 "Manzanillo is a fishing village overlooking a beautiful sea. Its light, with its contrasting greens and yellows, has influenced me a great deal. God has created a brilliant, intense light in Manzanillo, a light that doesn't disappear even in the shadows." - Ruben Beltran |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
 Founded on July 11 1792, Manzanillo is in Granma province in the Oriente. It was named after a strange tree (Hippomane mancinella lin) or manzanillo in spanish. Very abundant along its coast in the early days of the Spanish colony, there only remains one specimen today and it's not because of an ecological disaster : the manzanillo is poisonous. The aboriginals used it to make deadly arrows. The town became famous for its mechanical organs imported first from Paris, then built here by the Fornaris and Borbolla families, still active today, going on travelling shows with their huge organs in the back of a rickety old truck. During the 1980's, before Buena Vista Social Club, the town was at the origin of a new beginning in Cuban music. The danzon orchestra, La Original de Manzanillo and singer Cándido Fabré, reputed for his improvs are today its most famous sons. Citizens meet on sunday afternoons for concerts around the central park's glorietta (gazebo), inspired by the one in the Los Leones park of Granada, Espana.
POPULATION 107.000 RESTAURANTS 1800, Cayo Confite, El Golfo, El Manegua, Guacanayabo, Las Americas SERVICES Aeropuerto Sierra Maestra (8km south) tel. (23) 54-984 • Banco de Credito, corner Merchan & Saco (mon-fri, 8h-15, sat 8h-12) • Cubana, calle Maceo 70 tel. (23) 28-00 • Havanautos 5-20-56 • Omnibus terminal for Astro (no Viazul here),2 km East tel. 5-22-21, daily departures (among others) for Pilon and Grito de Yara • Train statton is at the end of Merchan 5-35-88 EVENINGS Bar Brisas del Mar, Baseball : Estadio Wilfredo Pages, Cabaret Costa Azul, Cabaret Salon Rojo, Casa de la Trova, Cine Popular TRANSPORTATION Bus Astro Prices in cuc Bayamo (2xday 2), Camaguey (Daily 10), La Habana (Daily 28), Pilon (Daily 3), Yara (2xday 1) ••• Trains Bayamo (4xday 2), La Habana (Daily 28), Jiguani (2xday 2.20), Santiago de Cuba (Daily 5.75) OUR RECOMMENDATIONS V = suggested by webbies and travelers but not verified. Check in person or by phone. Local Manzanillo phone code 23 (International 53 + 23). When we visited Manzanillo in June 05, there were only 3 legal casas in town : here they is, miz! Comments and suggestions webmaster @cubacasas.net |
|
|||||||
| SEE Calle Marti, Comité Ejecutivo Municipal, Iglesia de la Purisima Concepcion, Monumento Celia, Museo Historico Municipal, Parque Cespédes, Parque Máximo Gómez, The home and studio of the talented local painter Ruben Beltran EXCURSIONS • Bartolomé Maso for the view of the valley from its motel swimming pool, a must stopover • Media Luna for birthplace and museum of Celia Sanchez, muse and companion of Fidel until her death in 1980. • Site of Granma (the boat) landing with Fidel and his 81 companions packed onboard — 02.12.56 — on the coast at Las Coloradas, now Parque nacional Desembarco del Granma (27 545 ha), a UNESCO World heritage Site since 1999 : marine terraces, spectacular cliffs from Cabo (Cape) Cruz as well as caves and unique flora • Grito de Yara, tiny placename, unforgotten and significant : where the first aboriginal rebellion took place, led by Hatuey • Media Luna for birthplace and museum of Celia Sanchez, muse and companion of Fidel until her death in 1980 • Museo Historico La Demajagua (13 km south) : rich landowner Carlos Manuel de Cespedes liberated his slaves and declared war on the Spanish colony • Bartolomé Maso for the view of the valley below from hotel Balcon de la Sierra, perfect stopover on way to Sierra Maestra, 24 km further • Santo Domingo for a stay in its cabinas (Villa Santo Domingo) by the river before heading up to Sierra Maestra : trekking to La Comandancia de la Plata and Alto de Naranjo in Parque Turquino with (why not?) camping near its peak (pico) at an altitude of 2 000 meters |
||||||||
| BOOK BY PHONE • From Canada and the USA : 011 53 (add phone # preceded by the town's area code, 23). • From Europe, Great Britain, Scandinavia and Mexico : 00 53 (add phone # preceded by the town's area code, 23). |
 BOOK BY EMAIL : Click on logo to open a message addressed to that casa in your email application; or right-click to copy address showing at bottom of browser window. Spanish vocabulary here.  |
|||||||
ADRIAN y TONIA Calle Martires de Vietnam 49, esquina Caridad (pedestrian staircase street). Tel. (23) 53-028 Superbly situated, open only in late 2004, overlooking the city and the sea, this casa belongs to a young modern couple who offer one superb air-conditioned wood-panelled bedroom upstairs with a modern private bathroom. On ground floor : living room, dining room and kitchen along one side of the house. On the other side, the owners' quarters. |
 Click to visit. © sogestour |
|||||||
YORDY'S HOUSE Caridad Romero Arias y Abelardo Calle Pedro Figueredo 121, e/Luz Caballero y Martires de Viet-Nam. Tél. (23) 5-2127 Clean modern casa with a main room at the entrance (living and dining area). One aircon bedroom with private bathroom. Meals served. Blanca and Abelardo are kind and attentioned. |
 Click to visit. © sogestour |
|||||||
SRA. BLANCA ARIAS ZAMORA Calle Sariol 245, e/Saco y Dr. Codina. Tél. (23) 57-82-18 Upstairs of a building that doesn't look like much on a quiet bit of street, this colonial with its very rare wooden floors is well-appointed and welcoming for travellers in need of a rest. It boasts a reading room (see right), a dining room, a tv and rec room which opens on to a large balcony cum terrace. Adjacent is the large bedroom with its private bathroom. Host Blanca and her son are very sympatico and count quite a few years experience in renting rooms to travellers. |
 Click to visit. © sogestour |
|||||||
VILLA LUISA Calle Ravena 172, e/Maceo y Masó Tel. (23) 5-2738 In a clean casa located up a hill from where you can see all the way down to the main square, Luisa rents one air-conditioned bedroom with its own private bathroom. |
Rates : 20-25cuc for the bedroom per night (2 adults max.) Suggested by Wibo Mans from the Netherlands 040408 |
|||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
Content and photos © sogestour  Updated |
|||||||
