Rafael Freyre, Columbus and Gibara

Bariay Bay, where Columbus first landed in the New World

One of the things we really wanted to do was to see how people live in Cuba, not just the tourist resorts or the renovated parts of the cities.  So, we spent our first full day in Cuba visiting several old towns and historic sites rarely visited by American or European tourists—and one bay frequented by tourists.

view of Gibara and bay

This was our first stop, a marina where busloads of tourists from the nearby resorts come to enjoy water activities.  There were no tourists this morning since we’re not quite into high season, but we walked down to the bay, lined by mangrove trees, to see the boats.  We ran into a Cuban doctor on the dock who was about to take a small speed boat out to see a patient on one of the islands and chatted with him for a while before he took off in the boat.

Columbus monument at Bariay Bay, depicting wedge Spanish and U.S. occupations drove into Cuban culture

Before the fall of the Soviet Union, when that country was not only a huge source of aid to Cuba, but also its major market, sugar cane was the island’s primary crop.  Many small towns around Cuba based their economies on sugar cane plantations and sugar mills.  When the USSR fell apart, so did the demand for sugar, so the fields went fallow and the mills shut down, bringing their surrounding towns down with them.

1904 American engine at Rafael Freyres

We visited Rafael Freyre, one of these sugar refining towns, now crumbling.  But, the narrow gauge railroad tracks remain along with a number of 100 year old American-made locomotives.  Tourists can take a train 7 kilometers in a shaky old coach to Rafael Freyre, pulled along by one of these locomotives.  It’s all quite picturesque, but definitely doesn't look comfortable.

grinding coffee beans at coffee farm near Bariay Bay

Next was a stop to see a home where a farm family crushes coffee beans and brews fresh Cuban coffee for visitors.  They enhance this offering with coconuts whose tops they lop off with a machete so you can drink the coconut water within.  A tiny cat hovered nearby because it loves the coconut meat as did the bevy of chicks huddled hopefully on the edge of the porch.

Beyond the farm is the Bariay Bay where Christopher Columbus sailed with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria on his first stop in the New World.  Cuban archaeologists believe they have identified the exact spot where Columbus landed, based on his description of nearby landmarks and their excavations of nearby Indian villages Columbus described.

Our favorite stop was the fishing village of Gibara, once the thriving port that shipped Cuban goods and sugar to the rest of the world.  Today, it is a shallow harbor, filled with too much silt for ships to enter.  But the old colonial town, though dilapidated, is charming.  

man in Rafael Freyre

renovated buildings on Gibara waterfront

The government has identified the historic centers of the colonial towns and cities as preservation areas.  Some families with enough money (often from remittances) have bought the crumbling houses and restored them.  The paladar (family owned private restaurant) where we had a great lunch in Gibara is one of these.  The owners have also renovated a nearby home into a lovely bed and breakfast hotel with 4 rooms they rent to tourists.  The government allows a very limited number of private businesses, including paladars and rooms for rent in private homes. 

bay and former port at Gibara

Virtually all the economic activity is government-owned.  All the tourist infrastructure, including the travel agencies, hotels, buses, taxi companies and more, are government owned as is all the industry.  Families can acquire the right to farm some of the fallow land, but these leases are only for 10 years and the opportunity was only granted 2 years ago.  So, no one knows what will happen at the end of the 10 year period.  Most farms are cooperatives.  Now, with the flow of Soviet seeds and fertilizer stopped, the yields are low. 

dancers on the Gibara seawall