Mojitos and music in Trinidad

Gorgeous Trinidad, on the south coast of Cuba, surpassed all our expectations.  We fell in love with this beautiful Spanish colonial town staying three days and nights.  It was a fascinating place to explore. 

Trinidad was founded by Diego Velazquez in 1514 and was a major centre for the slave trade.  Slaves and goods were imported from Jamaica and cattle ranching and tobacco growing boomed.

Hundreds of French refugees fled there in the mid 19th century from neighbouring Haiti and set up numerous small sugar mills in the beautiful Valle de los Ingenios.  The sugar industry flourished, creating wealth that created the beautiful city of Trinidad. In 1998 the town and Valle were named UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The wars of independence in the early 1900s saw plantations  devastated but Trinidad survived. Today its historic centre is beautifully restored colourful buildings and numerous museums in old mansions.  Trinidad’s cobblestone streets are ankle breakers especially when attention is taken by the lovely pastel coloured buildings everywhere. 

 

                        

We travelled from Cienfuegos by bus, after spending an hour or so figuring out just how and where to do so.  Nothing is simple in Cuba!Our persistence paid off – we finally found an agency that sold tickets that cost $12 whereas the taxi was $50.

Arriving at the Trinidad bus station we were besieged by dozens of locals holding signs for their Casa Particular.  Casa Particulars are private homes where the owner rents out a room or two.  They are far cheaper than hotels and a much better way to interact with locals. 

 

Not the types to get sucked in by such touts we decided we’d walk firmly past saying “no gracias” and go and find our own Casa.  Hmmm…within five minutes we found ourselves in the firm grip of a particularly persuasive woman who just wouldn’t take no for an answer!  She led us through the shabby backstreets to her Casa where we had the entire top floor to ourselves – a sitting room, dining room bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and terrace – all for $15 a night. 

But there was little sleep to be had in the backstreets – noisy neighbours, crowing roosters, alcohol fuelled arguments, card sessions and early morning street vendors saw to that.  Next morning we checked out, after a hearty breakfast of fruit, eggs, bread and coffee.

   

Our next Casa was in the heart of the old town and just a stone’s throw from the popular Casa de Musica where local musicians play every night while the enthusiastic salsa.  You guessed it – this time we were kept awake by music!  Next time we’ll take ear plugs.

Cuba is famous for many things – cigars, rum, music and…of course…those amazing old American cars.  We just had to take a ride in one and picked a blue 1952 Chevrolet with a friendly Spanish speaking driver.  Oscar proudly told us his father had bought the car new and it was in original condition.  When we asked how many miles it had on the clock Oscar replied “mucho, mucho”.

We drove out into the sugar cane growing area – now consisting of mostly derelict mills – and stopped at the Hacienda Iznaga where the wonderful old homestead has been turned into a restaurant.  We sat and had coffee while Oscar told us how the place operated in the early days.  A 45m tower near the homestead was built to keep an eye on slaves – the views from the top are astonishing.

  

The countryside was incredibly dry and we noticed that livestock were painfully thin – no supplementary feeding goes on here.  And horses and oxen are still used to pull carts of sugar cane, plough fields and all other farm jobs.

We took a 1956 Chev taxi to Playa Ancon but sadly, this model had seen better days.  The backseats were completely shot so every time we went over a bump we bottomed out and the engine sounded distinctly like a tractor!  The beach was beautiful but spoilt by the communist style concrete hotel building.  Guests here wear coloured wrist tags to identify them and, as we were tagless, we were soon moved off the deckchairs and forced to sit on the beach.  After a swim we headed back to town – this time slumming it in a Lada.

                     

After three days we felt we’d done justice to beautiful Trinidad and caught the bus back to Cienfuegos to find Bandit happily at anchor waiting for us.

Bienvenidos Socialista Cuba

Cuba was a country we’d both always had a hankering to visit.  We’d heard wonderful stories from fellow travellers and couldn’t wait to get there ourselves.  In hindsight it may have been easier to fly in to this complex communist country rather than come by cruising yacht! 

We’d heard entering Cuba could be difficult for yachts so made our official entry at what was considered a “good” port, Cienfuegos on the south coast.  We’d already been in Cuban waters for a week so had managed to eat our way through our fresh Mexican produce, as authorities have been known to confiscate it.  We went onto the official dock at 9am where uniformed officials were waiting for us. They took our passports and told us to wait on board for the raft of officials who would visit. We waited….and waited…and waited.

At 11am apologetic and very friendly health and agriculture officials turned up and thoroughly checked all our food supplies.  I’d washed fruit and veges in disinfectant and bagged them which seemed to impress however what didn’t impress was a tin of peaches bought in Spain with a 2010 expiry date. Who on earth looks at expiry dates? Cuban officials that’s who! The entire conversation was in Spanish and we finally understood they wouldn’t confiscate, but warned us not to eat them.  We ate them the next day with no ill affect.

Next up was customs, immigration and guarda all of whom had many questions to ask and plenty of forms to fill in.   It must have been thirsty work because after an hour they asked if they could have a cold beer. Then along came the dogs – two lively Spaniels and their handlers.  The dogs were let loose to sniff everywhere, one searching for drugs, the other explosives. 

