Travel Blog | About TravelBlog | World Facts | Travel Wallpaper | Travel Forum | Travel Insurance | Services | Cameras

Baracoa Travel Blogs

Background: The native Amerindian population of Cuba began to decline after the European discovery of the island by Christopher COLUMBUS in 1492 and following its development as a Spanish colony during the next several centuries. Large numbers of African slaves were imported to work the coffee and sugar plantations and Havana became the launching point for the annual treasure fleets bound for Spain from Mexico and Peru. Spanish rule was severe and exploitative and occasional rebellions were harshly suppressed. It was US intervention during the Spanish-American War in 1898 that finally overthrew Spanish rule. The subsequent Treaty of Paris established Cuban independence, which was granted in 1902 after a three-year transition period. Fidel CASTRO led a rebel army to victory in 1959; his iron rule has held the regime together since then. Cuba's Communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession in 1990, following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually. Cuba portrays its difficulties as the result of the US embargo in place since 1961. Illicit migration to the US - using homemade rafts, alien smugglers, air flights, or via the southwest border - is a continuing problem. The US Coast Guard intercepted 1,498 individuals attempting to cross the Straits of Florida in 2004.




Links: Baracoa Travel Blogs (13) | Baracoa Travel Photos | Map of Baracoa | Cuba Travel Forum | Hotels in Baracoa | Hostels in Baracoa | Cheap flights to Baracoa | Baracoa Map | Cuba Facts | Map of Cuba

Cuba

Cuba Location



Hostels in Cuba
Latest Baracoa Blog Entries
Baracoa Photos











« back 1 10 next »
Odd how one song can make up the soundtrack of your life? Soundgarden just happened to be playing as I peered down from the plane window to see the blackest sand beaches desperately trying to flee dense jungle. The song seemed weirdly appropriate. My seatmate asked, "There is going to be a runway some time soon, right?" We were only about two feet off the turquoise ocean when we suddenly hit pavement. Hola Baracoa. ....or should I say Holy Baracoa? Hurricane Ida came in right behind us, unleashing her torrential rain for days. Angry ocean blasted over the measly malecon seawall [View Full Entry]

cabochick - Andrea | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1539 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 21 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: December 10th 2009 | 126 Views | [diary=457075]

Street party Baracoa
and it rained...
take a slow ride

By luzia
February 21st 2009
Baracoa Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Este » Baracoa
Nach einem kurz Aufenthalt in Santiago de Cuba, in ich nun schon ganz am anderen Ende der Insel angekommen. Santiago ist eigentlich eine sehr schoen Stadt mit einer interessanten Geschicht. Mir war das ganze aber doch ein bisschen zu "agressiv" und ich bin froh nun in Baracoa zu sein. Hier gefaellt es mir sehr. Kleines Staedtchen mit Charme, schoene Straende ganz in der Naehe.....einfach ein paar Tage relaxen pur. Habe heute schon alles fuer den Strand bereit gemacht. Leider regnet es nun in Stroemen. Baracoa hat sonst nicht viel zu bieten. Da kann man sich die Zeit nur mit wenigen Sachen [View Full Entry]

luzia - Reisli nach Lateinamerika | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
124 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 41 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: February 21st 2009 | 107 Views | [diary=375587]

Santiago de Cuba
Baracoa
Baracoa

The day we left Santiago De Cuba it had started to rain. We were all very happy to leave as none of us liked the place. I can't tell you exactly why. Nothing bad happened. It was more about the feel of the place. It was just very dodgy. The drive to Baracoa, which is on the east coast, was quite a long one. We stopped in the town of Guantanamo for a break. (the town, not the detention centre). The road outside of Guantanamo is very secure - there was no stopping to take photos. I tried to capture 1 [View Full Entry]

Vera in Mexico and Cuba - Miss V | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
455 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: November 12th 2008 | 120 Views | [diary=344474]

Merryn dancing with Jubal, our tour leader, at one of the bars in Baracoa.
We enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach - lobster and fish freshly cooked and hand delivered.
Just one of the interesting characters we shared the beach with.

