-00; General García No 112)
Cubanacán ( 42-22-90; Hotel Royalton, Maceo No 53) Arranges hikes to Pico Turquino (two/three/four days per person CUC$45/65/99), El Yarey (CUC$19) and Parque Nacional Desembarco del Granma (CUC$45), among other places.

Sights

One of Cuba’s leafiest and friendliest squares, Parque Céspedes is an attractive smorgasbord of grand monuments and big, shady trees. Facing each other in the center are a bronze statue of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, hero of the First War of Independence, and a marble bust of Perucho Figueredo, with the words of the Cuban national anthem carved upon it. Marble benches and friendly Bayameses make this a nice place to linger. In 1868 Céspedes proclaimed Cuba’s independence in front of the Ayuntamiento (city hall) on the east side of the square.

The birthplace of the ‘father of the motherlands,’ Casa Natal de Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Maceo No 57; admission CUC$1; 9am-5pm Tue-Fri, 9am-2pm & 8-10pm Sat, 10am-1pm Sun), is on the north side of the park. Born here on April 18, 1819, Céspedes spent the first 12 years of his life in this residence, and the Céspedes memorabilia inside is complemented by a collection of period furniture. It’s notable architecturally as the only two-story colonial house remaining in Bayamo and was one of the few buildings to survive the 1869 fire. Next door is the Museo Provincial (Maceo No 55; admission CUC$1) with a yellowing city document dating from 1567 and a rare photo of Bayamo immediately after the fire.

There’s been a church on the site of the Iglesia Parroquial Mayor de San Salvador since 1514. The current edifice dates from 1740 and the section known as the Capilla de la Dolorosa (donations accepted; 9am-noon & 3-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-noon Sat) was another building to survive the 1869 fire. A highlight of the main church is the central arch, which exhibits a mural depicting the blessing of the Cuban flag in front of the revolutionary army on October 20, 1868. Outside, Plaza del Himno Nacional is where the Cuban national anthem, ‘La Bayamesa,’ was sung for the first time in 1868.

A forerunner of the national anthem, co-written by Céspedes (and also, confusingly, called ‘La Bayamesa’) was first sung from the Ventana de Luz Vázquez (Céspedes btwn Figueredo & Luz Vázquez) on March 27, 1851. A memorial plaque has been emblazoned onto the wall next to the wood-barred colonial window.

Next door is the Casa de Estrada Palma (Céspedes No 158), where Cuba’s first postindependence president, Tomás Estrada Palma, was born in 1835. A one-time friend of José Martí, Estrada Palma was disgraced after the Revolution for his perceived complicity with the US over the Platt Amendment. His birth house is now the seat of Uneac (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba; National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists), but you’ll find little about the famous former occupant inside.

The Torre de San Juan Evangelista (cnr José Martí & Amado Estévez) is to the southeast. A church dating from Bayamo’s earliest years stood at this busy intersection until it was destroyed in the great fire of 1869. Later, the church’s tower served as the entrance to the first cemetery in Cuba, which closed in 1919. The cemetery was demolished in 1940, but the tower survived. A monument to local poet José Joaquín Palma (1844–1911) stands in the park diagonally across the street from the tower, and beside the tower is a bronze statue of Francisco Vicente Aguilera (1821–77), who led the independence struggle in Bayamo.

Not far away, just off the main road, is the Museo Ñico López (Abihail González; admission CUC$1; 8am-noon & 2-5:30pm Tue-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) in the former officers’ club of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes military barracks. On July 26, 1953, this garrison was attacked by 25 revolutionaries in tandem with the assault on Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba in order to prevent reinforcements from being sent. Though a failure, Ñico López, who led the Bayamo attack, escaped to Guatemala, and he was the first Cuban to befriend Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in 1954. López was killed shortly after the Granma landed in 1956.

