Heading Towards Matanzas
Enjoying the Sandy cuban beaches of North Havana is a good suggestion for a few days close to the capital city. It should be mentioned that in Tarar you can find the Marina of the same name. Several marinas can be found in some points of the Cuban coast line: Minor repair services navigation articles as well as lodging and general provisioning articles can be found.
After enjoying a few days in Havana if you still find the Cuban coast interesting continue your route passing Guanabo towards the Matanzas Province. The Via Blanca highway with fair driving conditions runs closer to the shore in this fragment of the route up to just a few meters from the coast line. The Havana Matanzas heights are also very close to the highway.
In its trajectory sandy beaches are not present. Instead you find detached coral reef shores hardly battered by the waves. A walk by these reefs is an exciting experience with the presence of the waves. There is no vegetation by the sea while on the other side next to the heights you find the presence of agave and ploughed land cultivations. At the beginning the heights appear between the coast line and the highway but smoothly the highway runs away and then crosses them distancing itself from the coastline where a terrace system emerges separating the runway from the shore.
In the path small rivers are crossed like the Jaruco Santa Cruz Jibacoa Puerto Escondido and Bacunayagua rivers. In the first three small populated communities are seen. In Santa Cruz the biggest Rum factory in Latin America is located The Havana Club Factory one of the favorites not only by many Cubans but by many around the world.
In this section of the littoral two camping bases can be found: Los Cocos and El Abra. Los Cocos is just by the beach of Jibacoa an excellent and cozy site surrounded by small beaches and limestone hills of extraordinary green. El Abra is located next to the mouth of the Jibacoa River and the gorge originated by the river finding its way through the elevations to the sea.
Further down the road the elevations increase in height and the rivers cut the elevations through gorges to reach the sea. Perhaps the most notable is the one found passing the small bridge over the River Bacunayagua an interesting engineering work. Just by this bridge there is a modest place where you can have some refreshment and observe the great profundity of the rivers bed and to the north the further away coast line. From this viewpoint the Yumur River Valley can also be observed one of the nicest in Cuba; not to be confused with another river in the province Guantanamo which carries the same name.
For those in quest for some adventure just a few meters away from this viewpoint there is a narrow trail located to the left of the highway when going east towards Matanzas. This trail descends from the Via Blanca to the very river bed by the elevated arcs that sustain the bridge from both sides at some 400 m of altitude from the observers point of view. The descend is not very dangerous but not to be careless and takes approximately 1 hour to get to the river bed since the trails must be descended slowly. The view of the bridge from the river up is spectacular.
As the trip east towards Matanzas continues the road slowly runs to the right which indicates the proximity of the Matanzas Bay. The road approaches the coast and crosses some of the terraces including the Seboruco terrace already very close to the City. Some trails are found to the left and cross the coastal xeromorph bushes these are small plants of hard leaves occasionally with spines and presence of cactus that grow between the road and the sea. At this stage of the course it is not difficult to examine the mentioned and interesting terrace system of marine origin the one that in a steplike form leads to the high coast. It is worth admiring and therefore recommended to take some of the mentioned trails that lead to the sea to see the wonderful costal formations with some presence of Iguanas. Respect the access forbidden areas though!
On the opposite side is the beautiful Valley of Yumur through which runs the river of the same name. Further away the gorge of the river that leads to the Matanzas bay can be seen. The city is seen far away by the surrounding elevations.
Further down the road smoothly descends towards the City of Matanzas also called the City of Bridges. Just before getting there the road passes the sulfur plant next to the city. The Via Blanca borders the Bay since the city is built just behind it. This bay is different from any other in Cuba because it does not have a bag shape that is of narrow mouth and wide interior development but instead it is wide in its entrance and narrows towards the mouth of the rivers Yumur and San Juan which both cross the city. All of the occidental side of the Bay is bordered by the Via Blanca highway.
Once you reach the city you cross the Yumur River using the bridge La Concordia of colonial style. The bridge leads to the center of the city where the firefighters station and the beautiful Sauto Theatre an arquitectonic Cuban jewel are located. After this the bridge over the San Juan River is crossed and you reach downtown.
Historically Matanzas had three districts or neighborhoods Matanzas Pueblo Nuevo and Versalles. Currently others rise next to these. It is possible to stay at the city using its Hotels to buy time to visit its places of interest.
Firstly you could visit the Bellamar Caves opened to the public in 1862. These are practically at the cities perimeter and in very good health. They are a system of discretely illuminated galleries where specialize guides explain the origin and evolution of the cave. It is fairly easy to get to the caves from any point in the City even by foot. During the visit the interesting story of the caves discovery is told.
Matanzas the capital of the province of this same name is a city where you can make a short stay and visit several places of interest as well as witness its intense cultural life. It is practically the periphery of Varadero Beach and in the available tours there are scarce detailed tours of the city. In our next article we will suggest places to see in this city.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Martin Luis is a Bio geographer and specialist in environment protection conservation and a cuba hotels and cuba vacations blogger for http://www.umbrellatravel.com.
Address : Business Center Building Kohly III Apartamento 71 Calle 34 entre 49 y 49A Reparto Kohly Playa Ciudad de la Habana CP: 11300 Cuba Phone : 53 7 206 9606 Mobile Phone : 53 5 263 1106
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