Cuba Guide
Northern Oriente
Cavernas de Panadernos
Address: 2km from the centre of Gibara
Gibara's most rewarding feature, the Cavernas de Panadernos, is located on the outskirts of town. To reach this series of underground limestone caves, take Calle Bargas east, passing the cemetery on your left, then take the overgrown path on the right continuing on past the abandoned military post on the left to reach a clearing. From here, bearing round to the left for about half a kilometre will take you to the caves' entrance. Taking a guide is the best way to visit the caves; nature specialist José Corella knows the caves inside out and has buckets of information to boot. He works at the Oficina de Historia, no.1 Plaza de la Fortaleza (24/3-4588).
Formed from glacial movement during the ice age, the caves have gradually flooded and drained over the Quaternary period to form a labyrinth of mineral galleries. You are strongly advised not to stray into the pitch-black depths of the catacombs without a torch and a professional guide. The caves are home to a sizeable colony of bats that scurry above you as you pass from gallery to gallery and whose presence adds to the generally eerie air. In the gallery nearest to the cave mouth take a good look at the walls where generations of visitors have cut their names into the rock, with some even dating back to the early 1900s. Surprisingly, the caves are not cool, but hot and damp while the walls and floor are slick with moisture and slippery – be sure to wear sturdy footwear.
In all, there are nineteen interconnected galleries stretching 11km under the Gibara hillside, though you probably won't go the whole distance. There's much to be seen, however, in the most accessible chambers, including a glittering myriad of sculptural stalactites and a huge elephantine bulge nicknamed "the mammoth". Heading further underground, you're rewarded with a magnificent lake glinting in the Tolkienesque gloom.