Cuban Blgo Day #17 Arrive Early

  I had arranged with my taxi driver the day before for my ride to El Nicho waterfall and onto the town of Trinidad.  It was necessary to take a taxi in order to get to the waterfall which was pretty much on the way to Trinidad.  The driver was a bit enamored of me, and I took this into consideration when he arrived on time, told me to sit shotgun and stopped for me to get a pizza and water for breakfast.  He was the first driver to arrive on time and not change the price on me.  He tried flattering me by telling me if I stayed in Cubafor three more months no one would be able to tell I wasn’t Cubana. I took it to mean my Spanish was good, though I’m not sure that’s what he meant.

After a wonderful day diving, it was time to get moving again.

We drove for about an hour along the coast in the early morning. I could get used to these views every morning I thought to myself as we made our way south.  This was a little backward in my planning, but made sense as far as the Viazul bus route I would eventually be taking from Trinidad.

I arrived at El Nicho a bit before 8 am.  The park was empty and no one was at the gate, so I walked right through without paying an entrance fee.  The trail was well marked and soon I was at the most beautiful, wide, massive waterfall I’d ever seen.  It was so impressive I stood just staring at it as water sprayed me. 

I walked a bit more along the trail and came to the most extraordinary all natural pool I’ve ever seen. It was a bit chilly that early in the morning, but I didn’t care. I stripped down to my bikini and got in. (Re: travel motto- You never regret a swim.) The pool had a much smaller fall falling into it and had three or four smaller pools. I swam all around taking in the view from every vantage point. 

I got out and sat on a bench near the pool thankful for my early arrival and the solitude it gave me. I wrote in my journal surrounded by the sounds of the water falling. It would have been perfect were it not for the mosquitoes, the first I’d really encountered my whole trip.

I walked along the trails veering off here and there to see where one might lead. It was beautiful and starting to warm up.  I walked back to the entrance and found out there were more trails across the street. I walked down those and discovered even more giant falls. At one point I was at the top of one looking down to the crashing water below.  El Nicho was certainly another highlight of my trip.

I returned to my taxi driver who had been waiting, and we continued on to Trinidad about an hour more.  I found a casaacross from the casa my driver recommended when la dueña wouldn’t go down in price from $25 CUC to $20. This casa was on Trip Advisor and was by far the best and cleanest of all. It did however lack a bit of the personal touch I’d grown fond of along the way.  It even had little soaps and shampoos, a treat I had forgotten about during my time in Cuba. I kept them to give away. I got the casa for $20 CUC including breakfast, much to the chagrin of the Germans I would meet a bit later.

After settling in my room, I went walking, first to find a cadeca to exchange money for the third time of my trip. I was happy to realize I was keeping on track with my money, even staying a bit under what I had anticipated per week, even with diving, my biggest expense of the trip. Then, I got lunch, I splurged a bit, perhaps due to the realization that I was under my expected budget, and ordered the lobster, which of course was hardly a splurge compared to American prices at $12 CUC.  I shared my meal with a very friendly bird who quite enjoyed the cucumbers from my cucumber and tomato salad.

I walked around the city a bit after lunch, bought a bottle of rum and some Tukola and headed back to my casa to sit on the rooftop and write postcards.  Soon the Germans, Eva and Niels exited their room. They were quite friendly and told me of their day at the tobacco factory.  We ended up discussing our plans for the next few days. They too were heading to Playa Girón and Eva was looking for a dive buddy.  Perfect.

Their plan for the evening was to check out the cave bar that I’d heard about since planning this trip. They invited me along. We went to a couple other bars along the way just checking out the scene in Trinidad, including one bar where we had our own private rooftop balcony with a great view of the city. Then we headed for the cave bar, Disco Ayala.

Words cannot describe what my eyes saw. It was beyond anything I could have imagined and then some.  It was the biggest cave I’ve ever been in and makes me debate whether I should call it a ‘cave bar’ or a ‘bar cave.’  It was 3-4 stories high in some places, so dark in others that you’d need a flashlight if it weren’t for all the blinking disco lights.  We sat at a table and never once forgot we were in a cave due to the dripping of water on us from above, even though by all other accounts we were most certainly in a disco with loud music, live dancers and flashing lights.  It was, quite simply, out of this world!  Another highlight. That’s three in a row- Diving, El Nicho and the cave bar or bar cave!

