Indeed, my first and only trip to Baracoa
was in hoping to find (and taste) the famous cucurucho, a blend of coconut,
sugar and sometimes guava, orange or pineapple wrapped in a cone-shaped palm
leaf that is a local delicacy.
Baracoa is called “La Ciudad Primada de
Cuba”, which means Cuba’s first city, and was founded in August 11th 1511. Baracoa
was Cuba first capital, a title that Santiago de Cuba claimed a few years later
and then Havana, the country’s present day metropolis.
In
the easternmost province of Guantanamo, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de
Baracoa is in a remote location surrounded by a wide mountain range that helps
to its isolation, and has kept the mass tourism quite low despite the idyllic
location and the magnificent scenery in its surrounding.
Baracoa was for long time only accessible
by sea but now you can take La Farola, a road built through the mountains that
links Guantanamo city with the eastern end of the Island, and there are also
domestic flights even from Havana.
I went to Baracoa as part of a cultural
project in my former job in Cuba, and only for three days. I knew that I
wouldn’t have enough time to discover the magic of Baracoa, yet I felt under
its spell… and still was hoping to find my Cucurucho.
We drove for long six hours from Santiago
de Cuba to Baracoa, stopping for lunch in Guantanamo and now I can tell that
driving through La Farola was quite an experience, even for someone like me who
has traveled to Topes de Collantes and Sierra Maestra, but the view from La
Farola will take your breath away.
After check in Hotel La Rusa we had the
afternoon free to go around ourselves, until next morning when the event was
planned to start. If you go in tourist plan, I’ll recommend to stay in Hotel El
Castillo, a former Spanish military fort that is now a hotel, and was one of
the three fortress that oversees the city.
Knowing that I wouldn’t have too much
free time, I strolled the town trying to capture its essence but without
forgetting my Cucurucho. My first visit, and will say a must see, was to
Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Cathedral to see the Cruz de Parra, a wooden
cross that is believed to be brought by Columbus and is the oldest in the New
World. Many claim is a legend, but true or not, the cross have been there way
before us.
The next two days I was immerse in my
job, but still I had time to stroll around the beach just in the doors of the
city and feel the warm of its people, dancing the night out in Parque de la
Independencia (Independence Park), which is next to the church, and putting my
feet in the Miel River like in the movie “Miel para Oshun”.
Time to go back to my place and Baracoa
has already left its aura on me, aiming to come back and hike El Yunque, a
nearby table mountain, to see Salto Fino the highest waterfall in the Caribbean
and cross the Toa River on rafts made of bamboo that are powered with a long
staff.
 |
| Courtesy of Cuba Tourist Board |
But most of all, I’ll be back to taste
the real Cucurucho, that didn’t found anywhere around my short stay, but ironically I found its underrated “cousin”
in my way back, on the road through Las Tunas. Hence, it didn’t taste the same…
or not what I was told!
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