Leg 294, Sandino to Cayo Las Brujas, Cuba
DAY06_11.PLN (11.6 KB)
There are a lot of airstrips in Cuba, fun to land at most of them. Terrain quality is hit and miss yet the water masks at the end of today’s leg are amazing.
06-11 San Julian MUSJ 7:04 AM
06-11 Las Clavellinas MUCV 7:09 AM
06-11 Mantua Airport MUMN 7:12 AM
06-11 Pinar Del Rio MUPR 7:28 AM
06-11 Las Cruces MUDA 7:35 AM
06-11 El Caribe MUBE 7:39 AM
06-11 Los Zagales MULJ 7:45 AM
06-11 La Cubana MULL 7:48 AM
06-11 La Francia Airfield MULS 7:51 AM
06-11 La Asuncion MULO 7:53 AM
06-11 Branas MUSB 7:57 AM
06-11 El Frances MUCE 8:01 AM
06-11 Artemisa MUAR 8:07 AM
06-11 Playa Baracoa MUPB 8:15 AM
06-11 Santa Fe MUBB 8:19 AM
06-11 Ciudad Libertad MULB 8:24 AM Havanna capital
06-11 Jose Marti Intl MUHA 8:48 AM
06-11 Managua MUMG 8:55 AM
06-11 Juan de la Cruz MUGU 9:05 AM Parque Nacional Ciénaga de Zapata
06-11 Giron MUAG 9:50 AM
06-11 Aguada de Pasajeros MUAU 9:57 AM
06-11 Jaguey Grande North MUJG 10:04 AM Bad stuttering, RAM usage increasing
06-11 Juan G Gomez Intl MUVR 10:17 AM
06-11 Kawama MUKW 10:21 AM
06-11 Mieles MUCW 10:31 AM
06-11 Marti East MUMI 10:37 AM
06-11 Las Nuevas MUCQ 10:43 AM
06-11 Sagua La Grande MUSG 11:04 AM Bad stuttering, patchy terrain
06-11 Purio MUCZ 11:10 AM
06-11 Jutiera MUCK 11:15 AM
06-11 Caibarien MUCB 11:26 AM
06-11 Las Brujas MUBR 11:52 AM
Flight time 4:48 31 stops
San Julian Airport, read for departure
Sunrise over Sandino
Guane
Combinado Deportivo Guamá (sports club) in Pinar del Río
Embalse El Punto
Las Cruces Airport
Consolacion del Sur
San Cristobal municipality
Playa Baracoa on the north side of Cuba in Artemisa Province
Alameda del Siboney, a suburb of Havana
Landing at Ciudad Libertad Airport
Havana, the capital of Cuba on the straits of Florida
The earliest relics on the island date back to 5,000 BC, belonging to the ancestors of the Taíno who arrived from South America. By the time Columbus arrived, Cuba was inhabited by two distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno (including the Ciboney), and the Guanahatabey. The later Taíno arrived from Hispaniola sometime in the 3rd century A.D, it is unknown where the Guanahatabey came from, possibly a relict population of pre-Taíno settlers from the Greater Antilles.
Plaza de la Juventad along Malecón (stone-built embankment or esplanade along a waterfront)
Columbus claimed the island for Spain in 1492 and in 1511 the first Spanish settlement was founded at Baracoa. San Cristobal de la Habana (present day Havana) was founded in 1515. Within a century the indigenous people were virtually wiped out by Eurasian infectious diseases and repressive colonial subjugation.
The British captured Havanna in 1762 during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) and took control of the western part of the island. The Spanish got Cuba back in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Britain exchanged Cuba for Florida.
Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro (16th century fort) where my nose is pointing
Estimates suggest that between 1790 and 1820 some 325,000 Africans were imported to Cuba as slaves, which was four times the amount that had arrived between 1760 and 1790. In 1812, the Aponte Slave Rebellion took place, which was supressed. However by the 19th century, the practice of coartacion had developed (or “buying oneself out of slavery”, a “uniquely Cuban development”) in part due to Cuban slaves working primarily in urbanized settings. By 1860, 39% of its non-white population were free people of color.
