Topes de Collantes
Enjoy the natural Cuban paradise in its purest form in Topes de Collantes and visit its numerous attractions. The Topes de Collantes Natural Park is located in Sierra del Escambray Range, which has a height of 800 meter above the sea level. The Pico San Juan PIke is the highest one, with 1140 meters height. It counts with a natural protected beautiful landscape which also has a high scientific value for the botanic and the ecology, where inhabit numerous endemic species of the flora and fauna as the pine forests, bamboo or eucalyptus. The dictator Fulgencio Batista founded Topes de Collantes in 1937 and ordered to build the highway to Trinidad. The area was the scenario of battles through different ages, besides a refuge for the rebels commanded by Che Guevara during the fights against Batista and protagonist in the raising of the oppositor of Fidel Castro. One of the most visited attractions in Topes de Collantes is it spa. A touristic center for resting and health located in the middle of Sierra de Escambray Range, visited by patients who go looking for anti-stress treatments, rehabilitation, massages… Another of the most important ones are hiking and mountaineering. The Salto del Carbuní is the most popular route among the visitors of the area, flowing through the café plantations for two and a half kilometers, watching traditional houses, cliffs and ending up in a beautiful waterfall. Another of the best-known ones it Vegas Grandes, which fnishes in Salto de Soroa, a spectacular puddle where you can refresh yourself by the end of the tour. Following the relaxin and medicinal theme of the area of Topes de Collantes, we can visit La Batata, a high place with views which waters count with medicinal properties, or the Hacienda Codina Plantation House, a wonderful ranch which will surprise us with its medicinal mud bathes, its bamboo forests, the Altar cave, the Enamorados Island… and all that finished in a natural overlook from where you can see the whole Ingenios Valley. You can also visit two museums of the area: the Coffee Museum and the Contemporary Cuban Art Museum. On the first one you can see an exhibition of the history of the cultivation of the coffee and try its speciality. The second one treasures a valuable collection of more than 60 plastic of the 80s avant-garde works.