Day 23 – 25 : Trinidad

Trinidad, a UNESCO World Heritage site declared in 1988, the main historical square is lined with cobbled stone streets, colourful low buildings with a combination of dwellings as well as shops selling paintings, trinklets, cups, cigar holders and other typical Cuban souvenirs. 

One could hear the sound of horses' hooves trotting down cobbled car-free streets at any time of the day.

Established by Diego Velázquez in 1514 just inland from the central-southern coast as the third of Cuba's seven original "villas" (colonial cities), Trinidad is one of the oldest European-founded settlements in the Americas and recently celebrated it’s 500th year of founding.

The main historical centre features a church and a main square with cobbled steps.  There are also a number of restaurants, where one would easily hear music playing all times during the day and night

Lots of people would gather at this main square, as it is also a WIFI point, and with happy hour drinks at numerous small bars around the main square going at CUC 1.50 each, many tourists would enjoy a glass or 2 while being immersed in the whole Cuban experience.

I met an elderly local at this square on one of the evenings, whom mentioned he was an English teacher, and asked if I liked Trinidad, and I responded I did.  In return, he immediately said he didn’t like it, and the reason he gave was because of the cobbled streets. 

We had a good laugh!  Sure, the cobbled streets gave the town its unique personality but it was also not easy to walk on them for long periods of time.

Walking towards the back of the main square, one would find themselves in the middle of the residents dwelling, before reaching Cerro de la Vigia, a climb up the top of a hill where one could get a very good view of entire Trinidad. 

It is also around the base of Cerro de la Vigia, where the cave disco, Discotecha Ayala is located. 

It was still very early in the day when I passed the Discotecha – in the day, the village area seems fine, but I have my concerns coming here at night as a single lady. 

As I was also still recovering from flu, I decided against seeing it in person at night. 

It’s hard not to enjoy this small town for a few days with choice of offering of activities to do. 

Besides walking around the main square, there is also Playa Ancon, a short 10 mins bus ride away, with its clam clear waters and white sand beach.  The only thing I did not like about this beach was the bed of seaweed, a few steps into the water, which I had to make it a point to avoid stepping on each time I entered.  Otherwise it was a good place to laze around and spend the day by the beach.

There’s also an option to get on a boat into the ocean for snorkelling or diving. 

There’s also the possibility of vising the waterfalls and trekking around the Topas de Collantes. 

I booked my tour with Cubatur for CUC 47 and on the same tour (Rambotour)were 3 other Isreali guys, and the journey to and fro was via a Russian Military Truck.

 

I heard there was the option to go on a more private tour, which cost slightly more, and will be done on a jeep.  The Isreali guys mentioned to me that they were given to take the option of the Jeep tour, which was promised to them to be more personalised as it was meant to be for a group of 6, while the Russian Military truck could have close to 20 people in the group. 

However, on the day of the tour, others who had opted for the jeep tour had close to 3 different jeeps on the same tour ie. a group of about 18, whereas on our Russian truck tour, it was only 4 of us!

Both options would go through the same routes, just a different means of transport. 

The tour first brought us to a Mirador (scenic view point), where one would get a bird’s eye view of the Trinidad city, the sugar mills, as well as the Ancon Peninsula. 

We then proceeded to a short stop at a café, which had the traditional coffee manufacturing tools on its grounds, and our guide Julie gave us a short introduction about how coffee was made. 

We learnt that coffee was introduced to Cuba from Ethiopia, and there were 4 different grades of coffee that were made in Cuba.  Most of the coffee were made in Vinales, Santiago de Cuba and Trinidad.  Interestingly, all the coffee that is made in Trinidad are exported to Japan.

On the tour, we also learnt that the national flower is Mariposa, a beautiful white flower, and the national tree is the Royal Palm.

We then made our way to the start point of Guanayara Park, which would take approximately 3 hours to trek through the entire area, and would include a stop at the waterfalls, as well as a 30 mins stop at the natural pools for a short swim, before ending the trek at our lunch spot (late lunch of 3.30pm!) at Casa La Gallega.  No one knows why the map of the park shows description 1 – 4 and then 7 (no 5 and 6).  Julie says “Anything is possible in Cuba!” :D

During the trek, our guide Julie gave a lot of informative information regarding the flora and fauna in the area.  We also saw a couple of snakes, and learnt that there are no poisonous animals (frogs, snakes, spiders etc) in Cuba – good to know!

For the 1st time, I also saw the fruit of the Birds of Paradise plant, and learnt that the seeds found in the fruit are the best seeds used to produce the best sound in a Cuban instrument (can’t remember name of instrument, but it’s like a shaker :P)

When we finally got to the pools, only one of the Isreali guys decided to swim in it.  I had decided against it, as I was still recovering from flu, and the water was a little brownish due to rain from the previous day. 

I decided to hang around to take some pictures, and saw 2 butterflies constantly fleeting near the pools entrance.

It was also on this tour, that I found out how little Cubanos are paid.  Julie mentioned that most Cubanos are paid about CUP250/month (about USD 10).  She gets a little more at about CUP350/mth, but even that is very little to survive in Cuba. 

Julie mentioned she has a degree in law, but being a lawyer doesn’t earn much either, and most Cubanos would rather go into the tourist industry as they can earn more from tips from tourists, often more than what they earn in a month.

It is when I hear stories like these that I learn to appreciate more of what I have, and to be grateful that I had been born in Singapore where we are a lot more economically advanced. 

I am also grateful that I had been given a good education and opportunities to earn a good living, and to use what I had earned to travel and see the world.