The long drive.....

We drove from Santiago de Cuba to Santa Clara. It took 12 hours. Enough said!

Except Colin returned with his mate, Clive! I should be thankful though, a couple on our trip had 17 cockroaches in their room!

Scorching in Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba is the capital of the most southerly province in Cuba, right next to the Guantanamo province. Not really much is said about Guantanamo. We were given different stories. One that the lease had run out and the Americans won't leave, and another that the lease does not expire until 2033, and that Fidel, having trained as a lawyer, respected the contract that had been signed, but refuses to accept the paltry rent that is due! 

We headed past Revolution Square and it's magnificent statue and stopped off at the main cemetery. This is where Jose Marti is buried, the hero of Cuba. He stood up to the Spanish, who threatened to kill his son. He responded saying all Cubans were his sons and carried on fighting. A huge memorial has been built in his honour and it is guarded 24 hours a day. Changing of the guard happens every 30 minutes, due to the heat (it was a scorching 40c). It's all very solemn, as I suppose it should be! We also wandered around some of the tombs for the original Bacardi family, Compay Segundo, one of the original members of the Buena Vista Social Club, and the great and the good. I felt heartbroken for our guide who walked us past her own family tomb and announced she had just buried her mother there, and then burst into tears. Poor thing. Apparently everyone is buried in a grave or tomb and after two years the family have to dig up the family member, clean the bones and then put them in their permanent place of rest. Seems harsh, and traumatic, but space is a premium.

We also stopped by Moncado Barracks, an Art Deco building that was attacked unsuccessfully by Fidel and 118 revolutionaries in 1953. Fidel was then imprisoned, and later sent into exile. You can still see the shell marks on the walls.

After a quick mooch around town, and a not so quick visit to the bank, I decided to escape the heat in the hotel pool! 

Money is difficult in Cuba. They do not like US dollars, or any American card but I also had trouble with my UK card. The local currency, Cuban convertible pesos, is known as a Cuc. But there are two Cuban currencies. The one that tourists use is not what the Cubans get paid in. They have local Cuc's which they use to buy their rations in or convert to the normal cuc, at a rate of 25:1. To be honest we could not get our heads around the system or the logic behind it, but there you go!

Late afternoon most of us accepted the chance to go to El Morro Castle on the coast, to watch the sunset. When we arrived we found it had already been closed, but we found the lady with the key, convinced her to open it up again, and had the place to ourselves. Despite being on the coast there was no wind and it was so peaceful. We all found a spot and just revelled in our views!

Dinner was the usual, chicken, fish and rice with a couple of beers, at a restaurant near the castle ramparts. The hotel's claim to fame revolved around a chair that had been sat on by Paul McCartney! Just a normal, average chair, sat apart from the rest!!!

As we were heading home we passed the lighthouse, full beams rotating, and the lighthouse man asked if we wanted to see more! But we had to be quiet because there was a military barracks next door! So we crept up the numerous flights of stairs to the top, and I not only stood in front of the light but managed to get inside! It was mesmerising, but so hot! I could have stayed there for ages, but we didn't want to get the man in trouble. He got a handsome tip though! I was really chuffed. I didn't even realise "go up a working lighthouse" was on my "To Do List", and I have already done it!

In the footsteps of Fidel....

This was an amazing day.

We were up and ready really early, jumped in the 4x4's and headed up towards the highest mountain in Cuba. We were dropped off at the top of a mountain pass and started to trek to where Fidel had hidden, with Che, in the two years before the Revolution. To give you some idea of the terrain it took us nearly 5 hours to travel 6km - it was tough. 350 revolutionaries had held off 10,000 soldiers. Less than 500 tourist a year make the trek. But the forest and the views were fabulous.

We made it to the camp, witnessed the graves of those who died, saw the shack in which Che performed surgery, and the hut where Fidel had lived. All of us that had read anything beforehand knew that the hut contained the fridge that had been carried up the mountain, it worked on propane, so there were many jokes on the way there, but we learnt that the fridge had saved many lives by storing medicines etc and not just beer as we had imagined. It even bore the hallmarks of a bullet hole where a Batista plane had shot at it.

We were truly in awe the whole morning. We were shown an old photograph taken when Fidel was in the camp and I realised so was sat in the same seat! Our park guide was also very knowledgeable on all Cuban history, so we grilled him constantly. I had not appreciated what a hold the American mafia had on Havana prior to the Revolution, or the very close relationship Fidel had with Nelson Mandela. It is only the US that keep vetoing an end to the Blockade at the UN, seemingly because there are a strong and powerful contingent amongst the 2.5 million exiles in Miami who lobby Congress. As one Cuban so succinctly put it "America have forgiven Japan, Russia, Germany, Italy and Vietnam, and yet Cuba has never declared war on anyone, and they won't forgive us!". It is almost as if America are upset that their favourite toy has been taken away, after all the Cuban population is insignificant com paired with the US. But maybe I am being too simplistic and my American friends will have a different view point?

