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Photo: Antonio Núñez Jiménez, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Unmatched in the Caribbean for sheer biodiversity, this fascinating park can be the highlight of any visit to Baracoa. The park features the world's smallest frog, the endemic polymita snail, and a surprising amount of rural agriculture. Talk to Cubatur at Parque Independencia for a group tour; it's also possible to visit independently and hire a guard at the gate, but this is more expensive and not particularly recommended. The road to the park is not so much a road with potholes, but potholes with bits of road, and you'll feel the bus swerving in all directions to dodge them. Most tours also take in Playa Duaba, above.
Alejandro de Humboldt National Park is a national park in the Cuban provinces of Holguín and Guantánamo. It is named after the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt who visited the island in 1800 and 1801. The park was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 for its size, altitude range, complex lithology, landform diversity, and wealth of endemic flora and fauna.
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A nice secluded beach, usually visited at the end of a tour to Alejandro de Humboldt Park (below) to relax after a day of hiking. A small restaurant is there too.
A 575-m-high mountain whose name means the anvil in Spanish, about 30 min by bici-taxi from the centre of town. A return normal taxi is about CUC15. You must pay to enter the national park, but the views from the peak are fantastic and well worth the 1-2 hr hike.
A place to learn about the cacao plantation, production and history in Cuba. A few 100 m further there is a river where you can take a dip.
A beach located north of Baracoa (not in walking distance), usually visited at the end of a tour to Alejandro de Humboldt Park (below) to relax after a day of hiking.
Hotel El Castillo
The highest fort in Baracoa, dating to 1739, is now a hotel, but non-guests are free to wander the outdoor (and some indoor) areas and admire the views.
Effectively the city's main plaza, Parque Independencia features a fountain, a statue of local hero Hatuey, and Baracoa's original church (closed for renovations as of 2012). Most of the tour operators' offices, including Cubatur's, ring the park, as do the city government offices. Many casas and paladares are nearby.