Cuba - Day 16- January 18th

This morning we went to the bank to exchange some money - which, in the absence of a line up, we were able to accomplish in record time. A check at the internet cafe revealed, as we suspected, that there are still no cards - where these cards come from and who decides when they will come remains a complete mystery. But we can speculate that, as with most things in Cuba,  communications are controlled by the state, so someone in some ministry somewhere is responsible.  But why they limit availability of cards, remains unclear.

Today we are planning to take the "ferry" used by local people to travel across the Bay - our destination is the Castillo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de Jagua which was built in the 1740's at the entrance to the extremely well protected Bahia de Cienfuegos (Cienfuegos Bay). The purpose of the Castillo - it is said, was to keep out pirates and the British. Badly needed renovations begun in 2010 are ongoing and, like most renovations in Cuba, they are well behind schedule.

The visit to the Castillo itself was of interest but it turned out that the most memorable part of this adventure was the "ferry" on which we crossed the bay. The term "ferry" to describe this craft is a bit of a euphemism - at least for me the term ferry conjures up something quite different from what we found when we arrived at the "departure dock", which itself was less than one might expect based on that descriptor. But this is Cuba and we are learning to expect the unexpected. When we arrived about 25 minutes before the scheduled 1 pm departure, there was already a fairly large gathering of folks waiting to board.

(NOTE: Unfortunately, I did not get photos at the departure area so these photos of the boat are at our destination, after most people have left the boat! The folks remaining on board are headed for the its last destination.)

Fortunately for us, we thought, boarding began just as we were getting in line, so we would likely get a seat and departure would be on time. However, by the time we got to the boat, an ancient rusted and questionably seaworthy craft, all seats seemed to be taken and it looked like the standing space on both the front and rear deck were also full. We managed to jump aboard and squeeze into some space on the rear deck, pretty well shoulder to shoulder with our fellow passengers.

It seemed, at that point, like the boat was essentially full but people kept coming down the dock and joining us on the already crowded rear deck as well as climbing on at the front. When we were convinced there was absolutely no space left, people kept coming, some with luggage or boxes of stuff including one fellow with what looked a bit like 3 empty plastic window frames and a young man beside us had a box of plants. Bags were tossed onto the roof of the covered part of the actual passenger area, and people just kept coming and, amazingly, disappearing onto the boat somewhere. Visions of the Vietnamese boat people came to mind as we stood on our own square foot of space on the rear deck watching yet more people arriving, some standing on the edge outside the railing.

I couldn't see clearly into the covered area where there were actual seats but from what I could see people were quite jammed in there as well. It was now close to 1pm and the boat was chock full so maybe they would leave a bit early? Not so, it seemed no one would be left behind as s few more stragglers strolled down the dock and came aboard somewhere. We estimated that there must be well over 200 people on this small craft likely designed to take 80 to 100 at most. Finally, a horn sounded, the motor growled into action and we eased our way from the dock, moving slowly forward hopefully in the right direction.

About 100 yards from the dock, the motor died and we sat there, wondering what was going on. No announcement of any kind so we just stood there waiting and wondering. Finally, after several minutes of silence the motor came to life and we moved slowly on our way. A couple of people on our very tightly packed rear deck decided that they would sit on the floor, so there was a fair bit of jostling around in order to make room for them to sit. We were finally moving at quite a good rate. It turns out that there were a couple of stops along the way for folks to disembark at tiny docks, so we were a bit lighter for the last part of the trip.

I know, too many photos of the boat, but I want everyone to fully appreciate this craft and our experience on board!

The Castillo is quite small and the renovations they have completed appear to be well done. There was quite a large and deep moat around the fortress so the entry was across a draw bridge. The photos, I hope, tell most of the story about the Castillo structure and position with regard to the bay entrance.

On our way out of the Castillo Bob successfully raised the draw bridge, the completion of which I failed to capture in a photo.

While in the castle we met a couple from Québec with whom we had a brief conversation. It was a nice change for Bob to be speaking French rather than struggling with Spanish.

The photos below show the areas to the south  which allow entry from the ocean to the Cienfuegos harbour and port. This passage is clearly visible and, presumably, defensible from the Castilo's strategic position.

The ferry trip back was much less crowded and, having survived the trip over, we were more relaxed on the return. There were several others with us on the back deck including a young couple and a relatively old but well maintained bike. The man's attention was completely focussed on the bike - he lovingly polished every centimeter including rims and each spoke -  as far as we could tell, not a word was exchanged between him and his companion.

When we arrived back in downtown Cienfuegos we went directly to a place where we could enjoy a beer and some ice cream before going to our Casa for a rest before dinner.