Fidel may not practice a philosophy that many others agree with but he has practically eradicated illiteracy, and they have a very good health care system. Unfortunately they were allied with the Soviet Block who have encountered their own problems, and as a result the trade has all but disappeared, causing an economic crisis. But the people remain loyal to Fidel and Raoul, his brother. Raoul has said he will step down in 2016, so who knows what will happen under their next leader.

By the time we got back we were desperate for a shower and some food, and were so pleased to watch a tropical storm rain down around us that if it had happened a few hours earlier would probably have made our earlier trek quite treacherous. It's all about timing!!!

Heading out of the mountains we did stop at a local house to hand over some basis essentials to a family in need. They were very welcoming and happy to chat about themselves and their lives, but we didn't linger long, as it felt a bit intrusive.

We finally arrived in Santiago de Cuba, the furthest south and east of this trip. As we checked into our hotel so did the Cuban football team!

For dinner that night we found a paladare, a family run restaurant, which used to be illegal because locals were not supposed to be in contact with tourists, but now there are no such concerns, although obviously the menu is very limited, so you always have rice and beans with plantain and then meat or fish. As is par for the course we had our own live music on tap and we decided it was time to practice the marraccas! Personally I think I am rather good!

After a couple of rum cocktails it seemed fitting to locate the Casa de la Trova for a bit of salsa! I was asked to dance by a Cuban, and apparently it's rude to refuse, so duly accepted. Although I suspect he was probably most grateful that it was one of the shorter songs!!!!

My head finally hit the pillow at about 1am, after a long but fabulous day.

When in Cuba......SALSA!!!

Today we met in the lobby of the hotel and jumped into Bicitaxi's! A bicycle at the front with two seats behind. They are everywhere, and are used instead of motorised taxi's. Sally and I had Manuel! He was quite young, fancied his style with the ladies, was eager to overtake everyone, a bit of a joker and cad! But he was really sweet. He cycled us around the labyrinth streets of Camaguey, stopping to visit churches and squares.

We stopped at one square which featured sculptures by a local artist, Martha Jiminez (whose studio was also by the square). The sculptures were of women gossiping, lovers, a man reading a newspaper. I thought they were fantastic and it was a great place to people watch. There was one guy teaching to young boys boxing moves! You could sense their concentration, and he was obviously a task master!

By the afternoon we had arrived in Bayamo, another of the seven original settlements. There was nothing spectacular to see, as the inhabitants had burned it to the ground in 1868 in an act of rebellion against the Spanish, but we stopped by the Casa de la Trova. A lot of the cities have a Casa de la Trova or Casa de la Musica, generally a building with a courtyard where you go to listen to music and dance! But obviously first you must drink rum! Then it was time to salsa!

Why do the Cubans pick such an energetic dance when it is already so hot?! Great fun though, and obviously the rum was key to the happy equation!

Further down the coast we headed inland to the Sierra Maestra Mountains. We had to transfer to jeeps this time to tackle the terrain over the steep passes. Once at our lodge in Santa Domingo obviously we were given "Welcome Drinks", which disappointingly was rum mixed with a Tango-like drink. Not many marks for originality!!!! Must try harder.

Dinner was further up the hill which involved torches and stepping stones across the river. Unfortunately I ended up sat under the one neon strip light, which all the bugs in the vicinity aimed for, hit and then fell on the person below....me! It almost invoked stroppage number 2 but I kept it together and just ordered a beer! Hey ho! The food was actually really lovely, rice and beans, boiled yucca with a citrus vinaigrette and slow cooked lamb stew, the first lamb we have been offered all week!

When I got back to my room I discovered that Colin the cockroach had also taken up residence, so I managed to chase him into the bathroom, close the door, and put a towel against the bottom of the door. He was allowed the bathroom, as long as he didn't disturb me in the bedroom! I did get up in the middle of the night to nip to the loo and Colin behaved admirably, keeping to his side of the bargain, and staying where he was told!

Vitamin R.....

It's true, Cubans drink a lot of rum! We can barely make it to lunch everyday without being offered rum! I feel it only polite to accept such generosity and they do refer to it as Vitamin R!

After my sense of humour failure, and being awake for sunrise, we had our last Cuban Massage down from the mountains and said goodbye to the truck, before heading into sugar plantation territory. We stopped at Valle de Los Ingenios, Valley of the Sugar Mills, which was the centre of the sugar production in the 18th century, and is home to Torre de Manaca Iznaga, a UNESCO world heritage site. The 7 floor tower used to watch over 30,000 slaves to ensure they didn't try to escape. It was hard work getting to the top because by then it was midday and incredibly hot. 

We briefly stopped in Sancti Spiritus, one of the original seven settlements founded by Diego Velasquez to admire the church before continuing our drive to Camaguey, Cuba's third largest city. Our hotel was faded Art Deco grandeur and a welcome sight after sleeping in tents. There was a roof top bar and a few of us languished there, all clean, no mosquitos, and had a number of piña coladas for our dinner!

Mosquitos and Mojitos

One drives you to the other!