Finally…..after more than eight hours…..we were given the green light.  Well almost – our passports were returned and we were told our visas were ready for us to pick up at the immigration office.  Only problem we couldn’t leave the boat until we had our visas!  Luckily the obliging dock master offered to go and get them for us.  This was our first taste of the incredible red tape the Castro regime lays down for cruising yachts and it’s unlike any other country we have visited.  We had to check in and out of every port we visited.  Have to say though, officials were always friendly and thoroughly professional. 

Officially cleared in we set off to explore, walking into Cienfuegos along the waterfront soaking up the amazing sights.  It was just as we’d imagined – neoclassical mansions, old American cars, horses and carts and the wonderful sound of Cuban music wafting from bars.  After a few hours strolling the streets we caught a cycle rickshaw (bicitaxi) back to Bandit – discovering later that the $2 the well muscled driver charged us was the equivalent of a day’s wages.  No wonder he smiled!  From then on we took our own bikes.

Next day we moved out into the anchorage and went ashore with our trusty bikes for a proper exploration.   We headed out through seedy backstreets to the Cemeterio La Reina – a rather rundown cemetery with some amazing marble statues and graves of Spanish soldiers who died during the wars of independence.  What horrified us in this area were the emaciated, worm infested and injured horses running loose on wasteland.  It’s illegal to slaughter horses in Cuba so, sadly, they just leave them to die.  It was heart-breaking.

                   

Cuba has two currencies – the peso or moneda nacional, which is used by locals, and the convertible peso (CUC) or hard currency – mainly used by tourists.  Cubans like CUCS as they have more buying power (hence our taxi driver asking for CUCs rather than pesos).  One CUC equals 24 pesos and is tagged to the US $1.  If you use pesos then everything is much cheaper.  Once we figured this out we ate at peso restaurants for less than $1, bought ice cream for a few cents and bought provisions for next to nothing.

            

We quickly learned that life in Cuba is vastly different to anywhere else we have been.  Bureaucracy rules and Cubans have little freedom – they are not allowed satellite television or internet.  There are a handful of internet cafes for tourists.  Newspapers are government owned as are radio and television so Cubans are fed a daily diet of government propaganda.  There is no free press…something the journalist in me hates.  It’s hard to dig deep because Cubans are not allowed to criticise their government. 

Most industry (fishing, mining, hotels, buses  restaurants and marinas etc.) is government owned.  Recent deregulation means individuals can now run a small business (eg taxi or Casa Particular – room for rent in private house) but they cannot employ people except relatives.  They also must pay huge licence fees and taxes – all part of Fidel’s great plan to avoid capitalism.  It seems to be working as we never saw any signs of overt wealth except in Havana’s affluent diplomatic areas.  In fact we got the distinct impression that many Cubans are poor despite being provided with housing, a monthly ration of basic provisions and free education and healthcare.

 

It’s hard to believe the revolution happened more than 50 years ago.  Favoured sons Che and Fidel feature on t-shirts, walls, water tanks and even school playgrounds feature revolution murals.  The revolution certainly rid Cuba of the brutal and opulent Batista regime and the Castro government’s vision has since addressed issues of illiteracy, health and housing…but it’s still nowhere near perfect.  Having said that – it’s a lot better than many other central American or Caribbean countries  we have seen.

What struck us most was how happy and friendly the people are – some of the nicest and most helpful we’ve met.  We never felt unsafe  and never heard of any crime.  Cubans are well dressed, polite and many are well educated but few we met had ambitions.  We met a med student in his final year of study who, as a fully qualified doctor, will earn $60 a month.  When we asked whether he had plans to travel overseas and earn a salary more reflective of his abilities and training he replied that his loyalty was to the government that had educated him and his fellow countrymen.  An admirable attitude indeed.

 

We spoke to as many people as our Spanish would allow and got the overall impression that Cubans are content although a few pointed out that “life in Cuba is hard”.  Those able to earn CUCs ( usually in the tourist industry) seem far better off than those earning pesos.  Cubans have few of the things that we in the western world take for granted – a reasonable property with a garden, a nice car and even basic household goods such as a washing machine etc.  Their life appears simple whether it’s making a few pesos selling pineapples, driving a taxi or running a Casa Particular.  Maybe they’ve got it right.

Crayfish and calm waters in Cuba

Our arrival in Cuban waters in early March, after a fairly lively two day/night sail across from Mexico, couldn’t have been better.  We dropped anchor in lovely Isla Rosaria in the southern archipelago, went for a snorkel and, in about two metres of water, caught two good crayfish. 

We were stunned to see the crayfish in such shallow water and even more surprised at how big they were – one tail easily fed the two of us.  But before dinner we needed to celebrate our arrival in Cuba and what better way than with a classic Cuban mojito – rum, soda, mint leaves, a dash of sugar and lime – divine!

Next day fellow cruisers Andy and Clare on Eye Candy, who we first met in the Greek Islands in 2008, arrived in the bay from Cienfuegos so we had a good catch up with them.  They were headed for the Cayman Islands then Mexico before heading back up to the East Coast of the States where we will no doubt catch up with them again.

