I had spent the last 18 days in the country, a lot more than most tourists would.
The original plan was to see both the Western and Eastern part of the country, but due to unforeseen circumstances and flight challenges, I had to reroute my plans and skip Santiago de Cuba and Baracoa. My final trip route :
Jay and I had made arrangements last night to share a cab to the airport, as our flights were departing about 10 mins apart.
The taxi, which took us back from the Fort to Havana Vieja, was supposed to meet me at the Museo de la Revolution at 11.45am, before heading towards Jay’s Casa to pick him up. I waited for about 10mins but the taxi never showed up – I suspected something was off, when the driver quoted us CUC15 for the ride (usual taxi was about CUC20 to 25 to the airport).
Thankfully, Museo de la Revolution is also a taxi waiting point and there were a few taxis, including a really classic blue Chrysler, one of the nicest cars that was in the fleet.
I quickly made arrangements with the driver and secured a classic ride to the airport. Fantastic way to end off a holiday in Cuba!
I wasn’t suppose to be coming back into Havana city, but due to unforeseen circumstances, I am back again!
The moment I arrived, I wasted no time at all and set out to do what I had not when I was first in Havana, and all within 24 hours.
1. Almacen San Jose
Saw a store which made Pina Colada from fresh pineapple, and I just had to have one too!
2 days ago, when I arrived at the bus terminal, and while waiting to buy my bus ticket in advance to Havana, a guy approached me and asked if I wanted to use a collectivo instead.
It would cost CUC2 more than the bus, but I would be picked up at the Casa and dropped off at my preferred location in Havana city. I took up the option, as the timings were much better than the bus departure times, and it was more cost effective, since I didn’t need to take a taxi to and from the bus terminal.
Miraculously, the collectivo arrived and even slightly ahead of schedule with 3 other passengers in the car.
Thankfully, one of the passengers alighted about 1 hour into the journey, as it was starting to get uncomfortable sitting in one spot without moving about too much for a long duration.
A bus ride would had taken me 4 hours to get into Havana, but with the collectivo option, I arrived within 3 hours, including a short pit stop along the way.
Great for a short distance option, but would not recommend if travelling for a longer period of time.
Santa Clara, located almost in the middle of Cuba, was a stop over point for me before I make my way back into Havana city.
On the night I arrived, there was an awards ceremony, attended by the governor of the area.
A short distance walk away is a street called “Boulevard”, and while walking through the street, I felt I had been whisked away into a Hollywood production set in the 70s, except that this is not on a production set, but a glimpse into the daily life of a Cubano.
I am super impressed by Hostal Beny and Roberto, located in Santa Clara. This has to be the best Casa de Particular I had on this trip.
From the speed of response to my emails in confirming my stay (just 2 days prior to arriving), to arranging of a taxi to pick me up from the bus station, to having a professional crew to take care of every guests needs (including a house chef!) to very clean and comfortable rooms (comfortable mattress, pillows, brand new and quiet aircons) and even a colour printed map in each room!
They are conveniently located, as it is a short 5 mins walk to Parque Leoncio Vidal, the main centre.
Definitely a must to contact them if you are ever coming through Santa Clara.
I had spent the last 3 days at Cayo Santa Maria, an island located about 1.5hrs north of Santa Clara, and connected to the mainland by a bridge of about 42km in length.
I stayed at the Hotel Valentin Perla Blanca, a 5-star Adults only Hotel Resort located on the far eastern part of this island. I am officially a high class backpacker!
It was a rainy morning, so no beach or pool on my last day at Hotel Valentin Perla Blanca.
For a moment, it looked like a 3D hanging display on the wall, and then it started moving, and I screamed again! It was as big as my palm!!!
I quickly moved my things that were near the table next to the wall, and then it jumped on top of the coffee machine. And I screamed even more! It must have scared the frog as it jumped back onto the wall.
There are at least 10 hotels in Cayo Santa Maria, with Hotel Valetin Perla Blanca located the furthest away from the mainland.
Coincidence #1 : A couple of hours after I arrive, I bumped into the young couple from the bus station at the same hotel! They had taken the collectivo with 2 other people in a car, and had a good experience, and for the same cost. I was very happy that they managed to make it to Cayo Santa Maria.
Everyone was pleasantly surprised and I joined their table for dinner. Alberto made sure that Aleti called Teresa to tell her about how we bumped into each other, and was passed the phone to chat with Teresa in very basic Spanish conversation and to sent my regards.
Alberto and Aleti are staying here for an entire week, so am sure we will see each other within the hotel over the next couple of days!
I hardly slept much last night as I was very excited about the trip to Cayo Santa Maria. Woke up a few times in the night to check the time, just to make sure I didn’t oversleep, and ended up waking up even before the alarm rang at 6.15am.
