Things to see and do Caraïbes

It is accessible by car via a tarred road (follow the signs, 7 km outside the village) and visited by the whole lot of travel agencies and resorts in the area, and even by a few crooks attracted by the tourist windfall (be careful!). As you can see, with its miles of sand and its transparent water, it is far too beautiful to have it all to yourself. At the end, a small river allows a refreshing swim. And then, take a break in the local restaurants offering seafood and lobsters!

It's hard to miss this temple of Jamaican tourism! Its name is inscribed in white stones on the sides of the hill at the top of which sits the most majestic greathouse in the country. Many cultural events (concerts, ballets) find there a stage and a decor worthy of the most prestigious shows. Topped by a grey tiled roof with a severe and almost austere architecture, a multitude of small windows brighten up the façade and give it the air of a respectable English residence. The gardens surrounding the house are discreetly flowered. Built in 1760 by John Palmer, a wealthy colonial planter for the British Crown, this massive Georgian mansion was named after Palmer's wife, Rose. It was destroyed during the slave uprising of December 1831. Abandoned to its fate for over a century, it was to be reborn from its ruins after its purchase in 1966. It was restored by John Rollins, a former governor of the State of Delaware, who, having made his fortune in real estate, devoted a great deal of time and energy to it. Neither the decoration nor the furniture are original, but everything has been reconstructed. The richly furnished rooms bear witness to the opulent life of the planters of the time. Reception rooms, ballrooms, bedrooms, reading room, music room... Nothing was too beautiful - or too expensive - to reproduce a bit of that Old England-scented life left behind.

The White Witch of Rose Hall. Legend has it that she has haunted the house since the 19th century! When Anne May Patterson married John Rose Palmer, the grand-nephew of the founder and heir to the property, she was still a very young girl. Half English, half Irish, Annie had been raised in Haiti, the neighboring island. Her nanny, who came from Africa with the slave traders, had initiated her into the rites of voodoo. Annie is an authoritarian young woman with insatiable sexual appetites. Without a doubt, her first husband does not live up to her expectations because, without further ado, she skillfully poisons him without leaving any trace. Very quickly remarried, Annie finds a husband who is hardly more satisfactory than her first. She stabs him savagely. Many male slaves of the plantation will know a fatal destiny after having honored the bed of their mistress. Still dissatisfied, despite the services rendered by the slaves, Annie again convenes. This time, she chose to strangle her third husband. Revolted slaves eventually got rid of the lady. But, since then, Annie's ghost, not giving rest to her tortured soul, haunts the places of her crimes. During a seance in 1978, Annie herself led the spiritualist to the discovery of a voodoo doll! The affair made the tour of the island.

Such is the legend to which Jamaicans are attached and which will be told to you without laughing by the young girls in madras dresses who guide the visit. The truth is probably much less dramatic, since Anne Palmer died in 1846 after many years of a peaceful marriage with John Palmer. The legend has its origins in a fantastic novel written in 1929 by H.-G. de Lisser and in the fact that Rose Palmer, the first owner of the house, actually had four husbands. To test: the visit by night, more fun! On site: bar and souvenir store.

We almost didn't believe it anymore, but the Cuban Capitol reopened to the public in March 2018 after almost 10 years of restoration work! The upper part of the Capitol (the dome) underwent longer renovations, but the work was completed on time: in 2019, right in the year of the celebration of the 500 years of the foundation of Havana! The Capitol is truly one of the must-sees of Havana and Cuba. Don't miss the guided tour, it's fascinating. However, you will have to register the same day and the wait can sometimes be very long. The organization was still approximate at the time of our visit, but the wait is worth it and you will be simply amazed by this building of a rare beauty whose interior has been superbly restored!

The Capitolio Nacional (National Capitol) was built between 1926 and 1929, by order of the dictator Gerardo Machado, who wanted to reproduce the one in Washington. It was built on the grounds of Havana's first railway station. Slightly larger than its namesake, it was inaugurated with great pomp on May 20, 1929. Seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate before the revolution, it now houses the offices of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, as well as a scientific library. The vast granite staircase (39.5 m wide and 27 m long) leads to a monumental porch, where two bronze sculptures (about 7 m high and weighing 11 t) are enthroned. The one on the right represents Work, the one on the left, the Virtue of the people. They are the work of the Italian sculptor Angelo Zanelli. Behind the powerful columns, the three doors of the main entrance, also made of bronze, have bas-reliefs illustrating episodes of Cuban history: four allegories, from the pre-Columbian period to the inauguration of the Capitol. Another element of this gigantism is the dome (inspired by that of the Pantheon in Paris), 91.73 meters high. It is covered with gilded copper, which makes it visible from afar. Under the dome is one of the largest statues in the world, installed inside a building: 14 m and 30 t, due once again to the talent of Zanelli. The statue of Minerva symbolizes the Republic, in the guise of a young woman wearing a tunic and carrying a helmet, shield and lance. If the exterior is predominantly neoclassical, the interior is eclectic: an Andalusian patio, an Italian Renaissance salon, another Louis XIV style. The floors and columns are made of 58 different marbles. In the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos (the room of the lost steps), this time the reference is rather to be found in... Versailles. The room, designed for parties and official ceremonies, deserves its name: 48 meters long and 14.50 meters wide, not to mention its height. At the foot of the statue of the Republic, and in the center of the circle drawn by marble of different colors, was placed a 24-carat diamond that indicated kilometer 0 of Havana, the point from which all roads in Cuba started. As Alejo Carpentier recounts in his novel El Recurso del Método(The Methodist Remedy, Gallimard), the diamond was stolen during the presidency of Grau San Martín (1944-1948). If you want to know more, read the novel...! Let's just specify that it will be found in the private office of the president's sister-in-law. And shame on anyone who thinks badly! In the end, the authentic stone was integrated into the national heritage and remains today under good guard. The one that shines brightly at the foot of the statue is therefore fake, but it faithfully indicates Havana's kilometer 0.

