Baracoa, Cuba: a photo essay of the city

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After leaving Magic Badgerat the dock at the marina in Cienfuegos in south-central Cuba, James and I have travelled overland to Baracoa in the northeast corner of the island. This is a return visit to my favourite place in Cuba, loved for its people, art, archeology, history, endemic species of the rainforest, and the promise of finding Salto Fino, the Caribbean’s longest waterfall.

The mood and tone of Baracoa is relaxed and rural with its friendly people, horse-drawn carts, wagons, and many produce vendors selling local fruits and vegetables. In this photo essay, I focus on the city of Baracoa.

Next time: “To say that Baracoa is one of the most beautiful, unpretentious, and unique places in Cuba borders on the banal, but it takes on true meaning when we speak of the artistic wealth that is nurtured there” (Baracoa de Cuba: The Painters Magic, from the prologue by Rafael Acosta de Arriba). I visited galleries and three studios where I spoke with established and emerging artists. Stay posted.



Related blogs:

Discovering Baracoa: http://traveller-kate.blogspot.ca/2014_10_01_archive.html

Over the Mountains: Santiago to Baracoa: http://traveller-kate.blogspot.ca/2014/12/over-mountains-santiago-to-baracoa.html

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Photos

“Sweeping the Square” While Cienfuegos is purported to be the cleanest city in Cuba (and I will add the safest), I think that Baracoa rivals it.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

“Fishers off the Malecón” (looking north across the Atlantic Ocean).
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

“Hauling Freight” on a misty morning along the malecón.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

“Fruit Vendor”
Photo: James Archbold© (with permission)

Bicycles and bicitaxis: most common mode of transportation (one street up from the malecón).
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

The landscape rises quickly out of the Atlantic.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

From an upstairs balcony, we can see the twin towers of Catedral la Nuestra de la Señora Asunción and the tops of trees in the city’s main square. This is where the cross believed to have been “planted” by Christopher Columbus is kept.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

A quick snap of the local “bus,” a transportation method common across Cuba.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©

“Young Lovers” along the seawall, Columbus Park.
Photo: Kathryn MacDonald©