CUEVA DE LOS PORTALES Camping

The Cueva de los Portales Campground is the pioneer installation of Popular Camping, forming part of the protected area of national significance Mil Cumbres and located in an area of great attraction for the flora, fauna and its mountain range plagued by vestiges of maroon slaves of the colonial era. But the greatest interest is found in a system of caverns crossed by the Caiguanabo River, where La Cueva de los Portales is located, a site declared a National Monument, and where Ernesto Che Guevara's headquarters was installed during the October Crisis in 1962, which is still maintained with the furniture and some personal objects of the Heroic Guerrilla.

It is a very attractive area in terms of flora and fauna and the mountains are full of vestiges of runaway slaves in colonial times. The small mountains or "mogotes" are unusually steep and often covered with life. Birdwatchers will be delighted with the enormous number of species that can be found in the area. But the greatest interest centers on the cave system of San Andres de Caiguanabo, La Cueva de los Portales. It is a National Monument since Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, during the October Missile Crisis in Cuba in 1962, made the caves the command center for the Army of Pinar del Rio. The cave is maintained with furniture and some personal belongings of the heroic guerrilla. Also on the same hill are the caves El Espejo, El Salvador and Cueva Oscura. Nearby are the Dos Hermanas Campground, the Mural of Prehistory, the Cuevas del Indio, Cayo Levisa and Viñales.

The accommodations at the Campismo Popular Cueva de los Portales are at an economical level of community and social style, the Cuban equivalent of youth lodging. However, the cabins are all private (not communal), and all have private bathrooms. You can enjoy the beauty and clear waters of the Portales River, excursions to the mountains and caves (Chivo, Oscura and Gruta del Salvador), passive games room, television and video, restaurant, cafeteria, barbecue, dance floor, game room, rustic playground and nightly entertainment activities.