 

 

I encourage readers to check out this site to view pictures of this awesome bar. It was just too dark for my camera to get any good pictures.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2640400/Fire-walkers-three-bars-five-dancefloors-Disco-Ayala-Trinidad-Cuba-housed-inside-NATURAL-CAVE.html-

 

Traveling tip #19 Arrive Early

 

This has happened to me a few other times before on other trips, though you can never exactly plan on it, but sometimes, when you arrive early enough (read, so early the place isn’t exactly open) you just might gain free entrance to whatever it is you’re hoping to visit that day.  It happened for me at El Nicho and as a shoestring traveler, any money saved is appreciated.

Cuban Blgo Day #17 Arrive Early

  I had arranged with my taxi driver the day before for my ride to El Nicho waterfall and onto the town of Trinidad.  It was necessary to take a taxi in order to get to the waterfall which was pretty much on the way to Trinidad.  The driver was a bit enamored of me, and I took this into consideration when he arrived on time, told me to sit shotgun and stopped for me to get a pizza and water for breakfast.  He was the first driver to arrive on time and not change the price on me.  He tried flattering me by telling me if I stayed in Cuba for three more months no one would be able to tell I wasn’t Cubana. I took it to mean my Spanish was good, though I’m not sure that’s what he meant.

After a wonderful day diving, it was time to get moving again.

We drove for about an hour along the coast in the early morning. I could get used to these views every morning I thought to myself as we made our way south.  This was a little backward in my planning, but made sense as far as the Viazul bus route I would eventually be taking from Trinidad.

I arrived at El Nicho a bit before 8 am.  The park was empty and no one was at the gate, so I walked right through without paying an entrance fee.  The trail was well marked and soon I was at the most beautiful, wide, massive waterfall I’d ever seen.  It was so impressive I stood just staring at it as water sprayed me. 

I walked a bit more along the trail and came to the most extraordinary all natural pool I’ve ever seen. It was a bit chilly that early in the morning, but I didn’t care. I stripped down to my bikini and got in. (Re: travel motto- You never regret a swim.) The pool had a much smaller fall falling into it and had three or four smaller pools. I swam all around taking in the view from every vantage point. 

I got out and sat on a bench near the pool thankful for my early arrival and the solitude it gave me. I wrote in my journal surrounded by the sounds of the water falling. It would have been perfect were it not for the mosquitoes, the first I’d really encountered my whole trip.

I walked along the trails veering off here and there to see where one might lead. It was beautiful and starting to warm up.  I walked back to the entrance and found out there were more trails across the street. I walked down those and discovered even more giant falls. At one point I was at the top of one looking down to the crashing water below.  El Nicho was certainly another highlight of my trip.

I returned to my taxi driver who had been waiting, and we continued on to Trinidad about an hour more.  I found a casa across from the casa my driver recommended when la dueña wouldn’t go down in price from $25 CUC to $20. This casa was on Trip Advisor and was by far the best and cleanest of all. It did however lack a bit of the personal touch I’d grown fond of along the way.  It even had little soaps and shampoos, a treat I had forgotten about during my time in Cuba. I kept them to give away. I got the casa for $20 CUC including breakfast, much to the chagrin of the Germans I would meet a bit later.

After settling in my room, I went walking, first to find a cadeca to exchange money for the third time of my trip. I was happy to realize I was keeping on track with my money, even staying a bit under what I had anticipated per week, even with diving, my biggest expense of the trip. Then, I got lunch, I splurged a bit, perhaps due to the realization that I was under my expected budget, and ordered the lobster, which of course was hardly a splurge compared to American prices at $12 CUC.  I shared my meal with a very friendly bird who quite enjoyed the cucumbers from my cucumber and tomato salad.

I walked around the city a bit after lunch, bought a bottle of rum and some Tukola and headed back to my casa to sit on the rooftop and write postcards.  Soon the Germans, Eva and Niels exited their room. They were quite friendly and told me of their day at the tobacco factory.  We ended up discussing our plans for the next few days. They too were heading to Playa Girón and Eva was looking for a dive buddy.  Perfect.

Their plan for the evening was to check out the cave bar that I’d heard about since planning this trip. They invited me along. We went to a couple other bars along the way just checking out the scene in Trinidad, including one bar where we had our own private rooftop balcony with a great view of the city. Then we headed for the cave bar, Disco Ayala.

