The guajiros of Hanabanilla live to the rhythm of the boats

Hanabanilla (Villa Clara)/Surrounded by hills and exuberant nature, the Habananilla dam, in the heart of Escambray, is an idyllic landscape far from the garbage and unhealthiness of Cuban cities. In the area, people are poor in the old way: they build their own houses with real palm wood and raise animals that are then served on the table. In some remote hamlets the electricity has not even reached.

Life is not easy for the guajiros, but in Hanabanilla, even on the islets in the middle of the dam, there have always been people accustomed to moving around in boats and fishing to eat. “For the people on the side here, the little boat comes early in the morning, at seven, and picks them up, and takes the children to school. And at four it returns them,” explains one of the residents of the reservoir.

The hamlets have existed for decades and in the 1950s, when “an American” wanted to build the hydroelectric plant that Fidel Castro later nationalized in the 1960s, they were protagonists – the ruling party assures Ecured– of “one of the most embarrassing scenes in the history of Cuba with the eviction of the humble peasants who lived in the Siguanea Valley; mostly Galician emigrants, dedicated, fundamentally, to the cultivation of coffee.”

In the old town “there were houses, schools, stores, everything. The American who was going to build the dam there bought the houses from the people who lived down there,” the neighbors say. Despite the fierce criticism of the “Yankee” project, the Revolution continued the work on the reservoir and also turned it into a tourist enclave. “The Americans did all that. The only thing missing was some engines. In ’61 the revolution closed it down and then they brought some Czech engines” to start the hydroelectric plant.

Around Hanabanilla, and due to the influence of Fidel Castro, numerous businesses emerged that are now in decline due to the low influx of travelers. Some, however, survive and the palate El Guajiro, widely renowned among residents and anyone who has ever visited the dam, is an example of this. The only way to get to the rustic restaurant is by boat and, from the moment the visitor approaches the shore, they hear the hiss of hot oil and smell the smell of roast meat.

The hut, made entirely of wood, serves everything that the Island lacks, for prices between 1,800 and 2,000 pesos: “chicken, mutton, goat, pork steak or fried pork and fish.” Each dish is served with its portion of rice, vegetables and salad, and everything, the cook himself assures, is produced in the palate. “We produce the pigs ourselves, also the cassava, the taro… The dam gives us the fish: the trout and the tilapia,” he says proudly.

Before, he recalls, deer were even seen on the hills that came down to the shore to drink. “I used to catch them right there at the dam, swimming. These are the things that are lost here. If I don’t catch it, someone else will catch it,” he reflects.

The possibility of taking advantage of the resources of the area is a relief for the Guajiros. According to the man, who lives at times between the dam and the town of Cumanayagua, “here [en el caserío] without current you live. down there [en el pueblo] I can’t live without electricity: the mosquitoes, the desperation, not having anything to cook with. Not here. Coal is used permanently here, for everything.”

Businesses like El Guajiro, one of the first palatesfounded “before 2012” according to its owner, mark the day-to-day life at the dam. “You arrive at the hotel [Hanabanilla] or to any place in the dam and tells the boatman ‘I want to eat at the guajiro’s house’, and he comes to the guajiro’s house to eat. They have to bring them here and here we give the boatman lunch on the spot,” explains the worker.

The palate It also has other workers who, when they have shifts all day, stay to sleep in a small house near the restaurant and made, like all the others, of wood.

The boatmen, a whole group of neighbors who know each other and have been sailing the reservoir for years, also have their own businesses that consist of taking tourist routes through the different corners of the dam. “We give excursions to Jibacoa, from Jibacoa to canopyand we returned to the waterfall and the farmer’s house [paladar]and the other excursion we have is that of the Niche”says one of them.

He canopyby which visitors move hanging from a thick cable passing over the dam, is a very recent attraction. Installed just last year, “the longest in Cuba, in the Jibacoa-Hanabanilla park,” says one of the managers dressed in gloves, helmet and harnesses.

Boats and barges are part of the ecosystem. Each family has its own, some with a motor, others with a row. The Guajiros, surrounded by ancient and Taíno place names such as Hanabanilla, Jibacoa or Cumanayagua, choose to baptize their boats with more modern names such as Natalia or Príncipe.

The boats come and go from the Hanabanilla hotel, a multi-story building that Fidel Castro ordered to be built and that with the passing of the years and deterioration loses more and more charm. However, most of the tourists who pass through the area still arrive there.

When night begins to fall, music and the noise of the kitchens can be heard in the hotel even though it is mostly empty. On the shore, a few boats, two or three, wait on a tiny floating dock for a visitor to take a stroll around the dam, although demand is almost as low as the boats themselves. However, many prefer to hire private boatmen.

With the passage of time and the decay of the hotel complex, the broken engines, the irreparable holes in the hulls and the departure of the boatmen, the hotel itself has become a cemetery of boats. In its surroundings, dozens of boats rest upside down, becoming a refuge for lizards, snails and small animals.