The niche remains a natural paradise despite abandonment

The niche/In the heart of the Sierra del Escambray, among the central provinces of Cuba, there is a turquoise waters and a wet jungle that was presented as one of the most photogenic and accessible natural corners of the island for decades. “We are going Pal Niche! ”, The students and young people used to improvise a few years ago, without planning the getaway or requiring too many sums of money. Today, in addition to their beauty intact in some sections, the place shows clear signals of abandonment that threaten their condition of” nearby paradise. ”

“This has changed a lot,” he tells 14ymedio A peasant who was born and grew in that landscape, while remembering better times. “The one who has not left outside, or has died or has moved to Cumanayagua,” he laments. Pointing towards some empty houses, it indicates that they do not belong to the residents of the place, but to people who now live in Matanzas or Havana. The majority of the population subsists to sell their products to campists, and by decreasing the number of visitors, all family economies have been affected.

The niche is part of the Great Natural Park Topes de Collantes, in the Escambray mountain range, and is located in the province of Cienfuegos. The enclave, being in a mountainous landscape at several hundred meters above sea level, is associated with the Hanabanilla river and the wetlands and fauna shelters of the region. With its endemic flora and its network of stream and lagoons, it offers hiking options, as well as the enjoyment of cascades and natural pools. But this Eden no longer attracts as many travelers as in the past.

Another neighbor of the place shows us a recreational circle with obvious indications of deterioration. The place, closed and with the descascated walls, wears a rustic sign with a phrase from Fidel Castro: “The people will have everything that is capable of producing.” The slogan sounds like a bad omen or a threat. “Before, at this time, the circle had music set, there were the campers fucking (enjoying). This has changed a lot,” confesses the local.

Another subsistence options is coffee planting, whose harvest begins in September. But also that sector is depouted. “There are only two or three people for that,” says a farmer. “Before all this looked yellow (for the fruits of coffee, which then get red), but now col, cucumber, a little tomato, because that has more market,” he adds. Many have decided to move to other areas where there is more work.

In recent years, reviews and comments of visitors have multiplied that indicate specific problems, such as the accumulation of garbage in bathing areas, deficiencies in services, and access roads in poor condition that complicate the arrival by road. In travelers and forums it is repeated that, despite natural beauty, the presence of waste and the lack of maintenance subtract quality from experience. In addition, road accessibility remains a limiting factor in rainy seasons. These observations – although in large part come from stories of tourists and users – agree to show a degradation in the daily handling of space.

To understand the decline of the niche you have to place it within a greater context. To the prolonged crisis of tourism is added the collapse of the Cuban economy and the recent migratory wave. In recent years the population of the island has been drastically reduced, mainly pushing young people to look for luck in other countries. To this is added inflation and loss of the real value of wages. Above, transport scarcity makes internal tourism, more and more, an unattainable luxury for most.

The niche continues to be, in essence, a place of enormous landscape and biological value. Their waterfalls and pools maintain the beauty that made it the preferred place for many Cubans who sought to escape the noise, garbage and debris of the cities. But everything conspires against travelers and residents who subsist thanks to them. “This is poor here,” a peasant murmurs to this newspaper, seeing how his paradise is emptied.