The Best Sight in Topes de Collantes, Central Cuba

The mountains around Topes de Collantes are covered with a mosaic of coffee farms and patches of forest that are protected within the Parque Natural Escambray. This nature preserve has several deep, lush valleys that are home to such birds as the Cuban parrot, the emerald hummingbird, and the trogon. Several trails lead to waterfalls; the most accessible is the Salto de Caburní, just a 2-km (1-mile) hike along a trail that starts at the Villa Caburní hotel, 2 km (1 mile) north of Topes de Collantes. The spectacular Salto de Rocío cascades down a rock face about 17 km (10 miles) north of Topes. Tours (the only way to visit) truck you to a point just 2 km (1 mile) from the falls. The grotto of La Batata, several kilometers west of Topes, has a river running out of it with a swimming hole; you can visit on a 7-km (4-mile) guided hike that passes a lookout point.