Baracoa

Baracoa is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. Baracoa’s cobblestone streets are lined with one-story buildings with carnival coloured paint jobs and weathered tile roofs. Local people watch you curiously from wide verandas. Cocoa, pineapples, coconut and the largest tangerines I have ever seen grown abundantly in the area. Baracoa is a land of great rainfall and many rivers. The lush vegetation, the high mountains covered with long-lived forest, the customs that have been handed down from one generation to another and the appearance of a town that has remained unchanged over a long time are, undoubtedly, key ingredients in the special attraction of this tiny city on the shores of Miel (Honey) Bay. Baracoa is a place in Cuba where you can see from one location two sea’s – the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is also called the first city/Capital of Cuba. Do not expect great luxury and touristic highlights. But this is the reason why this place is so charming. The village itself – it’s history – the locals. It is noted as the place where Columbus dropped anchor and was also the original Cuban capital. Interesting blog from VT: “The best thing about Baracoa are the rivers. Warm, clear water and if you go up the mountain along the eastern trail see “la cascada”. It’s not a waterfall. At the top, the Toa is a tight river, about 20 meters wide, filled with boulders… the biggest rocks you have ever seen in your life. There are a million of them, filling the whole river, for miles and miles.”