Bayamo’s main shopping street, Calle General García (also known as Paseo Bayamés) was pedestrianized and reconfigured with funky murals in the late 1990s. It’s a great place to catch the nuances of city life. Halfway along its course you’ll find the tiny Museo de Cera ( 42-65-25; General García No 261; admission CUC$1; 9am-noon & 1-5pm Mon-Fri, 2-9pm Sat, 9am-noon Sun), Bayamo’s version of Madame Tussaud’s, with convincing waxworks of personalities such as Polo Montañez, Benny Moré and local hero Carlos Puebla. Next door is an equally tiny Museo de Arqueología (cnr General García & General Lora; admission CUC$1).

Activities

The Cubans love chess, and nowhere more so than in Bayamo. Check out the streetside chess aficionados who set up on Saturday nights during the Fiesta de la Cubanía. The Academia de Ajedrez (José A Saco No 63 btwn General García & Céspedes) is the place to go to improve your pawn-king-four technique. Emblazoned on the wall of this cerebral institution, pictures of Che, Fidel and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes offer plenty of inspiration.

Forty-five-minute horse & cart tours can be arranged at the Cubanacán desk in the Hotel Royalton for CUC$4 per person.

Festivals & Events

Bayamo’s quintessential nighttime attraction is its weekly Fiesta de la Cubanía on Saturday at 8pm. This ebullient and long-standing street party is like nothing else in Cuba. Set up willy-nilly along Calle Saco, it includes the locally famous pipe organs, whole roast pig, a local oyster drink called ostiones and – incongruously in the middle of it all – rows of tables laid out diligently with chess sets. Dancing is, of course, de rigueur.

Sleeping

CASAS PARTICULARES

Rooms are spread around, but Calle Pío Rosada a good place to start looking.

Villa Rose Mary ( 42-39-84; reas61@gmail.com; Pío Rosado No 22 btwn Ramirez & Av Aguilera; r CUC$25; ) Don’t be fooled by the name, Ramón’s the man in charge here and his house is kitted out like a mini hotel with two bedrooms, big baths, safe security boxes, and a patio/roof terrace ripe for a spot of afternoon R and R. Get Ramón to brew you up a cafecito and quiz him on his excellent local knowledge.

Dolores Masán Sosa ( 42-29-74; Pío Rosado No 171 btwn Parada & William Soler; r CUC$25; ) The freshly painted mint-green facade lures you toward Dolores Sosa’s house on Pío Rosado. Proceed up the outside staircase, past the well-polished relic of Detroit in the car port, to where two rooms with an independent entrance and an interconnecting door (if required) enjoy pride of place above the street action below. If it’s full, try Frank Licea Milan ( 42-58-16) at No 73 or Juan Valdes ( 42-33-24) at No 64.

HOTELS

Hotel Escuela Telégrafo (Formatur; 42-55-10; Saco No 108; s/d CUC$15/20; ) Always a good bet for budget travelers, the Telégrafo is one of Cuba’s best hotel escuelas (hotel schools) staffed by students learning the ropes in the tourist trade. This one is housed in a beautiful old colonial building on busy Calle Saco where big shuttered windows open out onto the street. Rooms are basic but clean, service is suitably perky, and there’s a decent restaurant adjacent to the bustling lobby downstairs. Ask here about the possibility of taking Spanish lessons.

Hotel Royalton (Islazul; 42-22-90; Maceo No 53; s/d CUC$26/33; ) Melting in with the colonial ambience of Parque Céspedes, the Royalton is Bayamo’s best hotel – and best bargain. The 33 rooms, though small, are cozy and well maintained with the four at the front opening out over the leafy central square. Downstairs there’s an attractive sidewalk terrace and the Plaza restaurant, and you can sunbathe in private on the roof. Handy water machines furnish the corridors.

Villa Bayamo (Islazul; 42-31-02; s/d CUC$30/35; ) This out-of-town option (it’s 3km southwest of the center on the road to Manzanillo) has a definitive rural feel and a rather pleasant swimming pool overlooking fields at the back. Well-appointed rooms are in a larger main block or detached cabins off to the side. There’s a reasonable restaurant on-site.

