Page 213 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

CENTR AL CUBA – EAST  211

Playa Santa Lucía, and a planned character of a frontier
pedraplén causeway will link it town between central
with Jardines del Rey. and eastern Cuba.
In the past Cayo Sabinal was The historic centre
home to permanent residents: has some colonial
first the natives, then pirates and buildings but no
Spanish coalmen. Today, the key major monuments
is visited mostly for its three of note. However, the
beautiful beaches, Playa Bonita, city does have some
Playa Los Pinos and Playa Brava. artists’ studios.
The Colón Lighthouse dates The Museo
from 1894. Histórico
South of Cayo Sabinal is the Provincial, in the
Bay of Nuevitas, where the city town hall, has The town hall of Las Tunas
of Camagüey was first founded. archaeological finds
The three small islands in the and documents relating to national monument, built by
bay, known as Los Ballenatos, the history of the province. the Spanish to halt the advance
are popular destinations for The Museo Memorial Mártires of the Mambí, on the edge of
boat trips. de Barbados commemorates the city of Puerto Padre, the
a terrorist act against Cuba scene of major battles in the
carried out in 1976: a bomb Ten Years’ War (1868–78).
r Las Tunas exploded on a Cubana The best beach here is
aeroplane headed for Havana, Playa Covarrubias, which is
Las Tunas. Road Map E3. * 198,000.
~ £ @ n Hotel Las Tunas, Ave. 2 killing 73 passengers and the near Puerto Padre, on the
de diciembre, (31) 345 014; Ecotur, (31) entire crew. Atlantic coast.
372 073. _ Jornada Nacional Every year Las Tunas springs
Cucalambeana (end of Jun). to life on the occasion of t Jardines de la
the Jornada Nacional
Until 1975, Las Tunas was Cucalambeana, dedicated to Reina
just one of the cities in the Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey. Road
old Provincia de Oriente. known as El Cucalambé, Map D4. 4 Júcaro, Embarcadero
Then administrative reform a farmer and poet born here Avalón, n Avalon, Júcaro, 7204 7422.
made it the capital of an auto­ in 1829. Local and other Cuban
nomous province. The town artists, as well as foreign This archipelago in the
was founded on the site of scholars, take part in this festival Caribbean Sea was discovered
two native villages that were of music and folk traditions. by Christopher Columbus and
razed to the ground by the called Jardines de la Reina in
conquistador Alonso de Ojeda Environs honour of the queen (reina),
in the early 1500s. However, Near Las Tunas are many Isabel of Castile. Established as
the town only really began to sites linked with the wars of a National Park in 1996, it is one
develop three centuries later, independence. They include of Cuba’s largest protected
progressively taking on the the Fuerte de la Loma, now a areas. These islands can be
reached by boat from Júcaro.
The great number of unspoilt
cayos, mangroves and palm
groves are rich with fauna
including crocodiles, iguanas,
turtles, hutias and tropical
birds, and the 200­km (125­
mile) coral reef which runs the
length of the archipelago is a
paradise for divers.
Near Cayo Anclita, only about
100 m (328 ft) from the coast,
is La Tortuga, a floating hotel
reserved for fishermen, divers
and photographers (see p261).
The waters abound with
groupers, snappers, barracudas
and Caribbean reef and silky
sharks, among many other fish.
Tours, diving trips and live­
aboard accommodation can
A scuba diver with a barracuda be booked via Avalon.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp261–2 and pp274–5

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