Jardines del Rey facts for kids
Jardines del Rey, which means "Gardens of the King" in English, is a beautiful group of islands located off the northern coast of Cuba. These islands are part of the Ciego de Ávila and Camagüey areas.
About the Islands
These islands grew on top of a huge coral reef system that stretches along Cuba's coast. This reef is found between the Atlantic Ocean and two bays: Buena Vista and Jiguey. It's part of a bigger group of islands called the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, and it goes for about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from northwest to southeast.
You can fly to Jardines del Rey Airport on Cayo Coco island. There's also a special road called a causeway that connects Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo to the main island of Cuba.
Main Islands and Cays
Jardines del Rey is made up of many small islands and cays. The most important ones, listed from north to south, are:
Other islands in this area include Cayo Santa María, Cayo Paredón Grande, Cayo Cruz, and Cayo Confites.
Island History
The islands were given their name in 1513 by Spanish explorers. They named them to honor their king, Ferdinand II of Aragon.
In the 1500s, these islands became a safe place for corsairs and pirates. A famous pirate named Jacques de Sores is thought to have used one of these islands as a base. From there, he launched attacks on the city of Santiago de Cuba in 1554. Later, in the 1800s, after the slave trade was officially stopped, the islands were sometimes used by ships bringing enslaved people illegally.
El Bagá Nature Park
El Bagá Nature Park (Parque Natural El Bagá in Spanish) was created on December 29, 2002. It was built on land that used to be the Cayo Coco Airport. The park is named after the Bagá tree, also known as the "breadfruit tree." It covers about 69 hectares (170 acres) of forests and lagoons on Cayo Coco and nearby cays.
The park has a special center where you can learn about nature. There's also a walkway through a Bagá forest and a recreated village of the Taíno people, who were the original inhabitants of the Caribbean. You can also see different animals like crocodiles, iguanas, flamingos, and Cuban hutias. The islands are a natural home for beautiful Caribbean flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber).
See also
In Spanish: Jardines del Rey para niños
