The History of Cuba, vol. 5Johnson, Willis Fletcher
History
The History of Cuba, vol. 5
Johnson, Willis Fletcher
Cuba -- Economic conditions; Cuba -- History
The view of this bay from the drive is one of the finest in Cuba. Every
turn of the road shows some part of the bright blue waters, dotted with
palm crested islets a thousand feet below. The entrance of the harbor,
with a small island just inside the mouth, its quaint old 17th century
fortress recalling the days of the pirates and buccaneers of the Spanish
Main, can be seen in the distance.
For eight or ten miles the drive follows the general trend of the
shoreline, leaving it finally with a graceful turn and many changes of
level, as hill after hill is either climbed or circled. The driveway
sweeps on westward through a country devoted to cane growing and stock
raising, until another beautiful deep water harbor known as Bahia Honda
is sighted off to the northwest Eventually the drive passes through and
terminates abruptly about a kilometer and a half beyond the little
village of Bahia Honda or Deep Bay, that was built over two kilometers
back from the head of the harbor over a century ago, when the
inhabitants still feared the incursion of enemies from the sea. The town
lies just at the foot of forest covered hills that come gradually down
from the Organ Range some six miles back. The town itself, aside from a
certain quaintness, common to all interior cities of Cuba, has but
little interest. A short driveway leads to the head of the bay and the
inshore lighthouse.
The harbor is some five or six miles in length by three or four in
width, and furnishes splendid anchorage even for deep draft vessels.
This bay was originally chosen as the north shore coaling station for
the United States Government in Cuba, but afterwards was abandoned as
unnecessary. Two range lights render entrance at night easy, while just
west of the mouth on the long line of barrier reefs known as the
Colorados, stands the new Gobernadora lighthouse, erected a few years
ago for the benefit of ships plying between Havana and Mexico.
The drive from Havana to Bahia Honda, with the little digression towards
Mariel, is sixty miles in length. The rather heavy grades in places, and
the beauty of the scenery throughout its entire length, discourage fast
motoring, but the jaunt can easily be made between “desayuno” at seven
and the Cuban “almuerzo” or breakfast at eleven. No trip of equal length
in the Republic furnishes greater charm to the lover of picturesque
Nature than does this north shore drive to Bahia Honda. When connected
as planned, with Vinales, some 50 kilometers further west, it will rank
with, if not excel, any other drive known in the tropical world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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