Hotel Sierra Maestra (Islazul; 42-79-70; Carretera Central; s/d CUC$36/41; ) Check before you jump in the pool here – there may be no water in it. With a ring of the Soviet ’70s about the place, the Sierra Maestra hardly merits the three stars it professes, although the rooms have had some much-needed attention in the last three years and the coffee and TV reception are better. Three kilometers from the town center, it’s OK for an overnighter.

Eating

There’s some unique street food in Bayamo, sold from the stores along Calle Saco and in Plaza Céspedes. Aside from the places reviewed here, you’ll find decent comida criolla (Creole food) in the two city-center hotels, the Royalton (left) and the Telégrafo (left), both of which have atmospheric restaurants.

PALADARES

Paladar Sagitario (Donato Marmol No 107 btwn Maceo & Vicente Aguilera; meals CUC$7-9; noon-midnight) The Sagitario’s been in the game for 13 years, knocking out such delicacies as chicken cordon bleu and pork chops topped with cheese on an attractive back patio with occasional musical accompaniment.

Paladar El Polinesio ( 42-24-49; Parada No 125 btwn Pío Rosado & Cisnero) The cheaper and cozier Polinesio has meals served upstairs in what used to be the family dining room.

RESTAURANTS

Tropi Crema ( 42-41-69; 9am-9:45pm) In the absence of a Coppelia, the Tropi, on the southwest corner of Parque Céspedes, does its best – in pesos, of course.

Restaurante Vegetariano (General García No 173; 7-9am, noon-2:30pm & 6-9pm; ) Manage your expectations before you check out this peso place. This is Cuba where vegetarianismo is still in its infancy. Don’t expect nut roast, but you should be able to order something other than the ubiquitous omelette.

La Sevillana ( 42-14-95; General García btwn General Lora & Perucho Figueredo; noon-2pm & 6-10:30pm) Cuban chefs have a go at Spanish cuisine – paella and garbanzos (chickpeas). This is a new kind of peso restaurant, with a dress code (no shorts), a doorman in a suit, and a reservations policy. It’s OK, if you don’t mind the formalities.

La Bodega ( 42-79-11; Plaza del Himno Nacional No 34; cover after 9pm CUC$3; 11am-1am) The best of both worlds. The front door opens out onto Bayamo’s main square; the rear terrace overlooks Río Bayamo and is fringed by a bucolic backdrop that will leave you wondering if you’ve been transported to an isolated country villa. La Bodega is Bayamo’s best restaurant and not only for its urban-rural juxtapositions. Try the beef and taste the coffee, or relax on the open terrace before the traveling troubadours arrive at 9pm.

GROCERIES

Mercado agropecuario (Línea) The vegetable market is in front of the train station. There are many peso food stalls along here also.

Mercado Cabalgata (General García No 65; 9am-9pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) This store on the main pedestrian street sells basic groceries.

Drinking

Bar La Esquina ( 42-17-31; cnr Donato Marmol & Maceo; 11am-1am) International cocktails are served in this tiny corner bar replete with plenty of local atmosphere.

Entertainment

Cine Céspedes ( 42-42-67; admission CUC$2) This cinema is on the western side of Parque Céspedes, next to the post office. It offers everything from Gutiérrez Alea to the latest Hollywood blockbuster.

Centro Cultural Los Beatles (42-17-99; Zenea btwn Figueredo & Saco; admission 10 pesos; 6am-midnight) Just as the West fell for the exoticism of the Buena Vista Social Club, the Cubans fell for the downright brilliance of the Fab Four. Guarded by life-size statues of John, Paul, George and Ringo, this quirky place hosts Beatles tribute bands (in Spanish) every weekend. Unmissable!

Uneac (Céspedes No 158; admission free; 4pm) You can catch heartfelt boleros on the flowery patio here in the former home of disgraced first president Tomás Estrada Palma, who is largely blamed for handing Guantánamo to the Yanquis.

Sala Teatro José Joaquín Palma ( 42-44-23; Céspedes No 164) In a stylish old church, this venue presents theater on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, while the Teatro Guiñol, also here, hosts children’s theater on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Cabaret Bayamo ( 42-51-11; Carretera Central Km 2; 9pm Fri-Sun) Bayamo’s glittery nightclub/cabaret opposite the Hotel Sierra Maestra draws out the locals on weekends in their equally glittery attire.