Words cannot describe what my eyes saw. It was beyond anything I could have imagined and then some.  It was the biggest cave I’ve ever been in and makes me debate whether I should call it a ‘cave bar’ or a ‘bar cave.’  It was 3-4 stories high in some places, so dark in others that you’d need a flashlight if it weren’t for all the blinking disco lights.  We sat at a table and never once forgot we were in a cave due to the dripping of water on us from above, even though by all other accounts we were most certainly in a disco with loud music, live dancers and flashing lights.  It was, quite simply, out of this world!  Another highlight. That’s three in a row- Diving, El Nicho and the cave bar or bar cave!

 

 

I encourage readers to check out this site to view pictures of this awesome bar. It was just too dark for my camera to get any good pictures.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2640400/Fire-walkers-three-bars-five-dancefloors-Disco-Ayala-Trinidad-Cuba-housed-inside-NATURAL-CAVE.html-

 

Traveling tip #19 Arrive Early

 

This has happened to me a few other times before on other trips, though you can never exactly plan on it, but sometimes, when you arrive early enough (read, so early the place isn’t exactly open) you just might gain free entrance to whatever it is you’re hoping to visit that day.  It happened for me at El Nicho and as a shoestring traveler, any money saved is appreciated.

Cuban Blog Day #16 Ask For What You Want. You Just Might Get It

Diving! When you live in Colorado, it’s a little hard to SCUBA dive.  I make sure every trip I take includes some sort of diving so as not to get rusty.  It still doesn’t work all that well. Each new dive, I’m a little nervous and worried that I may have forgotten how to do it.  To ease that worry I’m not shy about telling my Dive Master that it’s been awhile since my last dive.  This usually results in a little extra attention underwater, which in turns relaxes me a bit.

I got to the dive shop and was happy to see it wasn’t a full boat, just a Canadian girl and two older Mexican men.  While getting ready, I casually mentioned to no one in particular that it was a dream of mine to see seahorses.  They are so tiny that they are often hard to spot. Generally the Dive Master needs to know where they are and take you there. They are also bottom dwellers that prefer sea grass beds, so they are usually out of the way of typical dive sites.

We suited up and got situated on the boat.  We didn’t ride far before we stopped and the Canadian and our Dive Master and I jumped in. To my surprise, we were first going to the sea floor to find some seahorses.  We floated on the bottom of the ocean and watched five seahorses tiny enough to fit in the palm of my hand dance up and down in the water.  They were beautiful and magical and everything I’d hoped they would be. I checked that dream off my list. It was hard to leave that spot.

But we had to move on, first to a wreck where there was a plaque dedicated to The Cuban Five.  I had been seeing posters all around Cuba, my favorite being a hand in a high five position, saying, ‘Obama, give us five.’ I did a little research and found out that these are five Cuban spies who were ‘captured’ and are detained in a Miamiprison.  You’d think the destiny of Cubarested solely in these five men’s hands by they way they are honored and revered around Cuba.  I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing this propaganda underwater as well!

After the wreck, I was more comfortable underwater and really enjoyed roaming through The Labyrinth with all its nooks, crannies, tunnels and holes to swim through. The wall was just amazing and teeming with fish and coral. 

We surfaced and went back to land to wait for our next dive. This one was two different wrecks. I saw an awesome lionfish and later learned from one of the Mexican men that lionfish are actually very unwelcome and not endemic to these waters. He told of an aquarium in Floridawhich burst open during Hurricane Andrew and said this is how the lionfish came to be in these waters.  He said in Mexicothey pay people to catch these fish to help keep the other fish around. Such a shame that such a lovely fish causes so much harm.  I also saw a trumpet fish, an eel and the biggest school of parrot fish I’ve ever seen. I mean, it just kept going and going.

They were both great dives, and I was so happy to be back underwater again.  I was also thrilled to see how comfortable and relaxed I was and very much looking forward to more dives in Cuba.

The Mexican men were staying at the all inclusive resort and invited me to a Cuba Libra. I wasn’t sure it would work, but they assured me it would. And it did. I sat and drank with them for an hour or so after our dive. They also treated me to lunch.  We talked about other places we’ve dived. They’d been everywhere, and they invited me to come visit and dive with them in Mexico. I hope to one day take them up on that.

