Cajobabo

The community of Cajobabo, 45 kilometers east of Guantánamo [1], is hallowed ground. Here, at Playitas, two kilometers further east, José Martí, Máximo Gómez, and four other prominent patriots put ashore in a small rowboat on April 11, 1895, after years of exile.

The tiny beachfront Museo Municipal 11 de Abril (no tel., daily 8:30 a.m.–noon and 1–5:30 p.m., CUC1) honors Martí. A replica of the boat sits outside the museum and is used each April 11, when the landing is reenacted and cultural activities are hosted. A guide will lead you along a three-kilometer trail via Playitas (CUC1), reached via a steep headland. Beyond the rocks at the far east end of the beach hides a tiny cove with a marble monument inset into the cliff face, laid in 1947 with a base resembling the prow of a boat.

The shorefront road continues east to Punta Maisí at the eastern tip of Cuba. One of the most dramatic drives in all Cuba ia, alas, it is off-limits to foreigners: A military checkpoint bars the way.