Visited in January 2023.
The park is the main center of endemic species (and all kinds, both flora and fauna) in Cuba, and in general the largest ecosystem of rainforests in the Caribbean region.
It is located on the eastern edge of the island, near the city of Baracoa, with the foundation of which European colonization began here. Getting there is not so difficult, first you need to get from Santiago de Cuba to Baracoa. Initially, I planned to book a tour to the park from there, but the owners of Airbnb flat convinced me that there was no point in this, it was easier to take a taxi to the park and back. The road is very bumpy, you have to shake quite a bit.
In the visitor center, you can choose one of several routes that are most suitable in terms of difficulty and duration, you must go with a ranger. Our small group got a combined option, we went along the Loma de Piedra trail, it is 8 km long hike, we only had three hours, and the ranger just led us along part of the route during this time.
But we managed to climb to the top of the mountain (only 1110 km), from where a wonderful view of Taco Bay opens up
The soil is red, there is a lot of iron and other minerals, which leads to the appearance of many endemic species in the park. For me, a small joy was to see a chameleon that changed color in the natural environment for the first time in my life. Maybe not endemic, but still a pleasant encounter.