Traveling Tip # 18 Ask for what you want. You just might get it

 

I never thought we’d actually go and find some seahorses. It was just one of those things divers talk about, their ‘White Whale’ (pun intended.)  We shoot the breeze while gearing up chatting about what we have yet to see (side note- My new ‘White Whale’ is in fact a whale of sorts… my diving life will be complete as soon as I dive with a Whale Shark.) I think due to the small size of our group, the Dive Master was able to make my dream happen, but he’d never know to do it if I hadn’t have thrown it out there.  Always, always ask for what you want. It can never hurt.

Cuban Blog Day #16 Ask For What You Want. You Just Might Get It

Diving! When you live in Colorado, it’s a little hard to SCUBA dive.  I make sure every trip I take includes some sort of diving so as not to get rusty.  It still doesn’t work all that well. Each new dive, I’m a little nervous and worried that I may have forgotten how to do it.  To ease that worry I’m not shy about telling my Dive Master that it’s been awhile since my last dive.  This usually results in a little extra attention underwater, which in turns relaxes me a bit.

I got to the dive shop and was happy to see it wasn’t a full boat, just a Canadian girl and two older Mexican men.  While getting ready, I casually mentioned to no one in particular that it was a dream of mine to see seahorses.  They are so tiny that they are often hard to spot. Generally the Dive Master needs to know where they are and take you there. They are also bottom dwellers that prefer sea grass beds, so they are usually out of the way of typical dive sites.

We suited up and got situated on the boat.  We didn’t ride far before we stopped and the Canadian and our Dive Master and I jumped in. To my surprise, we were first going to the sea floor to find some seahorses.  We floated on the bottom of the ocean and watched five seahorses tiny enough to fit in the palm of my hand dance up and down in the water.  They were beautiful and magical and everything I’d hoped they would be. I checked that dream off my list. It was hard to leave that spot.

But we had to move on, first to a wreck where there was a plaque dedicated to The Cuban Five.  I had been seeing posters all around Cuba, my favorite being a hand in a high five position, saying, ‘Obama, give us five.’ I did a little research and found out that these are five Cuban spies who were ‘captured’ and are detained in a Miami prison.  You’d think the destiny of Cuba rested solely in these five men’s hands by they way they are honored and revered around Cuba.  I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing this propaganda underwater as well!

After the wreck, I was more comfortable underwater and really enjoyed roaming through The Labyrinth with all its nooks, crannies, tunnels and holes to swim through. The wall was just amazing and teeming with fish and coral. 

We surfaced and went back to land to wait for our next dive. This one was two different wrecks. I saw an awesome lionfish and later learned from one of the Mexican men that lionfish are actually very unwelcome and not endemic to these waters. He told of an aquarium in Florida which burst open during Hurricane Andrew and said this is how the lionfish came to be in these waters.  He said in Mexico they pay people to catch these fish to help keep the other fish around. Such a shame that such a lovely fish causes so much harm.  I also saw a trumpet fish, an eel and the biggest school of parrot fish I’ve ever seen. I mean, it just kept going and going.

They were both great dives, and I was so happy to be back underwater again.  I was also thrilled to see how comfortable and relaxed I was and very much looking forward to more dives in Cuba.

The Mexican men were staying at the all inclusive resort and invited me to a Cuba Libra. I wasn’t sure it would work, but they assured me it would. And it did. I sat and drank with them for an hour or so after our dive. They also treated me to lunch.  We talked about other places we’ve dived. They’d been everywhere, and they invited me to come visit and dive with them in Mexico. I hope to one day take them up on that.

Traveling Tip # 18 Ask for what you want. You just might get it

 

I never thought we’d actually go and find some seahorses. It was just one of those things divers talk about, their ‘White Whale’ (pun intended.)  We shoot the breeze while gearing up chatting about what we have yet to see (side note- My new ‘White Whale’ is in fact a whale of sorts… my diving life will be complete as soon as I dive with a Whale Shark.) I think due to the small size of our group, the Dive Master was able to make my dream happen, but he’d never know to do it if I hadn’t have thrown it out there.  Always, always ask for what you want. It can never hurt.

Cuban Blog Day #15 Don't Take 'No' for an Answer

I was happy to be on the road again.  So much of visiting a country for is actually about the traveling, the getting there, the being on the way.  After a failed attempt to visit the closed on Sunday, even though everyone said it wouldn’t be, tobacco factory and a brief visit to the cigar store which was open and had plenty of cigars, the cheapest of which was $10, and several lovely bottles of Havana Club rum, I was on my way to the bus station.

