"Baracoa - Cuban Capital" Baracoa by Zap-b

Okay, the title here is a bit misleading. Well, Baracoa was the first Spanish settlement in all of Cuba and was actually the first Cuban capital but that was a while ago. By the looks of the colonial architecture that predominates the town has been fairly quiet since those heady days of capital city status back in the early 1500's. Many of the building are old wooden colonial buildings and the town is very sleepy and very relaxed. I liekd it a lot and the only regret was not having more time to spend there.

I was told in Santiago de Cuba by a lot of locals that Baracoa is quite boring at night and very small and so for that reason it might only be worth a day's stay. Well, true - its a very small town and hence does not have the same degree of nightlife that goes with big towns and cities but it does have enough to keep you going at night and the atmosphere will not be sending you to sleep. This is still Cuba after all and hence life goes on well into the early hours as we saw for ourselves!