By tnemec
November 6th 2008
Baracoa Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Este » Baracoa
Ráno jsme se probudili a posnídali na střeše úzasnou snídani, kterou jsme si poručili večer předtím. Zeptali se nás tehdy, co bychom rádi, tak jsme si navymejšleli ledasco. A všechno tam bylo! Bya to paráda. Omeleta, čokoláda, ovocný poháry a hlavně - ten nejlepší pomerančovej dzus, kterej jsme kdy pili. Na Kubě mají několik desítek odrůd pomerančů, většina jich roste v bezprostředním okolí Baracoy, a tomu, co jsme měli ve dzbánech se prostě nic nevyrovnalo. Tahle snídaně p&# [View Full Entry]

tnemec - Tomas Nemec | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1927 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 35 Photo(s) | 1 Video(s)
Published: December 2nd 2008 | 163 Views | [diary=349408]

Baracoa
Domek souseda
Baracoa

Baracoa, one of the most heavily hurricane hit places in Cuba. We werent even sure if we would be able to travel here. Not so much if the road would be open, but if there would be services for tourists, would we just be getting in the way, or putting money into a region that needs it? We´d heard varying reports ranging from ¨yeah fine no problems¨ through to ¨its a disaster zone, stay away¨. It turns out that while we werent the first tourists to go back to Baracoa, we werent far off, its still a disaster zone, some places [View Full Entry]

twotravelbugs - Karen and Colin | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1793 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 17 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: October 2nd 2008 | 216 Views | [diary=329891]

Baracoa
Push bike and side chair
Crossing the estuary

These pictures were taken by a host of ours in Santiago, Dr Pedro A Lobaina Delfino. Please do not reproduce them without permission. He was in Baracoa shortly after the second hurricane, Ike, hit to help his mother and her neighbours. [View Full Entry]

twotravelbugs - Karen and Colin | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
43 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 32 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: October 2nd 2008 | 94 Views | [diary=329900]

DSC00019
DSC00020
DSC00023

So I just spent 2 days in Santiago de Cuba...didn't like it from the moment I arrived at 6:30 in the morning after a freezing 15 hour bus ride with the craziest soundtrack ever (courtesy of the very flirtacious bus driver). At least the music he played provided some comic relief...think BeeGees, Michael Jackson, weird electronic reggae, very sad boleros, and of course plenty of salsa. The upside of Santiago was the family i stayed with. They were wonderful and their casa was just beautiful. I ended up spending most of my time with them in their home...practicing my spanish and [View Full Entry]

Chona - Sonya Vartanian | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
192 Words | 1 Comment(s) | 29 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: July 5th 2008 | 158 Views | [diary=295806]

roof close up and cathedral in distance
house high up with woman at balcony
clothes hanging from balcony over rooftops

By dustyfoot
January 22nd 2008
Baracoa Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Este » Baracoa
Aventuras en el Oriente Part 2: Baracoa We arrived to Baracoa by a combination two of my favourite modes of transport in Cuba: camión(truck) and luck. The crazy evangelist Jorge took us to the truck station and busybodied us on to the right one, waving us goodbye with a cry of “que Dios les acompañe!” (may God be with u) and a gesture of praying hands toward the sky….! Another of his classic moments. The truck to Guantanamo, (yes, where the US nanal base is, tho its apparently so hidden away that the telescope tourist trap isn’t really worth it) was [View Full Entry]

dustyfoot - charli livingstone | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
1284 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 6 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 22nd 2008 | 686 Views | [diary=238214]

chicas on the beach
resting en route to boca de yurumi
man and horse crossing river

After a 16 hours long overnight bus ride we arrived in Santiago de Cuba today. Of course it looks a lot different than Varadero and I am very glad about it. We are staying at a 'casa particular' which is just renting a room at a private home or apartment. It is a very common and cheap way here to find a good accomodation. Often they also offer breakfast and other food if you pay a little more. So we just have a small room and a bathroom and that's about it, but we don't need more anyway. We haven't [View Full Entry]

annina_on_the_road - Annina | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
185 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: August 17th 2007 | 52 Views | [diary=193428]


The next morning, I got up early to catch the five hour bus to Baracoa. Waiting for the bus, I got chatting to Phil, a fellow Scot. We ended up spending the next day together. He’s an interesting guy. He helps run a recycling scheme on a Scottish Island. The five hour journey to Baracoa passes first through the town of Guantánamo, then along the coast. Then it turns inland and goes through some very windy mountain passes. Apparently the town was only accessible via the sea until this road was built in the 1960s! With casas particlares, you can get [View Full Entry]

Cooperman - Nick Cooperman | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe
940 Words | 0 Comment(s) | 17 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s)
Published: January 27th 2007 | 150 Views | [diary=122243]

Statue of Hatuey
The crowd at the bus station
The Malecon (Baracoa)


« back 1 10 next »