Cuba Nature Travel – Maisi Point, where Cuba Begins

Maisi Point, in the very eastern part of Cuba, is one of the most intricate and hard-to-get places in the whole archipelago. The journey is around 43 miles by road and takes six hours from Baracoa, passing through a rough mountainous geography. There is also a regular flight three times a week on an AN-2 Russian plane, which has been registered as the shortest air route in all the history of the Universal Civil Aeronautics because it takes only 15 minutes to complete.

Taking that flight is an impressive experience. From the air, you can see very clearly the giant Marine Terraces described for the first time by the Cuban geologist and anthropologist Antonio Nuñez Jimenez. These rock formations, that once belonged to the Atlantic Ocean, cover today a vast extension that gathers from rocky soils to semi deserts to mountain tops covered by a lush vegetation where coffee plantations reign.

Maisi, an aboriginal name, is widely known in Cuba and abroad because this point is deeply linked to the navigation between Cuba and Hispaniola Island. Among the many particularities that distinguish this region is the Lighthouse of Maisi Point, which is 121.9 feet high, has a power of 3790 light bulbs and a geographical reach of 17.7 miles. It has a white light and its intermittent signals go on groups of three, alternating with a single signal every 20 seconds. Its construction was authorized by the Queen of Spain in 1856 with the objective of orientating the vessels on their crossing between Cuba and the Hispaniola Island. Its construction was finished in 1861 and was christened as The Shell.

This land also treasures the Cemí, the symbol of Guantanamo province. The Cemí is an anthropomorphic figure of 0.92 cm made of black guaiacum and presents a formal finish with nacre and shell encrustations. It was created by a taino (a member of one of the aboriginal groups settled on the island) that only used stones as tools for the carving. The Cemí represented the Tobacco Idol and was found in Chafarina de Maya by a countryman. The cemies were the gods of all the existing aboriginal communities in Cuba and the Antilles, but the Great Cemí of Patana is the sculptural masterpiece which became a landmark in this aspect.

The whole region is full of caves with Taino cave paintings, such as the ones present in the Dark Cave, La Patana Cave, Los Bichos Cave and Jaguey Cave, which were used by the aboriginal groups as temples.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/cuba-nature-travel-maisi-point-where-cuba-begins-2244831.html

This brief guide to Maisi Point in Eastern Cuba was written by a Cuba travel expert from Cuba For Less, a specialist in fully customizable Cuba vacation packages.