SANTA CLARA, CUBA

                               Unexpected Facility

         It was a delightful ride on the way to Santa Clara. The countryside was picturesque as we rode by sugarcane and banana fields and orchards, I think were mango. It did seem strange to see a stand of royal palms swaying in the breeze in the middle of nowhere. We passed a few small villages en route.

        Santa Clara is southeast of Havana about in the middle of the island. The guidebook and literature said the road to Santa Clara was full of revolutionary billboards and painted murals. I have to disagree with that, as I hardly recall a hand full of such as ‘littering the highway’.

Santa Clara was established in 1689 when the people of Remedios grew tired of pirate raids, pulled up stakes and moved inland. Santa Clara is located on the fringe of the fertile plain in the lee of the Escambray, and is gateway to the eastern provinces.

In December 1958 Che Guevera’s rebel army derailed a train carrying reinforcements and US armaments headed for Oriente. Within 24 hours Bastista fled the country.

Prior to 1959 Coca-Cola was the only factory in town. Today Santa Clara is an important industrial city.

            We rode over a 48-kilometer-long causeway to reach our all inclusive hotel. The causeway crossed many mangroves that were in the bay.

Our plush all-inclusive resort (2001) could have been anywhere. The facility is large and sprawling so we were driven to our room in a golf cart. It was going to be a challenge to find our way back to the dining area. We had a lovely little balcony that looked out on nothing but lush vegetation.  The two story buildings were done in attractive quadroplexes. There were huge pools, most pretty shallow, with bridges over them in the center of the complex---typical of all inclusive resorts.  The large property had 4 restaurants, 5 bars, tennis, gym, beauty parlor, massage facilities, live entertainment and a gorgeous long white sand beach. Unfortunately the red swimming flag was up for all of our stay so the best I could do was wade along the shore.

            We used this hotel as a jumping off point to site see and visit the area, not as a relaxed goof-off stay. That was fine with me as this is not my favorite type of place to stay. The food was good, the huge variety was more than plentiful.

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