Country file · Central America & the Caribbean

Cryptids of Cuba

What cryptids are in Cuba? The best-known is Güijes.

Cuban folklore mixes African, Spanish and Indigenous traditions. The best-known creature is the güije, a small dark water imp that lives in rivers and ponds, with a particularly rich tradition in the old Las Villas region around Remedios and Sagua.

  • 1 cryptid
  • 2 recorded sightings

Cryptids reported in Cuba

Humanoid · Oral tradition

Güijes

Rivers, ponds and lagoons of Cuba Small, dark, bulging-eyed water imps of Cuban folklore that haunt ponds and rivers, best known from the legends of northern Villa Clara. Folklore

The legends of Cuba

Poets such as Nicolás Guillén, singers and children’s television have kept the güije alive as an affectionate national figure.

Hotspots

  • Remedios and Sagua

    Towns tied to named güije legends.

Sightings timeline

  1. 1934
    Nicolás Guillén’s “Balada del güije” Güijes

    The poet Nicolás Guillén included a poem about the güije in his 1934 collection West Indies Ltd., helping fix the creature in national literature.

  2. 1993
    Los chichiricú del charco de la Jícara Güijes

    Julia Calzadilla Núñez published a children’s book of güije tales set around a pond, one of several modern retellings of the legend.

Nearby

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