Baracoa: Have we gone too far ?

The drive from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa was unique in its own way. Long serpentine roads and steep curves, are the perfect location for the crazy Viazul drivers to let their inner “rally” side to set free. In-between laughs & jokes time goes fast and before we notice the bus reaches the omnibus terminal in Baracoa.

Shall we laugh or cry ? That’s what we ask ourselves the moment an ARMY of casa owners approaches the moving bus at the terminal and starts sticking little advertise cardboards through the windows. Madness ! Needless to say that idea of hopping down the bus to take our luggages feels like getting ready for battle. Put together low season, just a couple of buses driving to Baracoa & after-hurricane settings; only then you’ll be able to imagine how far were these casa owners willing to push themselves (and us !) to get tourists !

After the 15min of “we-need-air-let-us-alone” peace treaty with the casa owners, we opt for going to visit Casa Azul (Alfredo is the owner), which luckily for us its just 5min walk away. The house looks great ! The two adjacent rooms at the first floor are the only present and hence, the 4 of us, pretty much end up renting the “whole” place: private spacious kitchen & balcony overlooking the rooftops of Baracoa. All this for just 10CUC per room + 2CUC for breakfast. Could you ask for better ?!

Given the way other fellow travellers described Baracoa as an idyllic destination, our expectations were high. In reality, apart from the main road/boulevard (Calle Jose Martí) and a small central plaza with a church (where one of the wooden Columbus crosses is kept), the tiny village of Baracoa has not much else to offer. True, there are some restaurants, a Cultural Centre, an art gallery and a couple of supermarkets but that’s really it ! In fact, in case you fancy having a swim you have to reach Playa de Miel (swimming in the Malecon area is highly unsuggested & dangerous), a black sand beach full of trash (at least when we were there) which is just OK. Quick stop at the supermarket to get food and back we are home cooking pasta for the team !

Anyway, after a laugh everything goes back into place. Hungry for adventure, we want to see with our eyes the so-mentioned “dream-beach” and there we go on a taxi-jeep rolling toward Playa Maguana. Its already 4pm when we leave Baracoa but what seemed like a relatively close beach trip (22km) ended be a collective suffering in the back of a crappy jeep ! Ha ha, what to say if not to laugh about it ? Was it the late afternoon water, the little sun left or some trash near to our towels but when we finally get there, we are not THAT amazed… We’ll give you that, the sand is white & there’s plenty of huge seashells on the shore giving that feeling of Caribbean all around but even though we’re the only people there (apart from a coconut-seller and a “waiter-owner-chef” of a nearby beach-restaurant)… its just ain’t feel right. Probably, during the day its more enjoyable but our 5-cents is to avoid going in the afternoon.

Tonight, we decide to take a meal off the cuban diet based on rice & beans and opt for something different; with Max in the kitchen cooking pasta, the germans getting the table to the terrace ready and the concert playing just a few blocks down (a local reggae band) this day couldn’t end better !

During our second day in Baracoa, the younger brother (Alfredo) of the casa owner propose us to have a day-trip to the Canyon of River Yumuri. The home-made tour involves driving to the canyon (with a couple of stops at some rocky formations on the way) and then taking a boat into the canyon so to hop off and have a trek inside the canyon itself. At 7.30am we leave Baracoa with a shiny red jeep (Alfredo’s friend first love). After a couple of minutes on the road, we get the first good news of the day: if we fancy, we can make a stop and visit a chocolate plantation. And before you ask, tasting was included !!! What can we say, chocolate attracts everyone and with such a funny kind woman explaining us the process of chocolate, there’s nothing we can do but take something home. In-between a chocolate-coconut praline (among, if not the best, we’ve ever tried !) and some white chocolate cream for all uses, we’re finally back on the road.

At the entrance of the Canyon Reserve, you get to choose which kind of excursion you want to take and there’s also bunch of boats waiting to get people across. In just under 10min, our boat “Don Pedro” bring us to the middle of the Canyon where we can relax, take a few snaps even have a swim (we didn’t do the latter due to the amount of mosquitoes). The walk is short but very enjoyable and although there’s little to see, it’s definitely worth considering as a half-day trip from Baracoa.

Back to the apartment, the time has come to say goodbye to our fellow german friends whom today are getting back to Varadero for a couple of days before returning to Germany. We spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the Restaurant La Punta, or in other words the closest internet wi-fi spot to our house. Despite the drinks being slightly expensive, having a beer in an old fort where you can get great wifi is simply great; tell our families we’re alive, writing on the blog and updating instagram (@connectedhorizons). While having a walk around the town, we start wondering whether getting here was a good idea. Granting the fact that our expectations were highly pumped up by others idyllic descriptions, Baracoa is definitely not even close to what we would have ever thought. Maybe this laid-back fishermen town in the furthest south-east of Cuba could be more enjoyable with your own car ?

Tomorrow its time to go back ! The morning Viazúl to Havana leaves early and we still haven’t got a clue of where we will stop ! It was a pleasure Baracoa but I guess I’m not gonna say see you “again !

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