Two days in the mountains. Great I thought, some trekking, cooler temperatures, at one with nature.... Blah, blah, blah! There was a tropical storm in the morning so it was like trekking through a steam bath and all day and all night long we were plagued by aggressive ninja-like mosquitos. We must have looked like a special needs group for the Tourrettes Society, with all of the jerky, twitching movements and then constant swearing as you realise the 17 layers of DEET have had no effect! In the end the only option is to resort to rum!

We had arrived in the Escambray Mountains. Not a very high mountain range but verdent forest that smells like the tropical greenhouse at Kew Gardens, all jasmine and butterfly lillies (the national flower) interspersed with the vibrant orange of the flame trees. There are far too many vultures for my liking, but the hummingbirds are just gorgeous. Iridescent loveliness. Red dragonflies, and the biggest butterflies I have ever seen. 

We stayed in two different haciendas, each with its own selection of free range chickens, pigs, dogs, cats and horses. We were given the option of sleeping out under the stars on the floor or in very small tents. Given the sight of dead scorpions, snake skins and mossies the tent was the only real option. At least in the Grand Canyon the flies stopped biting when the sun went down and all of our wet clothes dried overnight. I have now declared that I will only ever camp in deserts (or Sark!).

We hiked up to waterfalls, pools to swim in, to find caves and look out from view points. When not hiking we were driven around in old open topped Russian army trucks the only mode if transport that can cope with the terrain. They referred to the rides as a "Cuban massage", as you were jolted and thrown around. And in fact it wasn't dissimilar to the rollercoaster ride, excluding the loop the loop! I love it though. 

On the last afternoon we went for a short ramble to find some caves. I didn't want to be the odd one out and refuse to go in, but quite frankly I am not a mole, and have no need to live in a hole! But I man-ed up and duly followed, until introduced to the 22 leg spider.... Then I passed my camera to someone else and hot footed out of there! Even looking at the photo gives me the creeps! 

Further along the walk we came across an overhang and found a man turning a hog roast - our dinner for the evening. Yum, yum!

That night it got exceeding damp in the tent, and I was attacked by tiny ants with ferocious bites, needless to say I didn't sleep and was exceeding grumpy in the morning. Sense of humour failure extraordinaire!

Too hot in Trinidad....

It is 35c today, with humidity of 80%. Apparently we are in the hottest part of Cuba, and I really hope that is true. I am not sure I could cope with more than this without demanding to go to the beach!

The morning has been spent wandering around Trinidad, one of the first communities on Cuba to be established and it is now a Unesco World Heritage site. Only 60,000 people live here, crammed into tiny houses. We visited a bodega, effectively the corner shop where the locals can buy their rations. Each family has ration book that allows them to purchase a certain amount of subsidised essentials, rice, oil, eggs etc. apparently only if you were born before the revolution do you qualify for subsidised cigars! The subsidy is per family, regardless of number of children, so 6 eggs, 2lbs of rice, 2lbs of cooking oil a month doesn't stretch far, and they have to find money to supplement the rations.

It us really noticeable here that there is no traffic. Barely any cars, no planes in the sky, and just the occasional bus interspersed with horse and trap or bikes. I hauled myself up the smallest and ricketyest of wooden staircase to get to the top of a four story tower and look down over the town. The only noises were people in the streets, banging and clattering of pots and pans and builders and music. I mentioned it to some of the others and we all just stopped and listened!

We stopped off for a quick taste of the local speciality, a drink known as La Canchanchara. It's made with honey, lemon, water, ice and Aguardiente (part of the rum distilling process and about 70% proof!) It's served in small terracotta pots, and I had Aguardiente in Colombia so was braced for the kick but it was actually quite nice!

We also visited someone who practices some of the old religion, Santaria, brought to Cuba by the slaves. There seemed to be a black mother and child, lots of vessels of water, and the scariest of dolls sat in the middle of the room by herself. Very Friday 13th! They do believe in the evil spirits but also appear to worship female saints, but the Spanish had tried to convert them all to Catholism, so it has obviously created a mish-mash religion.

After lunch some of us headed down to the beach. It would have been great to be in the sea if it hadn't been so hot! It was like taking a bath, and who wants a bath when it's 35c? I longed for the coolness of the Colorado or the English Channel  (well maybe not quite so cold!) As we were sat around drying off a local approached us with fresh coconuts and it seemed rude not to partake. He insisted on making me a Coco Loca, which involved cutting off the top of the coconut and adding a serious splash of rum. Yuuuuuuummmmm! It certainly made the afternoon go in a haze.

Dinner was at a local house. We had what they would usually eat, rice, black beans, chicken and fried plantain. It seems odd that we are in such a lush tropical area and they don't seem to grow many vegetables, or herbs and spices. They don't really flavour their food as they say that it all costs money. When I asked if they grew their own vegetables, or herbs, I was laughed at! And yet food is obviously expensive for a Cuban.

The night ended up with me chasing Bennie Hill style a giant black grasshopper round the bedroom before finally giving up and trying to ignore its existence! Super brave of me!