During the guided tour, you will have the opportunity to discover the office of the President of the House of Representatives in imperial style and directly inspired by the Bonapartist style; it is the only French-style room in the whole Capitol and it is quite impressive. But remember that you will not be able to take pictures of it... Photos are only possible in the main hall of the Capitol. Another curiosity is the sixty bas-reliefs inlaid on the entrance doors, representing chronologically the most important events in Cuban history. You will also learn that no less than 20 kg of gold were used for all kinds of interior finishing of the building. Finally, in one of the courtyards of the Capitol there is a plaque commemorating five workers who died on the construction site.

Practical The visits are only done in groups of 15 people with a guide, in English or Spanish, and they last 45 minutes. The visiting hours are at 10:00, 11:00, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30; on Wednesdays and Sundays, the visiting hours are at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30. Please note that it is not possible to reserve a guided tour in advance. To participate in a tour, simply go to the ticket office and register for the next available tour. Registration is done at the bottom of the stairs, on the left side of the hallway (so don't go up the grand staircase for nothing because they will send you back down). The price for the guided tour is 10 € per person.

It is one of the most beautiful cemeteries of Cuba and it is a visit to make absolutely during your passage in Santiago de Cuba! Inaugurated in 1868, all white and made of Carrara marble, very green and immense, it is organized in masterly alleys where the tombs are often surmounted by superb sculptures.

Although it is a very pleasant place to walk around, in order to fully grasp its history and complexity, we really recommend a guided tour (about 1 hour), just ask for it when you buy your ticket. The Santa Ifigenia cemetery and its 10,000 graves includes the graves of many ordinary inhabitants of Santiago de Cuba but also of some of the great families of the city and especially of illustrious characters of Cuban history, which makes it similar to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris and makes it an open-air museum.

José Martí's mausoleum. José Martí, the Apostle of the Homeland, rests in a magnificent and imposing white marble mausoleum on which one can read: "When I die/Without a homeland but without a master/Have on my tomb a bouquet of flowers and a flag." And indeed a bouquet of white flowers and the Cuban flag are in the mausoleum permanently in accordance with his wishes ...

Fidel Castro's tomb. At the entrance to the cemetery lies Fidel Castro who died on November 25, 2016 in Havana. He is buried a few meters from José Martí, for whom he had great admiration and who inspired him throughout his career. After being cremated, his ashes traveled throughout the country during the 9 days of national mourning before being buried here on December 4, 2016 in strict privacy. 21 cannon shots were then fired but no speeches were made according to his last wishes. His grave is very sober, materialized by a block of pure granite 2.5 m high and 42 tons, extracted from the Gran Piedra, which is part of the Sierra Maestra, and which symbolizes the strength of the Cuban Revolution. Fidel's remains are inside this granite block to symbolize Fidel's action inside the Sierra Maestra. A symbolism that refers directly to the quote of José Marti "All the glory of the world is in a grain of corn". The green plants all around symbolize the Sierra Maestra, which had a key importance in the finalization of the Cuban Revolution. All around the granite block and the plants, 19 columns can be seen, representing the 19 warring fronts set up in the Sierra Maestra by Fidel; they are joined by a bronze chain that represents the common struggle of all these fronts for the triumph of the Revolution. On the granite block is simply affixed a marble plaque with the inscription "Fidel". This simplicity is an integral part of Fidel Castro's last wishes, as he did not want any statue or monument in his cemetery, or even anywhere else in the country, as he rejected any personality cult.

Other Cuban personalities in the cemetery. Other heroes of the war for independence and the revolution are also buried there, such as Mariana Grajales, considered the mother of the country by Cubans, as she sacrificed most of her children in the war against Spain for Cuba's independence; Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, considered the father of the Cuban homeland, because this rich landowner was the main initiator of the war of independence against Spain; Frank País and the fighters of the attack on the Moncada barracks as well as those of the uprising of November 30, 1956. Finally, several famous Cuban music artists are buried here, including Compay Segundo, the singer of the Buenavista Social Club. On his grave there is a replica of his hat and guitar, which he never left, and 95 bronze flowers that represent the age of the singer's death. Compay's remains are above the funerary monument, in a beautiful wooden box placed on sand from Siboney, where Compay Segundo was born in the province of Santiago de Cuba.

The tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte's doctor. During your visit to the cemetery, you will notice many French surnames, including the Corsican François Antommarchi, the fourth and last doctor of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the one who made Napoleon's death mask. He came to Cuba after Napoleon's death and is considered the pioneer of ophthalmology in Cuba, as he was the first doctor to perform a cataract operation in Cuba, which took place in Santiago de Cuba itself. He also founded the first medical center in the city to treat patients suffering from yellow fever, from which he died in 1838.

The changing of the military guard. Throughout the day, every half hour, the military guard is relieved at the entrance of the cemetery. The rest of the time the soldiers are not allowed to move.

This is the only military ceremony of its kind in the whole country. It has been held since 2002, following an idea of Fidel Castro, who wanted to pay homage to José Marti first, before extending this homage to the mother and father of the Cuban homeland, namely Mariana Grajales and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes. Since the death of Fidel Castro in 2016, this military ceremony also pays tribute to Fidel, considered the^4th major figure in the Cuban revolutionary process.