Baracoa
The First Spanish Settlement In Cuba, Founded 1511, Cut Off From The Rest Of The Island By Mountains Until The La Farola Road Opened In 1964 · Baracoa, Guantanamo
Baracoa was the first town the Spanish built in Cuba, in 1511, and then the island forgot about it for four centuries: mountains cut it off from everywhere and there was no road in at all until La Farola was pushed over the ridge in 1964. That isolation is why it is different. The food is different - cacao, coconut milk, cucurucho sold in palm cones by the roadside - the accent is different, and the flat-topped mountain called El Yunque standing over the bay is the landmark Columbus described on his first voyage. Rivers run down out of the hills to beaches with almost nothing on them. It is also the town independent travellers reliably fall for, and the one that has taken the hardest hits: Hurricane Matthew came straight over it in 2016 and the rebuilding is still visible everywhere you look. Almost everyone who gets here stays longer than they planned, and the four-hour mountain road in is half the reason why.
Parque Independencia, Baracoa, Guantanamo, Baracoa, Guantanamo, Cuba
The town is open at all hours. The Matachin fort museum and the smaller museums keep daytime hours. River trips, El Yunque climbs and beach transport are arranged informally through casas particulares and depend on fuel. THE LA FAROLA ROAD from Santiago can close in heavy rain or after storms. Power cuts are longer in this province than in the west.