Steam locomotive rides lure tourists in Cuban travel destination

Rides aboard year-stricken, steam-powered locomotives are capturing the attention of scores of trekkers in the travel destination of Jardines del Rey in the northern keys off Cuba, local news media announced.

The sugar-industry tour –an effort to merge local history and culture with tourism- stands out as a highly coveted choice among sunbathers who spend their vacations in this breathtaking tourist circuit lying north of the central main island, some 250 miles east of Havana.

The ride embraces a stop at the sugarcane industry historic and cultural compound in the municipality of Moron in a number of train wagons hauled by steam-powered locomotives, the country’s National Information Agency reported.

The Jungle Tour is another option sought after by vacationers here, especially for its ride along rugged mountains in the municipality of Florencia, plus a nautical trip aboard a catamaran.

Every year. this Cuban destination comes in for some 170,000 trekkers who take advantage of this possibility to scour the local geography, history and culture, chiefly through a number of well-planned extra-hotel choices.

Earlier this week, Cuban authorities trumpeted the coming of 1.9 million foreign tourists to the island nation throughout 2003, a clear-cut comeback of the country’s leisure industry that has panned out to be the number-one income source for its cash-strapped economy.