The drive from Havana to Matanzas is 100 kilometers or 60 miles in length, and passes through a section of country every mile of which brings to view charming bits of tropical scenery, together with an opportunity to see something of the life of the inhabitants in the interior of the Island. If one has time to stop, or cares to leave the main highway at Ceiba and cross the ridge of hills about a mile distant, a beautiful little valley lies below, on the other side of the divide. The drive from Havana to Matanzas is usually made in about three hours, and, aside from the attractions furnished by the city and its suburbs spread out along the western side of the harbor, will furnish a very pleasant diversion for an early morning or late afternoon excursion.
Another of the old Spanish colonial military roads, leaving Havana through the suburb of Marianao, sweeps away towards the southwest in a comparatively straight line until it reaches the city of Guanajay, 42 kilometers distant. Here the road divides, one branch running due south to the little city of Artemisa, located in the center of the pineapple district, which furnishes a large part of the fruit shipped to the United States. From Havana to Artemisa, 58 kilometers, Cuban laurels, royal palms and flamboyans furnish a continuous and often dense shade throughout its entire length. In some places, for miles, the road resembles a long green tunnel passing through foliage that arches up from the sides and meets in the center above. From Las Mangas, 7 kilometers south of Artemisa, the road swings sharply to the westward and so continues through a more open country with less shade and less traffic. There is no speed limit on the country roads of Cuba, and if the condition of the drive permits, one can skip along at a 40 or 50 mile clip between villages, with little danger of interference. This westerly drive swings on through Candelaria, 82 kilometers from Havana, where one gets the first glimpse of the long picturesque range of the Organ Mountains some five miles away to the north. These parallel the road to the western terminus of the Island.
From the village of Candelaria a short drive not over five miles in length reaches up to the base of the Ruby hills, which at this point form a perpendicular cliff several hundred feet in height, over which falls a stream of water whose volume during the winter is comparatively small, but the drop is perpendicular and the roar of the torrent during the rainy season can be easily heard at Candelaria. Just above the falls are a group of mineral springs, iron, sulphur, etc., that were once very popular, and during slavery days, which terminated in 1878, many families passed the warm months at these baths, the ruins of which can still be seen. About four kilometers of this road to the falls is macadamized and the remainder can be negotiated readily by an ordinary carriage. A connecting link some 20 kilometers in length has been proposed to connect Candelaria with San Diego de Nunez and Bahia Honda on the north coast, but the cost of the road through the mountains may prevent its completion for some time.
San Cristobal, 10 kilometers further west, and 92 kilometers from Habana, was the terminus of one of the old military roads at the beginning of the Cuban Republic. Since this time a beautiful automobile drive has been continued out to Guane, 246 kilometers from Havana, and will soon reach La Fe and Los Arroyos, two points on the extreme western coast about 30 kilometers further on.
Nine kilometers west of San Cristobal a connecting link with the main highway has been built to the town of Taco-Taco, about a mile and a quarter distant on the railroad, with another branch 7 kilometers in length running due north to the foot of the mountains. This road will be built straight across the Organ Range, through Rangel and Aguacate, to Bahia Honda on the north coast, passing the old time “cafetales” or coffee plantations of Pinar del Rio, and also through some of the rich mineral zones of that region. The uncompleted link is only about 20 kilometers but is over a rather difficult mountainous country.
At the 117th kilometer post a highway of six kilometers connects with the town of Palacios on the Western Railway, while at the 123rd, still another branches south to Paso Real with a northern extension that reaches San Diego de los Banos, 9 kilometers distant. This road too, will eventually cross the mountain range and connect with Consolacion del Norte, whence the road has already been completed to Rio Blanco on the north coast, 9 kilometers away.
The drive from the main line to San Diego de los Banos is through an extremely picturesque country of hill and dale, and the village itself is well worthy of a visit. Like the Candelaria Springs, the San Diego Baths have long been famous, and the latter still continue to be so. The springs of hot and cold water impregnated with sulphur, iron and other minerals are said to have valuable medicinal qualities.
From the cross roads at the 123rd kilometer the main trunk-line passes through a series of low hills, but with grades so reduced that motors have no difficulty in negotiating them. From the town of Consolacion, 151 kilometers from Havana, one enters the eastern border of the celebrated Vuelta Abaja tobacco district that lies spread out on either side of the driveway. On either side are low hills with gentle slopes and little oases or “vegas” of land that are not only rich, but contain that mysteriously potent quality which from time immemorial has produced the finest tobacco in the world.
Pinar del Rio, the capital of the province, is located at the 172nd kilometer and forms a center from which five different automobile drives radiate. The western line, which may be considered as an extension of the main highway, will eventually connect San Antonio, the western terminus of the Island, with Cape Maisi in the east, 800 miles away. This road to the northwest soon enters the mountains, through which it passes many rises, falls and unexpected turns, bringing into view a picturesque country, rugged but not forbidding. At kilometer 200, a point known as Cabezas or “the Head,” the drive turns at a right angle and sweeps down towards the plain below, terminating at Guane, 246 kilometers from Havana, on the western edge of the celebrated Vuelta Abajo. A shorter line between Pinar del Rio and Guanes, passing through San Juan y Martinez, is under process of construction. The latter city is located in the western center of the Vuelta Abajo district.
From this city, a modern little place of some 12,000 or 15,000 inhabitants, another branch of the trunk line, 25 kilometers in length, passes through a level country until it reaches La Paloma, a landing place for coasting vessels and light draft steamers of the Caribbean Sea.