Baracoa (March 18)

Hotel Porto Santo

We disembarked the bus near the center of Baracoa and walked to Our Lady of Assumption Church in the town square.  Here we rendezvoused with the city historian - Dr. Alejandro Hartmann.  

We learned from him that Baracoa was the place where Columbus landed in Cuba on October 12, 1492.  He called it Porto Santo.  He had brought 29 crosses with him.  He placed the first one here.  Of the 29, only this one was still known to exist.  Named the Sacred Cross of Para, it was on display in the entryway to the church.  

The stained glass windows behind the altar depicted (left) Columbus placing the cross and (right) the cross being presented to Pope John Paul II in 1998 at El Cobre, the church we visited on our way to Santiago de Cuba several days ago. It was the first time Cuba had ever been visited by a Pontiff.  The Pope declined the gift of the cross, saying it should remain in Baracoa.

We walked from the church a short distance to an art gallery.  It was billed as a visit with young artists, but other than some introductory remarks by the gallery manager, we were on our own to walk around viewing mostly wood art and paintings.

From there we went to Museo Municipal del Fuerte Matachin (Fort Matachin Municipal Museum), on route walking by the statue of a local character - El Pelú, Francisco Rodríguez. When expelled from Baracoa in the mid-1890's he cursed the city.  Since then, when something goes wrong, residents say it is the Curse of El Pelú.  [NOTE: I have not been able to find a solid definition of "El Pelú".  The closest I have come is "The Mystery".]

Inside the main building at Fort Matachin, the historian continued his presentation, although the combination of a small screen multimedia display on a low table surrounded by tall people meant that I missed most of the visuals.  The items on display, though somewhat limited, were well presented and interesting.  

In an amusing story, Dr. Hartmann told us Baracoa was the home of the first known transvestite in Cuba.

We wandered around the fort.  It was a much, much smaller than Morro Castle.

click on picture to learn more about this organization

 On route to our next destination we had a clear view of El Yunque (The Anvil).  This distinctive landmark, cited by Columbus in his journal, helped support Baracoa's claim to be the site where Columbus landed since his GPS fix was inaccurate.  (GPS‽ - Just checking to be sure you were paying attention.  And did you know that a question mark combined with an exclamation mark is called and interrobang.)

Lunch was wild boar at Rancho Toa with the usual musical accompaniment, although this time there were more musicians.  

Lunch was followed by a rowboat ride on Toa River. The ride was sort of a yawn, but it was fun to be on the water.  Pam and I each took a turn rowing the boat.  The handmade oars were heavy.

Our boatman was a character.  His name was Yoandri Hernandez Garrido.  His nickname was "Twenty-four."  We initially speculated that it might be the number of people that he had lost overboard.  It's actual origin was his number of digits.  He had six full fingers on each hand and six full toes on each foot.  He said that the Guinness Book of Records was in the process of researching whether he was the only such person on the planet.

Returning to shore, we proceeded a bit further along the coast to a coconut farm for a local sweet treat called Cucurucho.  Pam, not put off by the name being pronounced disturbingly like "cockroach", tried the treat and judged quite good.  I had a bite and did not feel the need for another.

The gentleman pictured below was 92 years old.  He took pride in showing us pictures of him still climbing coconut trees.  He allowed that he was currently not climbing them because he was feeling stiff.  Kate donned her licensed massage therapist hat and proceeded to make the man feel much better.

Several members of the group went wading/swimming at the adjacent beach. This was not one of the white sandy beaches found elsewhere in Cuba.  It was typical of east-facing beaches throughout the Caribbean. 

Back at Hotel Porto Santo we had some time to relax before heading back to the town center for dinner at El Colonial.  

The paladar proved to be a hot and cramped, making it an uncomfortable dining experience.  I blame much of this on the way the tables were configured in a room that could have provided everyone more space.  The food was good if somewhat uninteresting.

It started to drizzle while we were having dinner.  It became rain by the time we reached the hotel.  The rain became torrential soon after we got to our room.  It then let up a bit, creating the perfect background noise for drifting off to sleep, so I soon did.