Castillo de la Real Fuerza (mid 1500s star fort) and Parque Martires del 71 on the right
Cuba remained loyal to Spain when the rest of Spain’s empire in Latin America rebelled and formed independent states in the 1820s. The struggle for independence started with the 10 Years’ War in 1868. The battle was fought by volunteers from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the USA as well as numerous indentured Chinese servants. In 1878, the Pact of Zanjón ended the conflict, with Spain promising greater autonomy to Cuba.
Malecón de Habana, view from Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro on the right
Another revolutionary war started in 1895 led by José Martí. The rebel army relied mostly on guerilla and sabotage tactics, prompting the Spaniards to begin a campaign of suppression. The military herded the rural population into reconcentrados aka “fortified towns”, often considered the prototype for 20th-century concentration camps. Between 200,000 and 400,000 Cuban civilians died from starvation and disease in the Spanish concentration camps.
Castillo De Los Tres Reyes Del Morro
The USA declared war on Spain in 1898, after the USS Maine, sent to protect American interests in Cuba, exploded in Havana harbor. (Over the previous decades the USA had tried to buy Cuba from Spain) The Spanish-American War ended with the Treaty of Paris (1898), by which Spain ceded Puerto Rico, the Philippine, and Guam to the USA for the sum of US$20 million and Cuba became a protectorate of the United States.
Monumento a José Miguel Gómez and Plaza de la Revolución
Cuba gained formal independence from the US in 1902, as the Republic of Cuba. However the US retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations, as well as lease the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base.
Museum of the Revolution
The Cuban revolution began in 1953, an armed revolt conducted by Fidel Castro against the military dictatorship of Cuban President Batista. Batista was ousted on 31 December 1958. 26 July 1953 is celebrated in Cuba as the Day of the Revolution (Dia de la Revolución) Fidel Castro (1926-2016) served as Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President from 1976 to 2008.
Landing at José Martí international airport,
José Martí was killed in the Battle of Dos Rios on 19 May 1895. His death immortalized him as Cuba’s national hero.
Mañalich
Parque Nacional Ciénaga de Zapata
Large national park on the south side of the island
Cayos Blancos del Sur
The Bay of pigs
In March 1960, US President Eisenhower gave his approval to a CIA plan to arm and train a group of Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro government. The invasion (known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion took place on 14 April 1961.
The attempt failed and in 1962 Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States, and later the same year the OAS started to impose sanctions against Cuba of similar nature to the U.S. sanctions. The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) almost sparked World War III.
That reminds me of Doe Maar, Before the bomb, music I grew up with
From the 1960s NATO has stored nuclear armaments in the Netherlands, basically the same thing as Russia putting it in US’ backyard. We grew up with monthly air raid alarm tests, although I never heard of anything what to do when the alarm would sound for real. Kiss your ■■■ goodbye I guess.
Playa Giron on the east bank of the Bahia de Cochinos (Bay of pigs)
Santa Marta, back to the northern side of the island, in the northern Colombian department of Magdalena
Cayos Falcones (island on the right)
Bit of a mess without water masking, it’s not an island beneath me, tidal basin
Sagua la Grande
Caibarién known as “La Villa Blanca” for its sands and beaches
Home to Museo de la Agroindustria Azucarera
Pedraplén a Cayo Santa María, road on the sea, connecting Caibarién with Cayo Santa María
The islands of Cayo Las Brujas and Cayo Santa María are included in the entire island tourism system
Together with the Cayo Romano islands you get an island tourism route with a length of 105 mi (170 km)
Cayo Las Brujas
My final stop for the day, Las Brujas Airport, Cayo Ensenachos and Cayo Santa María further ahead
Looking back towards Caibarién
More of Cuba tomorrow.