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Published: March 5th 2010
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Is it a semi...or a bus?
Or, a strange combination of both? This would certainly be illegal in Canada; in Cuba it's state-sanctioned public transport. Photos by Berm; Text by Alison After spending a few days back in Havana, our plan was to head eastward along the island. The weather in Havana was much cooler than we had expected and we had heard from other travellers that it was warmer farther east along the island. That was all the encouragement that we needed to make our plans.
We decided to head east in greater style than by the tourist buses (which are actually quite luxurious by Cuban standards) and so we splurged on one week of car rental. Our budget didn't allow for too much luxury though, so we selected the most economical car - one that was about the size of a tin can with wheels. I had a good laugh everytime Berm climbed into the driver's seat. He would have needed to sit in the backseat rather than the driver's seat to really have enough room for his legs. Despite this, Berm gamely agreed to do most of the driving and I took on the task of navigation. We were taking a gamble by renting a car at all, as we had heard two stories of other travellers renting
A very informative road sign
We call this Spanglish. There's definitely a career to be made in hiring yourself out to foreign countries as a translator. cars - one involving three punctured tires and the other, multiple run ins with the Cuban police. We figured our luck had to be better, and so we set off for our first destination, the Bahia de Cochinos (the Bay of Pigs), in our little blue tin can.
Driving in Cuban has its own unique set of challenges. Chief among these is the complete lack of useful road signage, particularly directional signs indicating where to turn off. We had to resort to a more basic method of figuring out where we were - on the rare occasions that there were signs listing the distances to any destination along our route, we reset the trip counter and began the visual countdown to where that town or turnoff should be. The lack of any useful signs wouldn't have been as much of a challenge if it wasn't for a corresponding lack of correct maps. Of the three maps that we had, none were the same, and none were complete or entirely accurate. Agreement on 2 of 3 of the maps usually seemed like a safe bet, and so that was the rule we followed. The final set of obstacles that negates
So many to choose from...
Berm, what was our license plate again? any possibility of safe driving in Cuba are the others on the road and the roads themselves. Cars are almost outnumbered by old trucks, ramshackle buses, horse carts and bicycle taxis. All of these are driving without any guidance from road lines, as there aren't any, and swerving randomly to miss huge potholes, hitch hikers, and various other pedestrians, dogs and chickens who have little regard for their own lives. Getting out of Havana was a bit hair-raising, to say the least!
After our 3 hour crash course in driving on Cuban roads we made it to Playa Larga. Throughout our trip we've stayed mostly in 'casa particulares', private homes in which 1 or 2 rooms are rented out. One of our favourite casas was our place in Playa Larga, Casa de Fefa. Who could ask for more than an airy house with a terrace on the water's edge and a landlady who was both a generous and accomplished cook?
A quick segue into Cuban food for those who haven't had the sometimes dubious pleasure...the two essentials in every Cuban kitchen are the frying pan and enough cooking oil to thoroughly fry everything else in the kitchen. The
default method of frying applies to everything - eggs, ham, chicken, fish, pork, and vegetables - nothing escapes the pan. One of the menu items that we've seen more than a few times is meat or fish stuffed with ham and cheese, all of which is then breaded and fried. Although I can't speak for the chicken or pork, this is a horrible way to treat a decent piece of fish. Breakfasts, usually consisting of fresh juice and fruit, eggs, bread and jam, and a version of ham that Berm took to calling "spork" were fairly reliable and reasonably tasty, but there was no way to guess the skills of the casa owner or cook until the first dinner was placed in front of us. At Playa Larga, we had plate-sized pieces of fish accompanied by fresh salads and homemade soups. It was a very welcome change from some of the other more variable meals we have had along the way.
From our base at Playa Larga, we did some scuba diving in the Bay of Pigs, which in our opinion was the best of the three areas where we dove in Cuba. Both Berm and I did our
Boats in the bay
This little bay was near our casa particular in the Bay of Pigs first cave dives here, in a 70 metre deep cave flooded with seawater. Although the diving was technically no different than diving in the sea, it was a bit creepy to be submerged in an enclosed cave, without any access to air or light at the top. We also enjoyed a day of birdwatching in the Las Salinas park, the highlight of which was a sighting of some real, completely non-plastic pink flamingos.
After three relaxing days at Playa Larga, we drove to the city of Cienfuegos for an overnight, and then onward to another beach area, Cayo Coco, this time on the north coast of the island. We didn't want to shell out to stay in the plush all inclusives that line the beach, so we stayed in the ironically-named local town, Moron. For the next few days we enjoyed the fabulous beaches, including Playa Pilar, renowned as Ernest Hemingway's favourite beach. We did some more diving in Cayo Coco, and explored backroads of the cays.
We then moved onto the town of Trinidad, where we bid farewell to our little car and rejoined the ranks of bus-loving backpackers. Trinidad is a UNESCO World Heritage protected site,
Indeed
Berm acting the part. and the old town is a charming combination of cobblestone alleyways, art and craft shops, and beautiful old buildings, plazas and churches. It wasn't difficult to settle into Trinidad, and we ended up spending most of a week there and in the surrounding area. We worked off some of the fried food with two days of hiking in the Topes de Collantes national park, in the Sierra del Escambray mountains. We had the trails almost to ourselves, the weather was beautiful, and the waterfalls at the end of the trails were a perfect reward for the effort. We also did a few day trips from Trinidad itself - one to an old sugar cane estate, Manaca Iznaga, on a 1919 steam train. We also spent all of a morning and most of the afternoon riding horses, which we are still stiff from three days later. Our planned beach day was rained out but that was the excuse we needed to have a relaxing day snoozing and catching up on reading.
We're now back in Havana for our last few days before heading home to Vancouver. We're maximizing our evenings by spending them in the fantastic jazz club nearby, and
Kite surfer
on Playa Pilar, Ernest Hemingway's favourite beach are checking off the last few must-see sights like Coppelia, Havana's "ice cream palace", and the 5 square kilometre Necropolis, the largest cemetary in the Americas, which is a vast sea of white marble and ornately carved tomb figures.
We're heading off for our last dinner and night of jazz; see everyone soon in Canada!
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Alicia
non-member comment
impressed....
with your ability to navigate through Cuba :) sounds like a great trip! looking forward to hearing more stories when you guys return! xo alicia