Casa de la Trova La Bayamesa (cnr Maceo & Martí; admission CUC$1; 9pm) One of Cuba’s best in a lovely colonial building; closed Mondays.

Casa de la Cultura ( 42-59-17; General García No 15) Wide-ranging cultural events, including art expos, on the east side of Parque Céspedes.

Estadio Mártires de Barbados (Av Granma) From October to April, there are baseball games at this stadium, approximately 1km northeast of the Hotel Sierra Maestra.

Shopping

ARTex (General García No 7) The usual mix of Che Guevara T-shirts and bogus Santería dolls on Parque Céspedes.

VideCuba (General García No 225; 8am-10pm) This outlet should meet your photographic requirements.

Getting There & Away

AIR

Bayamo’s Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Airport (airport code BYM; 42-75-14) is about 4km northeast of town, on the road to Holguín. Cubana ( 42-75-07; Martí No 52) flies to Bayamo from Havana twice a week (CUC$103 one way, two hours). There are no international flights to or from Bayamo.

BUS & TRUCK

The provincial bus station (cnr Carretera Central & Av Jesús Rabí) has Víazul (www.viazul.com) buses to several destinations.

The service to Havana also stops at Holguín (CUC$6, two hours 10 minutes), Las Tunas (CUC$6, 2½ hours), Camagüey (CUC$11, 5½ hours), Ciego de Ávila (CUC$17, seven hours 20 minutes), Sancti Spíritus (CUC$21, 9½ hours) and Santa Clara (CUC$26, 10¾ hours).

Passenger trucks leave from an adjacent terminal for Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Manzanillo and Pilón. You can get a truck to Bartolomé Masó, as close as you can get on public transport to the Sierra Maestra trailhead. Ask which line is waiting for the truck you want, then join. The trucks leave when full and you pay as you board.

The intermunicipal bus station (cnr Saco & Línea), opposite the train station, receives mostly local buses of little use to travelers. However, trucks to Las Tunas and Guisa leave from here.

State taxis can be procured for hard-to-reach destinations such as Manzanillo (CUC$30), Pilón (CUC$70) and Niquero (CUC$65). Prices are estimates and will depend on the current price of gas. Nonetheless, at the time of writing it was cheaper to reach all these places by taxi than by hired car.

TRAIN

The train station ( 42-49-55; cnr Saco & Línea) is 1km east of the center. There are three local trains a day to Manzanillo (via Yara). Other daily trains serve Santiago and Camagüey. The long-distance Havana–Manzanillo train passes through Bayamo every other day (CUC$28).

Getting Around

Cubataxi ( 42-43-13) can supply a taxi to Bayamo airport for CUC$3, or to Aeropuerto Frank País in Holguín for CUC$25. A taxi to Villa Santo Domingo (setting-off point for the Alto del Naranjo trailhead for Sierra Maestra hikes) or Comandancia La Plata will cost approximately CUC$35 one way. There’s a taxi stand in the south of town near Museo Ñico López.

Havanautos ( 42-73-75) is adjacent to the Servi-Cupet, while Cubacar ( 42-79-70; Carretera Central) is at the Hotel Sierra Maestra.

The Servi-Cupet gas station (Carretera Central) is between Hotel Sierra Maestra and the bus terminal as you arrive from Santiago de Cuba.

The main horse-cart route (one peso) runs between the train station and the hospital, via the bus station. Bici-taxis (a few pesos a ride) are also useful for getting around town. There’s a stand near the train station.

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AROUND BAYAMO

For a floral appreciation of Bayamo’s evergreen hinterland, head to the Jardín Botánico de Cupaynicu (Carretera de Guisa Km 10; admission with/without guide CUC$2/1), about 16km outside the city off the Guisa road. It’s on very few itineraries, so you can have the 104 hectares of the tranquil botanic gardens to yourself. There are 74 types of palms, scores of cacti, blooming orchids and sections for endangered and medicinal plants. The guided tour (Spanish only) gains you access to greenhouses, notable for the showy ornamentals.