While I waited to get on the bus, grateful to be taking a bus that I was pretty certain would be more or less on time, and on which I was sure to have a reclining seat and air conditioning, I chatted with a Danish girl.  She was traveling on her own and had several similar stories to mine. It was nice to know it wasn’t just happening to me. She was one of very few other travelers I met along the way.

The bus ride was a short one hour to Cienfuegos.  Getting off the bus, only one tout accosted me, and I walked with him to his sister’s casa.  I got settled in and then walked around a bit to see the town and get some lunch. Cienfuegoswas a lot more traveler- friendly and looked more exciting than Santa Clara.   I returned to the casa and then walked with the sister back to the bus station where she told me I could take the locals’ bus for only $1 peso national.  She also told me it came every 10 minutes. Half an hour later, I’d gotten a taxi driver down to $4 CUC and decided to stop wasting time and rode with him to Rancho Luna Playa.

The beach was where I would find out about SCUBA diving. I walked along the beach to the hotel in the guide book. Once arriving there, I asked several employees where the dive center was and was told simply that it was closed. No one seemed to have a phone number or was even willing to take a message.  I was upset because I needed to plan the dive trip today if I wanted to go the next day.

I walked out toward the beach and the dive shop and was thrilled to find some people there.  It wasn’t even closed. I arranged with the instructors there to go on a $60 CUC two tank dive the next morning.

It began raining, and I hustled to the thatched roof bar across the way to wait it out. I waited seated at the bar for quite awhile while the bartender completely ignored me.  When I finally asked if I could get a Cuba Libre, he told me no, and pointed to a vending machine behind me.  This was an all inclusive resort, and I did not have the proper jewelry, in this case a green paper bracelet to signify I was a paying guest.

I put the $1.50 CUC into the vending machine and had my choice of Bucanero, Cristal or Mayabe in cans.  I chose Bucanero.  I wish we had such vending machines in the states.  I drank a few beers while watching how the other half live at the all inclusive resorts.  This was not a resort I would want to spend much time in. It looked like the last time it was ever updated was somewhere in the early 80’s if not even earlier, and I briefly wondered how much people actually paid to stay here.

Once the rain let up, I walked toward my taxi driver, finished off my last beer while sitting on the beach people watching and rode back to town.  I walked along the famous Malecón (best English translation is ‘seafront’, I guess. Very similar to a boardwalk in some cities.) It’s a few miles long and is a general meeting spot for locals to sip beers and take children on strolls.  It was great people and sunset watching.

I ate dinner along the way and then settled in for an outdoor cabaret show. While waiting for the show to start, music videos played on large screens. This is apparently very popular entertainment as they advertised this almost as much as the show itself. I watched several videos, one of which appeared to have all of the members of ‘N Sync dancing and singing impeccable Spanish.  

The show was a mix of live singing and dancing.  It went through all the different dances of the different regions of Cubaand included several costume changes.  The show was not something I had read about, and if I’d not walked by it, I would have missed it, though I’m glad I didn’t. It was very enjoyable and fun and told a great story about Cuba.

 

Traveling tip # 18 Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer

 

Along with people simply telling you what they think you want to hear, there are also those who simply cannot be bothered by you.  I have a feeling this was largely the result of the hotel being an all inclusive and employees not caring about you if you don’t happen to sport the pretty bracelet.  Don’t be discouraged by these folks.  Simply keep asking, and if that doesn’t work, keep walking. If I’d listened to them, I may have missed out on diving the next day. Instead I walked to the dive shop and found people still there who could help me.  

Cuban Blog Day #15 Don't Take 'No' for an Answer

I was happy to be on the road again.  So much of visiting a country for is actually about the traveling, the getting there, the being on the way.  After a failed attempt to visit the closed on Sunday, even though everyone said it wouldn’t be, tobacco factory and a brief visit to the cigar store which was open and had plenty of cigars, the cheapest of which was $10, and several lovely bottles of Havana Club rum, I was on my way to the bus station.

