One more time Cuba

Another winter, another trip to Cuba…although this winter has mild temperatures, we have a need, nevertheless, for walks on the beach and hot sunny days.

Once again, we head for Cienfuegos’s all inclusive Rancho Luna: it fits our travel bill especially because we want to visit Trinidad (only 85 km away) and love the opportunity to make trips out of the resort to the city of Cienfuegos with the free daily shuttle. And once again, we fly with Cubana de Aviacion with our two flights on schedule! Unbelievable!!!

We never cease to love that initial moment of the arrival in Cuba or in any other tropical destination for that matter, that moment when the humid balmy air hits you as soon as you get outside the plane or the airport.

Having been guest at this resort before, we feel familiar with the surroundings. We are happy to have a room at the second storey from where we can see the ocean and leave the windows open during the night…

We spend our first day enjoying walks on the beach, swimming in really warm water (at least 26C, rum and of course, smoking a cigar while sipping a rum!!!! We brought our “El Credito” from Santiago until we managed to buy Cienfuegos’s local cigars! 

We made two trips to Cienfuegos: the first one to reacquaint ourselves with the city and walk to Punta Gorda. From Playa Jose Marti and back, a 8 km long and hot walk… But it was worth it. Heiner had brought ropes and boat hardware to give away…not wanting to carry all that stuff during our walk, we soon spotted a fisherman who looked like he could need more supplies. He was surprised but happy to receive such offerings. What difference with Santiago where people begged and harassed you non stop ..here in Cienfuegos, even in quite poor areas, no such behaviour…Anyhow, we enjoyed walking the Cienfuegos “malecon” admiring the local architecture and getting used to the hot sun…we notice how things have changed here from two years ago: so many sailboats anchored in the bay! Cruisers from France, Netherland but also chartering companies.  The Cienfuegos Yacht club looks very very nice but there does not seem to be much activity in the pool or adjacent bar…

We make the Palacio de Valle our final destination for the day. Easily one of the true architectural jewels of Cienfuegos it displays an eclectic mix of styles from Gothic to Romanesque, Baroque to Italianate tendencies. From all angles the building is truly attractive.

And the outdoor patio is also original with tables made of glass and rocks!

While it is used for cultural events and has one of the best restaurants of Cienfuegos, we head for the roof top terrace where, for 2 CUC, we get a drink and the permission (!) to take photographs!  We spend quite a bit of time there, enjoying the views and the sea breeze…and ron y limon!

 Our second visit to Cienfuegos had a totally different flavour. We headed for non-touristic places, walking towards the Parque Villuendas (Calle 62) enjoying the highly animated streets of this Saturday morning. And how different it is to hear the noise of horse carriages on the street!!! There are cars and some buses but most of the travel is done with horse carriages.

This Avenida 64 has a very different feel compared to the Paseo el Prado. We were the only tourists! We saw a rather triste looking state market where people came to buy produces, but also an organic one with its adjacent gardens (long queues), several shops selling hardware, sinks, household items, small shops to repair bicycles and tires, and one man seating on a bucket selling cigars!!!!!!!! Yeah!!! We got out local cigars! Lovely and smooth taste! Our final stop was the park Villuendas where we sat down for a while, and enjoyed looking at the Saturday morning crowds, some group of men seemingly engaged in heated political discussions. There was free internet in this park, a novelty for Cubans! Some had laptops, other tablets, or iPads…gifts from their American relatives maybe????

On our way back to the Jose Marti Square, we heard drums and sounds similar to the Congos Music (Congonians are Cubans descended from Africans in the Congo, Angola, Gabon, and Mozambique that have a common Congo heritage). We found a small establishment with a nice shady garden and tables with a large stage…Six to 10 musicians and singers performed for hours Afro-cuban music with drums and songs. What a treat while sipping a Buccanero! This venue was the site of Los Jardines de la UNEAC or The gardens of the union of writers and artists of Cuba. There was one pretty little girl hanging out there and listening to music, at times dancing a bit to the sound of music. She sat besides us…asking if we had water. We did not but gave her some sweets; she was really cute and I could not help taking her picture…she left and got her best friend and this ended with a photo of the 3 of us. I would have loved to have a portable printer to give them prints…a Polaroid would have been handy!

The other highlight of our stay was a visit to Trinidad. A day long excursion;  even though the distance was not that big…85 km! But on Cuban roads….hence, we were happy to be doing the trip in a new and comfortable Chinese bus! Luckily that day, there was a strong breeze and our visit was very comfortable. Our guide gave us quite a bit of information on Cuba and was available to answer our questions all along our voyage. It was reminiscent of our Chinese odyssey! We made our first stop at a traditional pottery making house. A Spanish family ran the Taller Santander, which their Cuban descendants later renamed El Taller del Alfarero. In 1962, the Cuban government took over the business. But the Santader family didn't leave!!!

Although every generation has made improvements, the potters remain faithful to tradition. They still use clay that is taken from caves and river beds and their kiln is not electric. It still requires wood. They know exactly what clay will turn green or blue…Although they have new items and new colors and textures, there are items that have sold for generations. Many members of the Santander family have made the workshop's most popular terracotta cups, which are used to serve the traditional "Canchanchara" -- a honey, lime and white rum cocktail that was invented in Trinidad. 

A small tavern named after that drink was to be our next stop …what a beautiful little place to sit in the shade while tasting this refreshing drink made of rum, lemon, honey and aguardiente (Fire Water).

We liked Trinidad much better than we anticipated. 


But the amount of tourists per square meter were impressive! And souvenirs booths!Since Cubans have now the right to have a business in their homes, numerous casas have transformed themselves into mini souvenir stores…and crafts stands lining many streets attract tourists and bring in convertible pesos!

We also visited Palacio Cantero, former home of Justo Germán Cantero, a rich sugar mill industrial. Trinidad is one of the best-preserved cities in the Caribbean from the time when the sugar trade was the main industry in the region. At the peak of the industry in Cuba there were over fifty sugar cane mills in operation in the three valleys, with over 30,000 slaves working in the mills and on the sugar cane plantations that surrounded them.

Palacio Cantero gives a taste of how rich families lived.  Very attractive rooms with original furnishing! 

It was quite a venture to take the very narrow stairways to the top terrace from where we could catch amazing views of the valleys surrounding Trinidad aptly names Valle de los Ingenios or Valleys of the Sugar mills.

We liked meandering through the sunny streets, listening to music playing in one bar or another (like in Havanna, there is a bar called La Bodequita del Medio), admiring the rich colours and architectural style of the palaces or houses at the sound of Cuban son or Congos drums. A real delight! 

We stopped at a small café located above a wide stone stairways, a bit reminiscent of our little café in Montmartre!!!

The rest of the days were spent swimming, walking on the beach, sailing the Hobie Cat of the hotel and snorkelling…

On our last day, and because we would leave the hotel only around 5h30pm, we made use of the cloudy skies and walked again in the neighbourhood, taking photos on the theme Travelling in Cuba!!! Our conclusion: on foot is still the best!

And yes, Norma (our room maid) was making sure we enjoyed our stay until the last day.  All together:  we had a great trip !!!! Adios Cuba!