Cuba - Day 15- January 17th Rancho Luna

Today we are set to go to Rancho Luna - a tourist place on the beach about 45 minutes from Cienfuegos by taxi. Fabio had kindly arranged for one of his "taxi" friends to drive us there. And, for 15 CUC's (about 15 Canadian dollars) he would not only drive us there, but wait for us for however long we wanted to stay and drive us back home! Can't beat that.

Our understanding was that we would leave around noon, so we had some time to do a couple of things. Bob went to the internet cafe early, then to Cubanacan to get our partial refund from the abbreviated trip around the bay a couple of days ago.

After another failed trip to the hat store, we set out for our Casa and as we neared home a cab driver approached us with "Taxi?" as they incessantly do, but we rejected him saying that we already had a taxi arranged. It turned out that he was our driver arranged by Fabio and, because of a misunderstanding about departure time, we were late!

We were instructed by Aglaes to go to the corner and wait for the orange taxi. So, we got our stuff together and hurried to the corner where the fellow we had just brushed off met us and told us to wait. He went up the street to get his vehicle and a couple of minutes later, the orange "taxi" (another ancient Lada we think and no outward sign that it was a taxi) pulled up in front of us on the fairly busy street corner.  We piled in and with Bob in the front, me in the back and the doors secured by our driver's skillful manipulation of the door handles, we were off. Of course, this being a regular Cuban vehicle, leather seats and upholstery were not included and we were treated to the usual gas and oil odours as well as the unsettling grinding sounds from somewhere in the drive train. But while this vehicle lacked some interior comforts and a quietly functioning engine and drive train, it had a couple of unique features which I noticed after a few minutes. Where there was once a radio was now a figure of a heart with an arrow through it on which were the words "I love you". And the whole icon was dotted with tiny red lights which went on whenever the brakes were applied! Neat. And, below the heart was a tiny "TV" screen which was showing a music video, and the sound system was doing its best to convey the music while competing with the engine and drive train noises and the wind whipping in the open windows. This fellow had installed in his vehicle the creature comforts that were important to him! As it should be! Unfortunately, no photos of the car.

We arrived at Rancho Luna without incident and found our way to the beach which was surprisingly underpopulated on a beautiful hot and sunny day. We had no trouble finding our own thatched beach umbrella where, after clearing away a bit of broken glass, we established camp. Note the Canadian flag in front of Rancho Luna above. I think a lot of Canadians come here.

Bob was keen to swim so he checked for a place to put on his bathing suit. Finding none, he resorted to the out in the open but behind the towel method the contortions of which were interesting to observe and he did manage it without any embarrassing exposure.

He swam, I relaxed and took a few photos.

After Bob's swim, we had a nice outdoor restaurant lunch, except for the tasteless watery beer. Then a walk along the beach.

At the eastern end of the beach - the mountains that we visited a couple of days ago, visible in the distance.

 I know - you have seen this photo before, but I include it again to show the extent of the beach and the row of thatched umbrellas along most of it, still with many vacancies. See the red bit near the centre of the photo? I think it's a bunch of red Canadian flag chairs.

After another swim for Bob it was nearing 4 pm - our agreed departure time - so we made our way to the parking lot, where we found our limo and driver waiting for us. Home please "James".

Cuba - Day 14- January 16th

Today is our day to join Fabio at the baseball game which is at 1 pm. So, we had a relatively unplanned morning - some time to work on my badly neglected blog but I'm still not up to date.

Bob's foot was quite sore this morning but as he was determined to get to the internet cafe and the CubanaTour place, we slowly walked the few blocks only to find both of them closed. So we went onto the Plaza de José Marti and sat on a bench in the shade and watched the tourists go by.

Here we were approached by a couple of women asking for money and one fellow tried to sell us a pair of shoes - one shoe in his hand for show and the mate in a plastic bag. This had been a frequently recurring phenomenon in Havana, some wanting to sell something (such as cheap cigars or Che nacional coins) or some, like the women mentioned above, just considering us to be wealthy North Americans, asked directly for money.


Having tired of that we did a quick check of the shops around the plaza (I keep thinking I will buy a Cuban straw hat but can't find one I like that fits) then headed home.

This shop is not at the plaza - it is off the boulevard, but I like this photo.

Just after noon Fabio came by the room ready to leave for the ball game. We originally intended to walk but Bob's foot was too uncomfortable to walk that far, so Fabio recruited one of his friends to take us in his "taxi" (I never did see a taxi with a meter) to the stadium which, as you can see in the photos, houses a very professional looking baseball field. I neglected to bring my camera, so the photos from the game are Bob's.