To get here, take the road to Santiago de Cuba for 6km and turn left at the signposted junction for Guisa. After 10km you’ll see the botanic gardens sign on the right. Trucks in this direction leave from the intermunicipal bus station in front of the train station.

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DOS RÍOS & AROUND

At Dos Ríos, 52km northeast of Bayamo, almost in Holguín, a white obelisk overlooking the Río Cauto marks the spot where José Martí was shot and killed on May 19, 1895. In contrast to other Martí memorials, it’s surprisingly simple and low-key. Go 22km northeast of Jiguaní on the road to San Germán and take the unmarked road to the right after crossing the Cauto.

Sleeping & Eating

Villa El Yarey (Cubanacán; 42-76-84; s/d CUC$31/46) Back toward Jiguaní, 23km southwest of Dos Ríos, is this relaxed, attractive hotel with 16 rooms on a ridge with an excellent view of the Sierra Maestra. This accommodation is perfect for those who want tranquility in verdant natural surroundings. Cubanacán organizes bird-watching trips here. Book through its office in Bayamo Click here.

To get to Villa El Yarey from Jiguaní, go 4km east of town on the Carretera Central and then 6km north on a side road. From Dos Ríos proceed southwest on the road toward Jiguaní and turn left 2km the other side of Las Palmas. It makes an ideal stop for anyone caught between Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba, or for those taking the backdoor Bayamo–Holguín route. Note that public transport here is scant.

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YARA

pop 29,237

A small town with a big history, Yara – sandwiched halfway between Bayamo and Manzanillo amid vast fields of sugarcane –
is barely mentioned in most travel literature. While ostensibly agricultural, the town’s soul is defiantly Indian. The early Spanish colonizers earmarked it as one of their pueblos Indios (Indian towns) and a statue of rebel cacique (chief) Hatuey in the main square supports claims that the Spanish burned the dissenting Taíno chief here rather than in Baracoa. Chapter two of Yara’s history began on October 11, 1868, when it became the first town to be wrested from Spanish control by rebel forces led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes. A second monument in the main square recalls this important event and the famous Grito de Yara (Yara Declaration) that followed, in which Céspedes proclaimed Cuba’s independence for the first time.

Just off the square, the Museo Municipal (Grito de Yara No 107; admission CUC$1; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun) chronicles Yara’s historical legacy along with the town’s role as a key supply center during the revolutionary war in the 1950s.

There’s a Servi-Cupet here if you need a gas top-up. The Bayamo–Manzanillo train stops here three times a day.

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GRAN PARQUE NACIONAL SIERRA MAESTRA

Comprising a sublime mountainscape of broccoli-green peaks and humid cloud forest, and home to honest, hardworking campesinos (country folk), the Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra is an alluring natural sanctuary that still echoes with the gunshots of Castro’s guerrilla campaign of the late 1950s. Situated 40km south of Yara, up a very steep 24km concrete road from Bartolomé Masó, this precipitous and untamed region contains the country’s highest peak, Pico Turquino (just over the border in Santiago de Cuba province), unlimited birdlife and flora, and the rebels’ one-time wartime headquarters, Comandancia La Plata.

History

History resonates throughout these mountains, the bulk of it linked indelibly to the guerrilla war that raged throughout this region between December 1956 and December 1958. For the first year of the conflict Fidel and his growing band of supporters remained on the move, never staying in one place for more than a few days. It was only in mid-1958 that the rebels established a permanent base on a ridge in the shadow of Pico Turquino. This headquarters became known as La Plata and it was from here that the combative Castro drafted many of the early revolutionary laws while he orchestrated the military strikes that finally brought about the ultimate demise of the Batista government.

Information

Aspiring visitors should check the current situation before arriving in the national park. Tropical storms and/or government bureaucracy have been known to put the place temporarily out of action. The best source of information is Cubamar ( 7-833-2523/4) in Havana, or you can go straight to the horse’s mouth by directly contacting Villa Santo Domingo ( 56-53-02). These guys can put you in touch with the Centro de Información de Flora y Fauna next door (Click here). Additional information can be gleaned at the Cubanacán desk at the Hotel Royalton in Bayamo (Click here).

