Gibara Welcomes International Low-Budget Film Festival

The coastal city of Gibara in Holguin, will host the 7th "Humberto Solas International Low-Budget Film Festival, schedule from April13 to 19.

Convened by the Cuban Institute for Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), the Ministry of Culture and the Governments of Holguín and Gibara, the event will pay homage to the late Cuban filmmaker Humberto Solas, author of the project. Participants will compete in the categories of documentaries, feature films and short fiction, unpublished scripts, and experimental video works, among others.

The Jiba cinema of this city, also called “La villa blanca”, will be the headquarters for the Festival and will also host the opening and closing galas, while the Culture Center will host conferences on world cinema. In addition to film screenings, the event will once again include a mix of different artistic manifestations such as theater, painting, music and literature.

Despite the damage caused by Hurricane Ike in Gibara on September 7, 2008, the organizers have made available to participants a date with film that refused to disappear.

Holguin: older than it seems

Recent finds in Holguin could confirm the existence of an aboriginal and Hispanic community with certain economic development before 1752. The finds might corroborate the hypothesis supported by specialists from their previous work on the house of the Lieutenant Governor. For researchers, there was already an important population group since the mid-seventeenth century.
The excavations of what could have been the interior courtyard, revealed a collection of time materials like fragments of utilitarian pottery clay, English earthenware of the 18th and 17th Centuries, Spanish majolica in the early eighteenth, and fragments of flint blades, cut in the manner of the aboriginal inhabitants of the area.
The background of this research is found in the excavations carried out at the house of the Lieutenant Governor and the San Isidoro Church, used as a cemetery in the eighteenth century.
The new findings underline the need for greater attention to the architectural knowledge of history of this Cuban province of a remarkable architecture beauty.

Guayabero: a new brand of wine to excite the senses

The new brand of wine El Guayabero, named after a Cuban folk singer known for his humorous songs, will exceed other wines capacity to unleash the tongue, as it enriches the bouquet with a special double sense to make drinkers blush or generate excitement.

Beyond its quality, which many local sommeliers ponder, this wine had its success guaranteed when it was named after the famous folksinger whose double sense compositions and serious face made people hilarious.

Faustino Oramas(El Guayabero) was considered the King of doublé sense and for many fans to perpetúate his legacy in a red, sweet wine, is to do him a magnificent and just homage.

To remember him and please the palate at the same time, this new wine was born after his demise at 95 years of age, when considered a national symbol, loved by his people. This calls for a toast.

Humpback Whale Seen in the Coastal Town of Gibara

A humpback whale about 11 meters long and about 15 tons was spotted Tuesday by sport fishermen in the coastal town of Gibara, in Holguin.

Identified of similar proportions as one captured in coastal waters of Gibara 30 years ago, the cetacean was seen by Carlos Merino and Juan Tejeda in the area around the inlet of “La Canoa”. This inlet is located between Punta Rasa and Goleta, so the whale came to a relatively short distance from the coastline in the Atlantic waters.

The whale emerged about 40 meters from his small boat that seemed to be a huge vacuum, and observed that water vapor expelled from a hole in his head, said the two sport fishermen, then the huge mammal submerged in the ocean waters without paying any attention to the amazing fishermen.

The humpback is one of the 78 species of whales reported worldwide, which includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Many of these animals often make long migrations during the colder months to warm areas, which includes the north region of Cuba and hence this humpback ride along the coast of Gibara. The finback or blue whale is among the biggest whales which can measure up to 30.5 meters long and weigh about 200 tons.

History as Told by the Houses

When walking through the city of Holguin, you can encounter the history told by its buildings, as is the case of “La casa azul” (the Blue House) located across from the “Calixto Garcia” Park.

This house was lived first by Jose Romero Medina, from the Canaries, and his wife. Victoriana de Avila y Gonzalez de Rivera - the benefactor of Holguin- who got married on January 24, 1798.

Don Jose Romero Medina was a wealthy man from the Canaries, who had established himself in the city, and Doña Victoriana was the eldest daughter of the Mayor, Don Diego de Avila and Doña Catalina Gonzalez de Rivera, descendant of the colonizer captain Garcia Holguin, founder of this city.

In the testament made by the married couple in 1817, they declared among their property: "Primarily this house of tiles and masonry where we live, built in Plaza de Armas, the Royal Plaza, with the corresponding site all built up …"

In 1824 they changed their testament declaring that they have moved to Gibara and that in addition to other properties, they had a house located in the Royal Plaza in San Isidoro Street, with a haberdasher in charge of Mr Francisco Antonio de la Carrera.

Since then, this building became a clothes shop. Despite having had numerous owners over the years, it has maintained its architectural features, such as columns, corridors and tile roofs.

A Journey to the Highest Waterfall in Cuba

First, there is the sound of water falling; next a tourist guide saying, “This way.” The stairs to the viewing platform have an imposing presence, and there is no choice but to climb them to discovery immensity.

Two waterfalls can be seen from the viewpoint, though neither is the highest in Cuba. The Guayabo waterfall is 240 meters high, and the one next to it is 300 meters.

This miracle is located in a place called Pinares of Mayarí (Mayarí pine forest), among the thicknesses of the pines, and a host of birds – including the nightingale.

The coming and going of tourists mark the daily rhythm. Early in the morning people start walking. There is no smoking, no littering, and no killing of animals – these are some of the controls that visitors must abide by. Foreign tourists from the Cubanacan, Gaviota, Ecotur, and Cubatur agencies visit the site daily.

“The Guayabo waterfalls is located in the La MensuraNational Park, where there have being identified 293 species of flora and around 90 forms of fauna,” commented William, the guide, while he leads us along a path to the top of the waterfall.

According to him, one of the most unique plants of the area is the peinpalantus nipense, similar to a cactus but with a white flower. It is endemic of that region of the country.

Norge Torres, the manager of the Conservation Zone Unit of the park, also explained that the Forestal Company is carrying out 13 projects in the area. One of them is the Environmental Education project, whose first objective is to develop a conservation consciousness among people who live close to the park. The purpose of this is to preserve the ecosystem and habitat of all species.

The reconstruction of the forest is another project that supports the conservation of the ecosystem. Twelve hectares of forest area have been added to the park in the last six years. The “La Sabina” —a precious-wood tree that is at risk of extinction— is one of the most used in planting in the reforestation effort.

The sparrow hawk and the nightingale, among two other bird species in the region, are included in the project to save threatened birds.

The waters of the Guayabo expand over 576.7 hectares. It wouldn’t be the great waterfall that we all admire if it were not for this water that emerges from the fertile soil.