Rosaria was a lovely spot to spend a few days and we enjoyed being at anchor behind the reef, snorkelling, doing boat jobs and sewing a new flag.  Yes…the NZ flag.  Next time you see one look closely at the Union Jack and you will get some idea of just how difficult a project it’s been.  It’s involved a designer, pattern maker, dressmaker and lots and lots of patience.  But it looks fantastic!

While in Isla Rosaria we were visited by a couple of very friendly Cuban fishermen who had crayfish they wanted to trade.  We gave them a length of rope for their horse, a fresh papaya and some rum and they went away delighted leaving us five big crayfish.  All this was done under cover of darkness as the crayfish here are owned by the government and trading with cruisers is highly illegal.  We later found out that cruisers can be fined for taking crays.

It was hard to drag ourselves away from this little piece of paradise but we needed to officially clear in to Cuba so headed east.  We had a lovely sail inside the reef to Cayo de Dios where we overnighted.  Next day we stopped at Cayo Guana del Este for a snorkel  – crays for dinner again.   Then it was another brisk sail to Cienfuegos where we left Bandit while we did some land travel.

After a week in Cienfuegos we headed back down to the southern cays to Cayo Largo.  This is one of Cuba’s prime beach destinations in the south and it was really lovely but amazingly, quite deserted. 

We moved on to Isla Rosaria and snorkelled on the same reef where we’d got crays last time and sure enough…..there were more there!  And no we are not sick of crayfish.  We’ve had them grilled with lime and mint mayonnaise, sauteed with onions, tomatoes and parsley, cold with avocado in a wrap, crayfish pasta, crayfish risotto and crayfish in a Thai red curry sauce.  Our best crayfish story comes from Cayo Matios.   We went for a tender ride along the shore and in about 60cm of water spotted a crayfish out for an afternoon stroll. David grabbed it – the first time he’s ever got a cray without getting wet!

 The island of Juventud was our next stop and after a lovely sail with the wind from behind, we dropped anchor in Cabo Frances.  It was absolutely gorgeous – Bombay Sapphire coloured water, fantastic snorkelling and lovely sandy beaches.  We anchored in 5m and a few boat lengths away the seabed fell away to 200m. The drop-off wall is a huge attraction with divers who come from around the world.

We had only planned on one night here but it was so beautiful we stayed two.   Running perilously low on fresh supplies we headed around to Siguena on the west coast of Juventud to provision.   It was too shallow for us to get into the marina so we anchored off and took the tender ashore to check in with guarda.

Next morning we took a workers’ bus to the town of Nueva Gerona, 40kms away, and stocked up on fresh fruit and vegetables.  Everything seemed to be “dias pesos” – about 40cents – whether it was a huge pile of tomatoes, mangos or a pineapple.   Nueva Gerona felt like a real working town with not another tourist in sight.  We bought two loaves of crusty bread for 20cents and they were handed over unwrapped but outside were old men selling plastic bags. Enterprising!  We then had a Cuban specialty – a greasy, but delicious cheese and ham toasted sandwich, and a coke, for 50cents.

On the outskirts of Nueva Gerona is Presidio Modelo, the amazing prison complex where Fidel Castro was held from 1953 until 1955.  Based on a notorious penitentiary in Illinois, the prison could hold 5000 prisoners at a time.  It was built during the repressive regime of Gerardo Machado.   Each oppressive round prison block held up to 1000 prisoners who were watched by a solitary guard from a tower in the middle. From here he had a clear view to each of the tiny cells, stacked on top of each other around the perimeter of the building.

Meals were held in complete silence in the equally oppressive dining room – 3000 prisoners were served at a time. Sadly, the whole complex is completely run down today with anything of value, such as the window’s steel bars, gone.  Even the administration block, built in typical flamboyant Cuban style,  is showing signs of neglect.

Juventud was an interesting island. In its heyday it was covered with flourishing citrus orchards tended by students who came to study at  government funded colleges. When the Russians pulled out of Cuba after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the supply for citrus dried up and the orchards and schools were abandoned.  Today Juventud is a sleepy backwater with some very primitive agriculture.  We saw oxen pulling ploughs and huge paddocks of potatoes being weeded by hand.  Horses and carts were the most common form of transport.

We took a taxi back to Siguena and on arrival asked the guarda for our “despacho” for the next port.  We were astounded when they said they wanted to come out to Bandit, presumably to check for Cuban stowaways. So there we were  with all our fresh supplies and two black booted officials in our tiny tender.  Sadly, one boot found its way onto the bag of fresh tomatoes – tomato pasta for dinner!

We headed away and had a lovely overnight sail around to Cayo de Lenos where we met up with Kiwi mates Amanda and Mark on Balvenie, who had also done an overnight from Isla Mujares in Mexico.  It was great to catch up again and we sailed together up to Hemingway Marina near Havana.  The north west coast of Cuba proved singularly unexciting with mangrove cay after mangrove cay and none of the spectacularly clear water of the south coast.  These areas are inhabited by alligators so we skipped on swimming and snorkelling and instead prepared ourselves for some city exploration in Havana.