‘Papa’ Hemingway was so enamoured he chose to spend more than 20 years of his life here – and became its adopted son.
Che Guevara was laid to rest here – the revolutionary’s long-lost remains were repatriated from Bolivia 15 years ago and reburied in a mausoleum at the base of a bronze statue erected in his honour.
Cuba is a place seemingly lost in time, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site hailed as one of the best-preserved colonial cities in the world.
Its capital, Havana, still has a fading sense of past grandeur, steeped as it is in history with the ambience of a bygone era still lingering on every street corner. Here too is the renowned Partagas Cigar Factory, still drying, rolling and packaging the most famous export ever to come out of this enchanting island.
Hispanic Lore and Culture
The small city of Trinidad, the ‘Pearl of the South’ that is Cienfuegos, and Che Guevara’s final home of Santa Clara all hold a special place in the hearts of those attracted to Hispanic lore and culture, in a Caribbean idyll tucked away off the southern coast of Florida and to the west of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Trinidad’s World Heritage Site houses the Trinidad History Museum and Museo Romantico, reminders of a lost age in a city heralded as the best example of the colonial era and its aristocratic past.
The Viñales Valley with its dramatic landscape and limestone formations – known as mogotes – Las Terrazas Eco Mountain Resort, and the home of Hemingway at Finca Vigia are all added highlights for the discerning holiday-maker.
Tourist chiefs liken Trinidad to a museum in itself, a 500-year-old living history lesson with cobbled streets, pastel-coloured houses and palaces and plazas that stand testament to its long-ago colonial heyday. The city takes only a few hours to explore by foot or horse-drawn carriage.
Rich Bounty of Natural Attractions
Las Terrazas Eco Mountain Resort is the jewel in the crown of the island’s rich bounty of natural attractions, incorporating the coastal scrublands of Peninsula de Guanahacabibes in Pinar del Río and the unspoilt rain forests of Cuchillas del Toa in Guantánamo. Some 22% of the total land area of Cuba is protected, ensuring the safety of over 350 species of birds and the Cuban crocodile.
The Cueva del Indio – Indian Cave – is another ‘must do’ for visitors – it’s a dead ringer for an Indiana Jones film set and was probably the tribal meeting place of local Taino Indians long before the Spanish invaders arrived in the 15th century.
Nicki Williams is a content writer for Gear-Zone, on-line specialists for outdoor clothing and footwear, camping equipment, and travel accessories
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