| Description |
El Bagá Park, located on the northwestern tip of Cayo Coco, is a new offer in the Jardines del Rey tourist region.
El Bagá is a natural theme park where travelers can enjoy a well-preserved natural environment and a recreation of the main periods in the formation of Cuba's national identity.
The park's main theme is the BAGA tree, a plant that can be 2-4 meters high and grows in flooded and humid areas. Its fruit is edible and has medicinal properties. This tree can be found in many areas of the park.
Visitors to El Bagá Park can tour its different paths, either on foot or on horses. They will be able to watch populations of Bagá trees in their natural environment, covered by orchids and "curujey", as well as trees that were uprooted by hurricanes, and plant formations with characteristic species such as mastic trees and uvilla, among others. They can also visit the Yanas forest and navigate along a canal covered by red mangrove on aboriginal-style canoes. Near the beach, they will find the cocotrinax litoralis and other species that grow on the coastal dunes.
Visitors can also enjoy watching a large number of endemic species, including iguanas, hutias, tortoises, crocodiles, fish and turtles. Birds are quite abundant in the region, since Jardines del Rey is in the middle of one of the main corridors used by migratory birds in the Caribbean. Some species receive special care in the park.
Environmental education will be a special activity in the park. Visitors will be able to attend lectures to be informed about how to protect the natural environment in which we live. For that purpose, an interpretation center has been built, with rooms to hold conferences and exhibits on nature.
Visiting the park will be like being in direct contact with different facets of Cuba's history. The park recreates the most important periods of Cuban culture, and the formation and development of national identity. Vacationers will be able to tour an aboriginal village and enjoy rites and customs, as well as the evolution of habits and customs in the countryside. They will walk along a Spanish-colonial promenade from the 18th and 19th centuries, get in touch with that period's atmosphere, attend an Afro-Cuban ritual, as well as dances and festivals from the towns along Ciego de Avila's coastal region, and enjoy the interesting history of piracy on the Bucanero Galleon, which ran aground on a breathtaking beach.
The park has a restaurant, two cafeterias, a tavern on the Bucanero Galleon, and kiosks for beverages and light meals to serve everyone's taste. It also has small shops where travelers can buy handicrafts and some artistic recreations of endemic species and reproductions of artifacts from the aboriginal and Afro-Cuban cultures, as well as postcards and CDs of Cuban music and the singing of endemic birds, among other souvenirs. |
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