Mike and Clare: The Isle of Youth...

24 January, 2017

The Isle of Youth...

The Isla de la Juventud, the Isle of Youth, was so named by Fidel Castro in 1978 to fulfil a promise to recognise the extraordinary work of young ingabitants of the island. Prior to that, its name was Isle of Pines. The isle, which is larger in its own right that most others in the Caribbean, is Cuba's biggest offshore island.

Dave, and the rest of us, had a temperature check as we disembarked onto the Isle.

National Geographic naturalist Dave Cothran.

We had a morning arrival at the isle after a roughish overnight passage in the Pan Orama II. We were late entering the large north-west facing bay after the Captain went further south than intended to minimise the roll of the vessel. This must have been successful - we thought it was a comfortable night, but again, other passengers were unhappy.

Here, as everywhere, Cubans were happy to be photographed.

A history of pirate activity led to the Isle of Youth being inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island. And, more recently, ownership of the island was disputed with the USA between 1901 and 1925. But we were here to contine our people to people program, which we did by visiting a huge 1926 prison where both Fidel and Raul Castro had been locked up by Baptiste (1953-5), a special maternity clinic, and the main town of the island, Nueva Gerona.

The prison,Presidio Modelo, now derelict (closed in 1967) but kept open as a museum and a national monument, is a huge contruction of revolutionary panoptican design where five circular blocks hold up to 2500 prisoners confined to individual cells which are wide open without doors and kept under continual observation by guards they cannot see.

The hideous Model Prison which housed both Castros and later, when they were in power, many of their enemies.

We were able to wander around inside one of the circular monstrosities, but such is its disrepair that it was rather dangerous to be inside. We also saw the huge circular central dining room of the prison, with a basement kitchen, where prisoners ate at individual benches. The panoptican design was meant to provide humane confinement for its residents, but it looks as though it would have done the opposite!

Tiny open cells, one to a prisoner.

The panoptican design, every cell visible to guards hidden in the central tower.

Scattered masonry and roof tiles made this place pretty dangerous to hang around in.

The huge prison dining room.

Each prisoner would eat at an individual bench.

This massive elevator brought up the food from the kitchen below.

Political prisoners, including the Castros, were kept seperately in more conventional looking jail conditions so they could not contaminate the regular prison population with ideas.

Political prisoners, including Fidel and Raul were kept in a separate wing of the prison. This is their dormitory.

The old administration buildings at the front of the prison now house a school, "to improve the depressing atmosphere" of the place.

The visit to the maternity clinic 8 de Marzo was an eye-opener, intended, again we are sure, so that Cuba could showcase its superior healthcare system to American visitors. The residential clinic is available free of charge to expectant mothers "in difficulty". We heard from the ladies in charge and saw about a dozen or so patients in a couple of dormitory rooms, some watching Korean soap operas which are apparently the current rage on Cuban TV.

Mother-to-be being measured, stoically enduring the indignity of our presence.

Frankly, this visit, interesting as it was, was an invasion of these women's privacy at a sensitive time, and many of us felt quite uncomfortable about it. We suppose that is the price to pay for a totally free socialist healthcare system!

The very pretty campus of a Nueva Gerona school or music.

Rodrigo making his video of this young pianist.

Proficient students at a ballet class.

The capital of the Isle of Youth is a pleasant town called Neuva Gerona. We knew we were well off the beaten track here when we were set loose on the locals. Other than our small group, no other tourists were evident, and we were certainly objects of curiousity.

Painted dancers put on a show for us in the main street.

This mum and daughter were fascinated by the dance show as well as our camera.

Body painting in action.

Some of the crowd.

We wandered freely in the pretty town after a brief tour up the central pedestrian mall where we were encouraged to indulge in body painting of complaint scantily-clad participants, and to dance with them in what was an organised reception for us. It was a lot of fun, but a little unusual.