Eastern Cuba has a very different feel from Havana, and the country between Santiago and Palma Soriano shows why. This is the foothill country of the Sierra Maestra, the mountain range where the revolution began in the 1950s, and the land is a mix of cane fields, mango and royal palm, small farms and steep green ridges to the south. Dos Palmas is the name of a locality here, close to El Cobre, home of the great copper-domed basilica where the Virgin of Charity is venerated, and Palma Soriano, the main town of the valley.
El Cobre takes its name from the copper mines that the Spanish worked here from the sixteenth century, using enslaved Africans and later free labour, and the basilica commemorates the miraculous little statue found floating in the bay of Nipe, according to tradition. Pilgrims from across the island make their way here, and Ernest Hemingway famously left his Nobel medal at the shrine for a time. The rest of the valley carries traces of the same history, with old sugar mills, rusting railway lines and slowly decaying colonial houses.
Riding in Cuba is its own adventure, and in this region you should expect a modest, sometimes rough surface. The Carretera Central, the main national road, runs through the region as a two-lane highway with a patched surface, horse carts, bicycles, old American cars, tractors, and now and then a cow. Potholes can be deep and are not always marked, so keep your speed down and watch the edges. After dark, the lack of lighting makes things much harder, so aim to be off the road before sunset. The dry season from December to April is the most comfortable time. From June to October brings heavy rain, humidity and the risk of hurricanes.
Practical matters need real thought. Fuel supply in Cuba has been unreliable in recent years, with queues and shortages, so do not count on filling up where you want. Palma Soriano, a town of about a hundred thousand, is the largest nearby place for services, and Santiago de Cuba is bigger still. Carry water and cash in small notes, and expect to pay for a coffee or a plate of rice, beans and pork at a private home with a smile.