Sights & Activities

Santo Domingo is a tiny village that nestles in a deep green valley beside the gushing Río Yara. Communally it provides a wonderful slice of peaceful Cuban campesino life that has carried on pretty much unchanged since Fidel and Che prowled these shadowy mountains in the late 1950s. If you decide to stick around, you can get a taste of rural socialism at the local school and medical clinic, or ask at Villa Santo Domingo about the tiny village museum. The locals have also been known to offer horseback riding, pedicure treatments, hikes to natural swimming pools and some classic old first-hand tales from the annals of revolutionary history.

The park closes at 4pm but rangers won’t let you pass after mid-morning, so set off early to maximize your visit.

All trips into the park begin at the end of the near-vertical, corrugated-concrete access road at Alto del Naranjo (after Villa Santo Domingo the road gains 750 vertical meters in 5km). To get there, it’s an arduous two-hour walk, or you can ask about passage in a bone-rattling Russian truck (formerly used by the military in Angola). There’s a good view of the plains of Granma from this 950m-high lookout, otherwise it’s just a launching pad for La Plata (3km) and Pico Turquino (13km).

Situated atop a crenellated mountain ridge amid thick cloud forest, Comandancia La Plata was first established by Fidel Castro in 1958 after a year on the run in the Sierra Maestra. Well camouflaged and remote, the rebel HQ was chosen for its inaccessibility and it served its purpose well – Batista’s soldiers never found it. Today it remains much as it was left in the ’50s, with 16 simple wooden buildings (including a small museum) providing an evocative reminder of one of the most successful guerrilla campaigns in history.

Comandancia La Plata is controlled by the Centro de Información de Flora y Fauna in the village of Santo Domingo. Aspiring guerrilla-watchers must first hire a guide at the park headquarters (CUC$11), get transport (or walk) 5km up to Alto del Naranjo, and then proceed on foot along a muddy track for the final 3km. For further information, contact Villa Santo Domingo or Cubanacán in Bayamo Click here.

Sleeping & Eating

There are three accommodation options for park-bound visitors.

Campismo La Sierrita (Cubamar; 59-33-26; s/d CUC$9/14) Situated 8km south of Bartolomé Masó you start to feel the slanting shadow of the mountains here. The campismo (camping installation) is 1km off the main highway on a very rough road and boasts 27 cabins with bunks, baths and electricity. There’s a restaurant, and a river for swimming. Ask at the desk about trips to the national park. To ensure it’s open and has space, reserve in advance with Cubamar ( 7-833-2523/4) in Havana or at the Campismo Popular ( 42-42-00; General García No 112) office in Bayamo.

Motel Balcón de la Sierra (Islazul; 59-51-80; s/d CUC$22/28; ) One kilometer south of Bartolomé Masó and 16km north of Santo Domingo, this attractively located place nestled in the mountain foothills is a little distant for easy access to the park. A swimming pool and restaurant lie perched on a small hill with killer mountain views, while 20 air-conditioned cabins are scattered below. A lovely natural ambience is juxtaposed with the usual basic but functional Islazul furnishings.

Villa Santo Domingo (Islazul; 56-53-68; s/d with breakfast CUC$32/37; ) This villa, 24km south of Bartolomé Masó, sits at the gateway to Gran Parque Nacional Sierra Maestra. There are 20 separate cabins next to the Río Yara and the setting, among cascading mountains and campesino huts, is idyllic. From a geographical aspect, this is the best jumping-off point for the La Plata and Turquino hikes. You can also test your lungs going for a challenging early morning hike up a painfully steep road to Alto del Naranjo (5km; 750m of ascent). Other attractions include horseback riding, river swimming and traditional music in the villa’s restaurant. If you’re lucky, you might even catch the wizened old Rebel Quintet, a group of musicians who serenaded the revolutionary army in the late 1950s. Fidel stayed here on various occasions (in hut 6) and Raúl Castro dropped by briefly in 2001 after scaling Pico Turquino at the ripe old age of 70.