While I waited to get on the bus, grateful to be taking a bus that I was pretty certain would be more or less on time, and on which I was sure to have a reclining seat and air conditioning, I chatted with a Danish girl.  She was traveling on her own and had several similar stories to mine. It was nice to know it wasn’t just happening to me. She was one of very few other travelers I met along the way.

The bus ride was a short one hour to Cienfuegos.  Getting off the bus, only one tout accosted me, and I walked with him to his sister’s casa.  I got settled in and then walked around a bit to see the town and get some lunch. Cienfuegos was a lot more traveler- friendly and looked more exciting than Santa Clara.   I returned to the casa and then walked with the sister back to the bus station where she told me I could take the locals’ bus for only $1 peso national.  She also told me it came every 10 minutes. Half an hour later, I’d gotten a taxi driver down to $4 CUC and decided to stop wasting time and rode with him to Rancho Luna Playa.

The beach was where I would find out about SCUBA diving. I walked along the beach to the hotel in the guide book. Once arriving there, I asked several employees where the dive center was and was told simply that it was closed. No one seemed to have a phone number or was even willing to take a message.  I was upset because I needed to plan the dive trip today if I wanted to go the next day.

I walked out toward the beach and the dive shop and was thrilled to find some people there.  It wasn’t even closed. I arranged with the instructors there to go on a $60 CUC two tank dive the next morning.

It began raining, and I hustled to the thatched roof bar across the way to wait it out. I waited seated at the bar for quite awhile while the bartender completely ignored me.  When I finally asked if I could get a Cuba Libre, he told me no, and pointed to a vending machine behind me.  This was an all inclusive resort, and I did not have the proper jewelry, in this case a green paper bracelet to signify I was a paying guest.

I put the $1.50 CUC into the vending machine and had my choice of Bucanero, Cristal or Mayabe in cans.  I chose Bucanero.  I wish we had such vending machines in the states.  I drank a few beers while watching how the other half live at the all inclusive resorts.  This was not a resort I would want to spend much time in. It looked like the last time it was ever updated was somewhere in the early 80’s if not even earlier, and I briefly wondered how much people actually paid to stay here.

Once the rain let up, I walked toward my taxi driver, finished off my last beer while sitting on the beach people watching and rode back to town.  I walked along the famous Malecón (best English translation is ‘seafront’, I guess. Very similar to a boardwalk in some cities.) It’s a few miles long and is a general meeting spot for locals to sip beers and take children on strolls.  It was great people and sunset watching.

I ate dinner along the way and then settled in for an outdoor cabaret show. While waiting for the show to start, music videos played on large screens. This is apparently very popular entertainment as they advertised this almost as much as the show itself. I watched several videos, one of which appeared to have all of the members of ‘N Sync dancing and singing impeccable Spanish.  

The show was a mix of live singing and dancing.  It went through all the different dances of the different regions of Cuba and included several costume changes.  The show was not something I had read about, and if I’d not walked by it, I would have missed it, though I’m glad I didn’t. It was very enjoyable and fun and told a great story about Cuba.

 

Traveling tip # 18 Don’t take ‘no’ for an answer

 

Along with people simply telling you what they think you want to hear, there are also those who simply cannot be bothered by you.  I have a feeling this was largely the result of the hotel being an all inclusive and employees not caring about you if you don’t happen to sport the pretty bracelet.  Don’t be discouraged by these folks.  Simply keep asking, and if that doesn’t work, keep walking. If I’d listened to them, I may have missed out on diving the next day. Instead I walked to the dive shop and found people still there who could help me.  

Cuban Blog Day #14 Be Specific, or Don't. It Doesn't Matter

The car I’d arranged for the next day to take me to Santa Clara, was, you guessed it, late. Nearly two hours, which pretty much negated the whole reason I was taking a car and not the bus. On top of being late to pick me up, I also enjoyed a very un-scenic drive around the town of Camaguey for about an hour or so before, you guessed it, picking up two other passengers.  And, you guessed it, the price didn’t change.

When I finally arrived in Santa Clara, I went walking to find the famous Che memorial.  It was a very hot day and a lot longer of a walk than I was anticipating.  Once at the memorial I walked around and read all of the statues. Then, I went inside to the museum and the mausoleum where Che and 29 other soldiers were brought after finding their bodies in Boliviain 1997.

Aside from being the site of the famous Battle of Santa Clara, which brought Che to Fidel’s attention and was a huge victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista, there is not much reason to visit Santa Clara.  Most people simply go to visit the memorials and pay their respects. The Battle of Santa Clara is also what is proudly commemorated on the three dollar peso national bill. 

