Viva Cuba – part III

But let’s start with the foundation of the town of Santa Clara.

On the 15th of July 1689, 175 people founded the town, with 138 people being from two families from the area.

The name had changed a few times already: Cayo Nuevo, Dos Cayos, Villa Nueva de Santa Clara, Pueblo Nuevo de Antón Díaz, Villa Clara and finally Santa Clara. The city started growing from the »Cabildo«, which was the seat of the town council already back in  1725. The old buildings were demolished in 1923 and the main square was expanded. Santa Clara kept growing after the revolution too, so it has about a quarter of inhabitants now. 

The battle of Santa Clara in 1958 was the last battle of the Cuban revolution, when the forces of Ernesto Che Guevara and Camila Cienfuegosa stormed the town. They destroyed the railway with a single bulldozer and stopped the armored train carrying the soldiers and weapons. They’ve sent the soldiers unharmed back to the Havana, but kept the town. 12 hours later on the 31st of December 1958 the dictator Batista left Cuba, so the people started a free new year of 1959. To get a better impression of the situation click here.

Santa Clara is also te beginning of the »autopista nacional« the national highway, leading to Havana and further on to Pinar del rio on the west of Cuba.

Despite the good road it would still be a shame to rush past the Bay of Pigs (where CIA wanted to start an invasion, but their faliur just made the revolution stronger), the Giron beach and back to the highway over the Zapata national park, which is a haven for crocodiles and other species of animals. You can see the whole beauty of this part of the trip here. 

I’ll skip Havana, and leave it for the last article, to take you to Pinar del rio and the valley and town of Viñales, protected as a UNESCO heritage site in 1976.

If you prefer the lively city life, do not go to the west of Cuba, but if you like the tobacco plantations and diving in crystal clear water, than Pinar del rio is the place for you.

At the entrance is the hotel Pinar del rio – nothing special except for a huge pool and old but clean budget friendly rooms.

I do suggest you visit the Marinero restaurant in town and try their various low cost cuisine. Unfortunately the town is ful of merchants who sell cheap cigar copies and invite you to local restaurants. But their cigars are naturally “original” for everybody has a family member running a cigar factory. It’s best just to ignore them.

All over Cuba and also in Pinar del riu there’s enough fun, discos and live music, street teathre….

But just click here to see some of the photos from Pinar del ria.

A two hour drive from the town is the most famous diving centers in the Caribbean – Maria la gorda (the fat Marry), which is also a part of the national park on land and also under water. In addition to the park the road there is also very interesting for it goes pass tobacco plantation of the best tobacco and the “tobacco king” who died shortly after our visit (in the age of 92 with 5 smoked cigars a day). You can see him on the photos here. On the plantation of Alejandro Robaine the best tobacco in the world is grown and Alejandro was a guest of all important people in the world, who appreciate great Cuban cigars.

Due to modernization and mechanization many tobacco makers joined in associations, but the Robaine family kept their traditional way even after the revolution. Joining the associasions was not an order, just an invitation, so people could share the mechanization and share the product. But those combined plantations have no such love for the tobacco.

Tobacco fields are all around the northern part around Viñalesa as well. But the main attraction of Viñales in the fairytale landscape with many beautiful views.

There are no big hotels there, and the small ones blend in perfectly with the landscape. On one of the rocks in the valley is also the famous rock painting »Dos hermanas – two brothers«.

But it’s best you take a look at what awaits you there for yourself - here.

With these pictures I take my farewell until the next issue, when I’ll take you to the capital of HAVANA.