If you are visiting Havana or having a beach holiday in Varadero and wanted to see a little bit of Cuba’s nature strongholds, then a visit to Las Terazzas would be a great option as it is 45 minutes away from Havana City. Give at least a day to explore this bucolic community cradled in the hub of a 25,000-hectare UNESCO biosphere reserve in the Sierra del Rosario.
With the distance and what it has to offer, Las Terazzas is the perfect side/day trip from Havana. Ideal for the outdoorsy nature types who are into both relaxed and active holidaying.
There is an entrance fee to get inside Las Terazzas, and you would need to pay extra if you want the map. There is a big map at the entrance but if you do not have a photographic memory then you might as well buy the map. On second thought, you can actually take a picture of the map as well.
The map is important because it will show you the places to go in Las Terazzas. Blondine and I didn’t really have plans of staying here longer. We are just visiting quick—have our late lunch and take a look at a few places then off we go to Havana. We have to be at the hotel in Havana where we rented the car at exactly 5PM, thus we do not have a lot of time in our hands.
I forgot to take a picture of the map and I have lost it already but these are the attractions in Las Terazzas:
Buenavista Coffee Plantation Ruins – We didn’t get to visit this. After the Haitian Revolution, many French coffee growers moved and settled in this part of Cuba and continued with the coffee plantation culture.
There were other coffee plantation ruins as well.
The Moka Hotel (see above)—An eco-friendly hotel. I initially entertained the idea of staying a night over here but later on decided to forego the idea and we elected to stay longer in Vinales instead. Las Terazzas will then be reserved for lunch on the way back to Havana. We did manage to pass by the hotel that intrigued me.
Soroa Waterfalls—We didn’t get to visit this.
Many hiking trails—Las Terazzas would have been a perfect place to exercise our hiking spirits (a hiking paradise!) but sadly we just didn’t have enough time to stay here longer. At any rate, we already did test our hiking abilities earlier in the road trip in Topes de Collantes, in nearby Trinidad.
Casa del Campesino (click)—A farm house restaurant specialising in Cuban ‘criolla’ (creole) cuisine. This is where we had our late lunch. A lovely restaurant set in the middle of the nature oasis.
Other restaurants in the community are: El Romero, La Fonda de Mercedes, Hacienda Union, Buena Vista Restaurant, Rancho Curujey and Castillo de las Nubes Restaurant that has a look out point.
The local community houses—I guess this is where the locals live here. The community is self-sustaining. They live and work here.
There is the Soroa Orquideario—A botanical garden with a large collection of 700+ varieties of orchids. We didn’t get to visit this.
The Salto del Rio el Bayate—Another waterfalls that we didn’t get to visit.
Poza del Amor (Love Pond)—We didn’t get to visit this.
The Casa del Lago on Lake San Juan (see above)—It is a bar, restaurant and a rowboat rental. If we had more time, I’d like to do the rowboat thing but not sure if Blondine would like this as she doesn’t like the water.
Other lodging opportunities are the Villas Soroa (no picture) and the Cabanas del Rio. Above are the open-air cabanas for day rentals.
There are horse-back riding activities here and even zip-lining across the river. They call this canopy tour.
The Banos del San Juan (River of San Juan) which we visited, I will be posting in the next entry separately (because I took many pictures!).
Actually there’s more to see in Las Terazzas so if you come here, spend at least a day to discover the area and enjoy what it has to offer.
Travel Period: May 2012
Destination: Las Terazzas (Artemisa), Cuba
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