Did last minute packing before making my way to the bus terminal by 7am to buy my ticket to catch the 7.30am bus – the only bus that departs from Trinidad to Cayo Santa Maria (via Santa Clara).
A queue had formed at the counters when I arrived, so I quickly got inline and waited for my turn. Most of them had a reservation or a ticket already on hand. I was hoping really hard I could make it on the bus. Worse case scenario, I will have to take the collectivo option, though would prefer the bus, since the comfort of the ride was questionable, especially for a 5hr journey in a car.
I had to change my plans drastically in Cuba due to
1. Hurricane Matthew
2. Change in flight times in Baracoa
This meant I would not had made it in time for my international connection from Havana to Mexico city and there was no certainty on what were the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew in the eastern part of the island, due to limited information flow and lack of internet connectivity.
I had spent the last 5 days thinking what to do with the balance of my stay in Cuba.
There was a consideration of ending my trip in Santiago de Cuba and catching a flight back to Havana, but then locals had shared concern about flights departing on schedule or even at all! And everyone had indicated the road leading from Ciego de Avila to Santiago de Cuba is really bad, thus making the same route twice isn’t ideal.
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.
Cienfuegos is a small town located off the bay of Bahia de Cienfuegos. Located about 1.5hr from Playa Larga and Trinidad, it is a stop over town before I make my way to Trinidad later today.
I personally found that the people in Cienfuegos are friendlier and the discrepancy at the shops for either locals or tourists is lesser, which means things are priced a lot more reasonably here in Cienfuegos than in the other cities I had been to in Cuba.
I also met an Italian guy Alberto, who was also staying at Hostal Teresa, along with his girlfriend Aleti, a local from Cienfuegos, who were a crazy and hilarious couple. It was from Alberto, that I found out there is a popular song on Facebook in Spanish (or could be Italian) – Can’t believe someone would actually make a song about Facebook!
Anyway, it’s worth stopping through Cienfuegos for 2 nights if passing through the area. Things worth doing here :
The last bus for the day from Giron to Cienfuegos had left for the day. The only option left was to take a taxi to Cienfuegos.
Rodolfo had made arrangements with a local for the transport for CUC35.00. When my ride arrived, I could sense some uncertainty with some members of the group on whether I would make it to my destination or if the car would break down enroute!
It’s the last day that I am with Rodolfo and the group…
For the 1st time since I joined them, we managed to leave on time at 8.30am for Playa Larga and Giron (where I will be dropped off), as it is the group’s preference to reach Havana before it gets dark and it is a 3 hour drive from Giron.
Interestingly, I found out it is easy to manipulate the gender of the crocodile, by monitoring the temperature when the eggs are incubated. There also needs to be a balance in gender ratio of about 1 male to 5 female, as a male crocodile will mate with 5 female crocodiles at any one time.
Both Frank and I had woken up earlier than the rest and decided check out the beach, since it was too dark when we arrived last night. The beach was just 2 mins walk around the corner.
For all the talk about Varadero’s beach, both Frank and I was disappointed as we both felt that the beach at Santa Maria near Havana city was a lot nicer.
I love horse riding!
Staying in Cuba, I had experienced the true meaning of “Cuba Libre”, as we met with some unexpected delays, mostly with our car rental.
Rodolfo picked Jose and I from our casa in Havana city at 11.30am and headed over to the car rental company to pick up another rental car, before picking up the rest of the group in Miramar.
When we arrived at the car rental at about noon, the staff told us that there was no car available for us at that moment, even though we had a reservation. Reason being the company had ordered a lot of cheap China cars and many had broken down, so there aren’t any cars in working condition that are available. They are not sure when a car will be delivered to them… maybe 1 or 2 hrs or more.
Rodolfo later explained to me that a lot of Cuban people work for the government and are not paid very well, thus they don’t take much responsibility and to make sure that services are delivered to customers reliably and punctually.
I had enjoyed the good life in Havana, rather than living it as a budget backpacker style. Had also not done that many touristy stuff, for example the Castillo and the 9pm parade.
This was something I didn’t expect to do… wedding crashing in Cuba.
Well, not quite crashing since I paid for my meals and also a fair amount of contribution for the couple, but the invite was from Rodolfo and his wife Dayana, rather than from the wedding couple.
I was expecting it to be a more Cuban traditional wedding, which would had been more interesting to see the customs. However, since the groom is Spanish and bride is Cuban and living in Spain, it was more modern.
The wedding celebrations was a 2 full day affair, surrounded around a lot of food and drinks among friends and close ones. The day before the wedding, we had lunch and dinner in a couple of really nice restaurants, with the same group of people that was going to be at the wedding ceremony.
I left Stefano's house at 7.45am to catch the 8.07am train to the airport, which later required switching to an airport shuttle from T2 ...
