Trinidad – 
Shortly before 8 o’clock we arrive at the tour office – there is a couple already waiting at the door that will also go on this trip: Eric and Mary – she’s Scottish, he’s English. “I always thought it was Scots had the typical magnificent red-colored hair?” – “A widespread misconception!”. Eric runs his fingers overly elegantly through his hair . A few minutes later, Thomas, Pia and Helena (all from Austria) join our group. We are complete. Jorge, a ranger, is our guide. Together with the driver of the pickup that just now comes around the corner he will lead us through the nature reserve of Topes de Collantes today.
Topes de Collantes –
We get in, some of us on the loading bed in the back and the tour starts. Soon we seem to have gained some altitude – we stop at a viewpoint: From here you can see Trinidad and the Playa Ancon, which we visited yesterday. “Oh, back there is our hotel”, says Thomas, pointing in the direction we were yesterday. Jorge points to the agaves, which are quite numerous here: “Do you know what that is and what you make of it?” – “Agaves, right? Snaps?”. “Exactly! In Mexico, they make Tequila from it, we are not so smart here and just make soap!” he grins. “Cuban rum tastes better anyways” .
We continue towards the Parque Guanayara to the Sierra de Escambray. I wonder whether you can call this a “street” here actually? The road we are on seems more like an “upgraded” forest trail with some steep ascents as descents. The rain of the previous days had torn some deep furrows into the laterite soil, which our pickup driver seems to ignore at all. I have no clue how comfortable the people are in the front, but we’re getting a rollercoaster ride in the back – whoever didn’t have a disc-hernia in his spine does probably have one now !
We still arrive in one piece at the entrance of a fenced-in area, where the hike starts. We follow small trails into a tropical mountain forest with great diversity of plants and birds. Jorge seems to be right in his element and provides detailed explanations on fauna and flora . After about an hour we reach a dripstone cave through which we continue to the waterfall “El Rocio”. Since it is quite humid, we are all pretty glad to have a small and refreshing break, until we continue. We are quite happy we decided for some solid footwear… the trail here is quite slippery and muddy… we fross some provisional bridges to some smaller waterfalls, which however also offer deeper pools. Here can climp up a wall and jump easily from different heights into the water – awesome! The cave behind of one of the waterfalls with sleeping bats and interesting rock formations inside is also worth a look! There is also a nearby hut where you can get some freshly made guarapo – of course with a proper shot of rum. Time to relax…
Though we have a short cloudbreak in the meantime it doesn’t really bother us – the leaves of the forest provide sufficient protection from the rain and the temperature drops to a pleasant level. At the end of the path our pickup truck is already waiting for us to take us to a former coffee house. You can learn a lot about coffee, its harvest and further processing here.
Trinidad –
Back in Trinidad we want to take care of the ongoing journey to Santa Clara and Varadero. But fist we agree upon meeting Eric and Mary at the steps of Casa de la Musica after dinner.
We buy the tickets to Santa Clara rather quickly at the station (8 CUC (8.00 USD)) and head back to the Casa Particular where we meet Jesús just before we take a shower. We would really like to have dinner here today – no problem for him, dinner will be at about 19:00. I’m fairly curious about the food .
Shortly after the shower, we lie down and have a little nap till dinner time. “Ohhh! Romántico!” I laugh as Jesús calls us. He grins. Dinner for two under the mango tree. Awesome – and the food is great! Pollo, Boliche, Rice, some Yuca con mojo (marinated Yuca) to die for and lots of beans. Add a lot of different salsas and big salad to that. Wow. After the dessert (flan de coco with – of course – mango slices) we are completely stuffed. Top! Cheers to the chef .
Since we should be at the Casa de la Musica between 19:30 and 20:00 we have to hurry to get to Plaza Major. We help to cleaning up and carry the dishes to the kitchen – then we have to get going.
Eric and Mary are already waiting for us and Eric orders the first round of cocktails at the window bar – I have a strange feeling of deja-vu . The ongoing evening is filled with convivial drinking and cheerful and “deep” conversations…
13 comments
What a read! Great article Mario. I didn’t know how beautiful Trinidad was until I read your article. More power to you man!
Lovely trip. How easy is it to photograph in Cuba on the streets? How do people react?
People are pretty chill in Central/South American countries. I usually don’t go for portaits, as I am more interested in everyday activities they are up to. Most of the time it is shots of a whole crowd of people (like the image of the kids playing football up there). If I want to portray one person it gets harder (I rarely do that): Here I definitely ask for permission – folks usually stop then what they are doing and pose for me, which is nice, though not usually the picture I had in mind , so either I ask for another photo of them going on with their work for example or snap the “activity”-photo first and ask them about it later if it is okay to keep it. Didn’t happen to me that anyone wanted me to delete a picture. Also: I think the kind of camera you are using plays a major role how intimidated the person you ask for a picture might get. If you use a small compact, everything will be fine most of the times. A nice retro-style DSLM like the Olympus OMD or Fuji-X-Series probably also… but a full-frame DSLR? Could get tricky.
A day well-spent…
Hope your spinal cord are back in shape now
What a big dinner you had…
Dinner for two under the mango tree sounds like the dream! Trinidad looks so colourful and I love your writing style.
Wow Cuba… a friend of mine has came back right Yesterday from Cuba! She said it is a great place to visit! And of course your photos are saying the same as well!
Nice trip. I couldn’t help smiling when you compared the road to an enhanced forest trail! Loved the beautiful and colorful pictures from the streets giving us a peek into the life in Cuba
I have a friend in Trinidad and Tobago, made me remember her through this post lol. Wonderful pictures of Cuba and made me realize how beautiful the country is! Thanks for taking us over Mario!
That sounds like an awesome way to spend a day. The pool by the waterfall does look inviting. Loved the colorful pictures of Cuba streets. It is a pretty place !
Trinidad always evokes images of an exotic country with stunning natural landscapes. Your post gives a wonderful tour de force of the natural beauty of the Topes De Collantes in all its glory. Never been there and hope to get to those parts some day. In the interim enjoyed the place vicariously through your post.
You know while I was in central America I was so tempted to jump over to Cuba before I went over to South America bit I had to meet a friend ( he was meeting me for short time period) but reading through this post I wish I had gone!!
How was the hike going to the falls? And how long?
Well, you’ll need to wear some shoes for sure Going there with sandals or flip-flops will probably make your experience “special” (slipping on the muddy trail and having mud all over you ). I think the hiking itself was just about 2-3h… plus the time we spent at the wateralls it’s a ~5h-trip.