PICO TURQUINO

Towering 1972m above the azure Caribbean, Pico Turquino – so named for the turquoise hue that colors its steep upper slopes – is Cuba’s highest and most regularly climbed mountain.

Carpeted in lush cloud forest and protected in a 140-sq-km national park, the peak’s lofty summit is embellished by a bronze bust of national hero José Martí, the work of Cuban sculptor Jilma Madera (Madera also fashioned the famous Christ statue that stands on the eastern side of Havana harbor; Click here). In a patriotic test of endurance, the statue was dragged to the top in 1953 by a young Celia Sánchez and her father, Manuel Sánchez Silveira, to mark the centennial of the apostle’s birth.

Four years later, Sánchez visited the summit again, this time with a rifle-wielding Fidel Castro in tow to record an interview with American news network, CBS. Not long afterwards, the rebel army pitched their permanent headquarters in the mountain’s imposing shadow, atop a tree-protected ridge near La Plata.

Best tackled as a through trek from the Santo Domingo side, the rugged, two- to three-day grind up Turquino starts from Alto del Naranjo near La Plata and ends at Las Cuevas on the Caribbean coast. Guides are mandatory and can be arranged through Flora y Fauna employees at Villa Santo Domingo or at the small hut at Las Cuevas. The cost varies, depending on how many days you take. If you organize it through Cubanacán in Bayamo Click here, bank on CUC$45/65/99 per person for two/three/four days. You’ll also need to stock up on food, warm clothing, candles and some kind of sleeping roll or sheet. Even in August it gets cold at the shelters, so be prepared. Sufficient water is available along the trail.

The trail through the mountains from Alto del Naranjo passes the village of La Platica (water), Palma Mocha (campsite), Lima (campsite), Pico Joachín (shelter and water), El Cojo (shelter), Pico Joachín, Regino, Paso de los Monos, Loma Redonda, Pico Turquino (1972m), Pico Cuba (1872m; with a shelter and water at 1650m), Pico Cardero (1265m) and La Esmajagua (600m) before dropping down to Las Cuevas on the coast. The first two days are spent on the 13km section to Pico Turquino (overnighting at the Pico Joachín and/or Pico Cuba shelters), where a prearranged guide takes over and leads you down to Las Cuevas. As with all guide services, tips are in order. Prearranging the second leg from Pico Cuba to Las Cuevas is straightforward and handled by park staff.

These hikes are well coordinated and the guides efficient. The sanest way to begin is by spending the night at Villa Santo Domingo and setting out in the morning (you should enter the park gate by 10am). Transport from Las Cuevas along the coast is sparse with one scheduled truck on alternate days. Arrange a taxi in advance.

Click here for a description of the Las Cuevas–Pico Turquino leg.

Getting There & Around

There’s no public transport from Bartolomé Masó to Alto del Naranjo. A taxi from Bayamo to Villa Santo Domingo should cost from CUC$30 to CUC$35 one-way. Ensure it can take you all the way; the last 7km before Villa Santo Domingo is extremely steep but passable in a normal car. Returning, the hotel should be able to arrange onward transport for you to Bartolomé Masó, Bayamo or Manzanillo.

A 4WD vehicle with good brakes is necessary to drive the last 5km from Santo Domingo to Alto del Naranjo; it’s the steepest road in Cuba with 45% gradients near the top. Russian trucks pass regularly, usually for adventurous tour groups, and you may be able to find a space on board for approximately CUC$7 (ask at Villa Santo Domingo). Alternatively, it’s a tough but rewarding 5km hike.

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MANZANILLO

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Bayside Manzanillo might not be pretty but – like most low-key Granma towns – it has an infectious vibe. Sit for 10 minutes in the dilapidated central park with its old-fashioned street organs and distinctive neo-Moorish architecture and you’ll quickly make a friend or three. With bare-bones transport links and only one grim state-run hotel, not many travelers make it out this far. As a result, Manzanillo is a good place to get off the standard guidebook trail and see how Cubans have learned to live with 50 years of rationing, austerity and school playground–style politics with their big neighbor in the north.