There is also a tobacco factory, but it was closed on the Sunday I was there. That of course, did not stop la dueña or the bicitaxi driver from telling me that it was surely open.  I suppose I should not have been surprised to find the doors locked upon my arrival.  The guide does tout the tobacco factory in Santa Clara as being better, cheaper and more thorough than the one in Havana, and I was sad to miss it.

Back at the casa, I intended to sleep off my hangover and catch up on my writing and reading.  But that did not happen. La dueña had told me earlier that day that they would be celebrating her son in law’s birthday later than evening on the rooftop terrace.  She invited me to come and celebrate. 

Soon after entering my room, there was a knock at my door. They invited me up, but first they needed to use my fridge to keep all of the beer they had.  I politely declined twice, not wanting to drink again and not thinking myself very good company. Upon the third request I acquiesced and joined the 15 people gathered on the terrace. 

I was given a shot of rum which I sneakily poured into the lemon TuKola I was drinking.  I didn’t stay long, but was able to wish the birthday boy a happy birthday and see what a birthday party looks like in Cuba, not unlike parties I see here. Good to know some things are always the same.

 

Traveling Tip # 17

At this point I guess I would suggest taking the busses. Perhaps you’ll have better luck than me, but I was getting very tired of getting the run around from all these car drivers, thinking I was getting a great deal and saving so much time, all to be lied to and lied to over and over. My Spanish is decent enough; it was not a problem with communication. It was simply them wanting to make a dollar no matter what and telling me what I want to hear. But you’re a traveler, you know these things happen. 

Cuban Blog Day #14 Be Specific, or Don't. It Doesn't Matter

The car I’d arranged for the next day to take me to Santa Clara, was, you guessed it, late. Nearly two hours, which pretty much negated the whole reason I was taking a car and not the bus. On top of being late to pick me up, I also enjoyed a very un-scenic drive around the town of Camaguey for about an hour or so before, you guessed it, picking up two other passengers.  And, you guessed it, the price didn’t change.

When I finally arrived in Santa Clara, I went walking to find the famous Che memorial.  It was a very hot day and a lot longer of a walk than I was anticipating.  Once at the memorial I walked around and read all of the statues. Then, I went inside to the museum and the mausoleum where Che and 29 other soldiers were brought after finding their bodies in Bolivia in 1997.

Aside from being the site of the famous Battle of Santa Clara, which brought Che to Fidel’s attention and was a huge victory for the rebels fighting against the regime of General Fulgencio Batista, there is not much reason to visit Santa Clara.  Most people simply go to visit the memorials and pay their respects. The Battle of Santa Clara is also what is proudly commemorated on the three dollar peso national bill. 

There is also a tobacco factory, but it was closed on the Sunday I was there. That of course, did not stop la dueña or the bicitaxi driver from telling me that it was surely open.  I suppose I should not have been surprised to find the doors locked upon my arrival.  The guide does tout the tobacco factory in Santa Clara as being better, cheaper and more thorough than the one in Havana, and I was sad to miss it.

Back at the casa, I intended to sleep off my hangover and catch up on my writing and reading.  But that did not happen. La dueña had told me earlier that day that they would be celebrating her son in law’s birthday later than evening on the rooftop terrace.  She invited me to come and celebrate. 

Soon after entering my room, there was a knock at my door. They invited me up, but first they needed to use my fridge to keep all of the beer they had.  I politely declined twice, not wanting to drink again and not thinking myself very good company. Upon the third request I acquiesced and joined the 15 people gathered on the terrace. 

I was given a shot of rum which I sneakily poured into the lemon TuKola I was drinking.  I didn’t stay long, but was able to wish the birthday boy a happy birthday and see what a birthday party looks like in Cuba, not unlike parties I see here. Good to know some things are always the same.

 

Traveling Tip # 17

At this point I guess I would suggest taking the busses. Perhaps you’ll have better luck than me, but I was getting very tired of getting the run around from all these car drivers, thinking I was getting a great deal and saving so much time, all to be lied to and lied to over and over. My Spanish is decent enough; it was not a problem with communication. It was simply them wanting to make a dollar no matter what and telling me what I want to hear. But you’re a traveler, you know these things happen.