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!
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 ...