Founded in 1784 as a small fishing port, Manzanillo’s early history was dominated by smugglers and pirates trading in contraband goods. The subterfuge continued into the late 1950s, when the city’s proximity to the Sierra Maestra made it an important supply center for arms and men heading up to Castro’s revolutionaries in their secret mountaintop headquarters.

Manzanillo is famous for its hand-operated street organs, which were first imported into Cuba from France by the local Fornaris and Borbolla families in the early 20th century (and are still widely in use). The city’s musical legacy was solidified further in 1972 when it hosted a government-sponsored nueva trova festival that culminated in a solidarity march to Playa Las Coloradas (Click here).

Information

Banco de Crédito y Comercio (cnr Merchán & Saco; 8:30am-3:30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sat)
Cadeca ( 57-71-25; Martí No 188; 8:30am-6pm Mon-Sat, 8am-1pm Sun) Two blocks from the main square. With few places accepting Convertibles here, you’ll need some Cuban pesos.
Post office (cnr Martí & Codina) One block from Parque Céspedes.

Sights

IN TOWN

Although it may be a little dingy these days, Manzanillo is well known for its striking architecture, a psychedelic mélange of wooden beach shacks, Andalusian-style townhouses and intricate neo-Moorish facades. Check out the old City Bank of NY building (cnr Merchán & Doctor Codina), dating from 1913, or the ramshackle wooden abodes around Perucho Figueredo, between Merchán and JM Gómez.

Manzanillo’s central square, Parque Céspedes, is notable for its priceless glorieta (gazebo/bandstand), where Moorish mosaics, a scalloped cupola and arabesque columns set off a theme that’s replicated elsewhere. Completely restored a decade ago, the bandstand – an imitation of the Patio de los Leones in Spain’s Alhambra – shines brightly amid the urban decay. Nearby, a permanent statue of Carlos Puebla, Manzanillo’s famous homegrown troubadour, sits contemplatively on a bench admiring the surrounding cityscape.

On the eastern side of Parque Céspedes is the Museo Histórico Municipal (Martí No 226; admission free; 8am-noon & 2-6pm Tue-Fri, 8am-noon & 6-10pm Sat & Sun), giving the usual local history lesson with a revolutionary twist. There’s an art gallery next door. The city’s neoclassical Iglesia de la Purísima Concepción was initiated in 1805, but the twin bell towers were added in 1918. The church, named after Manzanillo’s patron saint, is notable for its impressive gilded altarpiece.

About eight blocks southwest of the park lies Manzanillo’s most evocative sight, the Celia Sánchez Monument. Built in 1990, this terra-cotta tiled staircase embellished with colorful ceramic murals runs up Calle Caridad between Martí and Luz Caballero. The birds and flowers on the reliefs represent Sánchez, lynchpin of the M-26-7 Movement and longtime aid to Castro, whose visage appears on the central mural near the top of the stairs. It’s a moving memorial with excellent views out over the city and bay.

OUTSIDE TOWN

The Museo Histórico La Demajagua (admission CUC$1; 8am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-noon Sun) started with a cry. Ten kilometers south of Manzanillo across the grassy expanses of western Granma lies La Demajagua, the site of the sugar estate of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes whose Grito de Yara and subsequent freeing of his slaves on October 10, 1868, marked the opening shot of Cuba’s independence wars. There’s a small museum here along with the remains of Céspedes’ ingenio (sugar mill), a poignant monument (with a quote from Castro) and the famous Demajagua bell that Céspedes tolled to announce Cuba’s (then unofficial) independence. In 1947, a then unknown Fidel Castro ‘kidnapped’ the bell and took it to Havana in a publicity stunt to protest against the corrupt Cuban government. To get to La Demajagua, travel south 10km from the Servi-Cupet gas station in Manzanillo, in the direction of Media Luna, and then another 2.5km off the main road, toward the sea.