The "taxi" that took us to the stadium was likely an ancient Soviet Lada but as it has been so modified over time, it is not really clear what it was originally. There was no upholstery or covering of any kind on the inside of the doors and the driver had to reach the doors from his location behind the wheel in order to employ the required special maneuver that would ensure that the door was actually closed. The ride was fast and not as rough as the truck but the cab was permeated by gas and oil fumes and the creaking and grinding of aged and worn body and drive train parts led us to hope that the brakes were in better shape than the visible parts of the vehicle and whatever parts were creating the metal on metal grinding emanating from under the floor boards.  In a couple of instances sudden braking was required to successfully avoid rear enders, so the brakes worked, and, in the end, we arrived intact.

At the ticket window Fabio paid one peso nacional and we were required to pay one CUC peso each. I gave the ticket person a 5 CUC note and she instantly informed me that she had no change. In this instance we were able to cobble together the required amount, but in most situations you need to be sure that you have small bills or coins - preferably exact change - or it may cost you extra.

You may recall that the CUC's are about 25 times the value of a peso national. While the price of Fabio's ticket is extremely small compared the cost for us, I think it is very fair - especially when you think about it for a minute - the equivalent of $1 Canadian is certainly a bargain price for attending a professional level baseball game!

It's hard to compare Cuban baseball (Cuba's national sport) to the North American professional leagues, but my guess is that the level of play in these teams is similar at least to AA or AAA baseball. I did notice that the batting averages tend to be a bit high compared to the North American professional leagues, which may be due, in part, to differences in pitching.  For example, I don't recall, while watching one game on TV with Fabio, seeing a single pitch over 85 mph.

I heard but don't recall clearly the nature of the players' participation in baseball, but my understanding is that they are amateurs so work at other jobs and are given the time away from those jobs that is necessary for them to participate fully in baseball, which seems to be taken very seriously.  They apparently receive some compensation for their role as baseball players, but I think that compensation is quite small. If interested you can learn more about Cuban baseball at Cuban baseball.

We found seats in a very good location on the left field line close to home plate,  though on an extremely hard concrete bench!  There was lots of energy and enthusiasm in the crowd and the first 3 innings were very good baseball but, unfortunately, in the 4th inning the Cienfuegos team made a couple of very costly errors and the visitors began to hit. While the remainder of the game was very good baseball, in the end, much to Fabio's distress, Cienfuegos lost 7 - 2.  Later, Fabio was pleased to tell us that  Cienfuegos won the next 2 games handily!

If there was beer there, I didn't see it and no hot dogs either. The things I recall seeing for sale were peanuts in the small paper cones we saw in Havana, sandwiches of some sort, ice cream bars and something that looked like a very large potato chip sprinkled with sea salt. And no store selling paraphernalia like t shirts, caps or #1 foam hands! But there were police with guns and dogs. :-(

Something that we had noticed previously in public settings, which was more obvious at the game, is what appears to be genuine comradery and sense of solidarity generally, but especially among men, suggested by the enthusiasm of vocal greetings, hand slapping and clasping and hugging. For men greeting women acquaintances or women greeting women, almost always a kiss on the cheek plus or minus an embrace. One cannot know the extent to which these displays reflect the depth of the  relationships, but it is is a very positive feeling to see this public expression of warmth and friendship between individuals, and especially between men.

A different taxi on the way home, but the vehicle and the ride were essentially the same and, once again, we arrived intact.

Cuba - Day 13 - January 15th

An early breakfast today so that we can be at the Hotel la Union where we are to depart for our trip to the Sierra del Escambray and the Parque Nacional El Nicho. When we arrived at the Hotel there were 3 or 4 people in front including two official looking fellows. We asked about the tour to the park and they informed us that we were in the right place and we should go to the multicoloured TRUCK a few meters away. So our CubanaTour person was wrong about the duration of the Bay tour but not about the truck! In the end, it made for a rough but interesting trip into the mountains.

Remember to click on any photo to see a larger image.

En-route we stopped at a small town before reaching the mountain roads for our guide (she was called to duty this morning because the regular guide was ill) to change from her city clothes and shoes to "hiking" attire. We stopped in front of a school with images of Che and Camilo Cienfuegos on the school "banner" (for want of a better word) above the school door.

Oh yes, note the bust of José Marti on the right just in front of the school - as I said, he is everywhere!

Children were in the yard in front of the school having a snack and some were having a good time and a good laugh at our expense, it seemed - one boy kept making a particular hand gesture toward us, so, not realizing, until later, that these were considered slightly obscene, I returned the gesture, much to his delight.

A brief word about Cienfuegos whose image appears frequently, like this, in prominent places - you may recall that it, along with Che's, was prominent on a building at the Plaza de la Revolución. Cienfuegos apparently became the second most popular man in the revolution after Fidel Castro, though he was later overshadowed by Che. He died early in the revolution in a mysterious plane mishap though, it seems, neither the plane wreckage nor his body was ever found.

After a very bumpy, gear grinding and wind blown ride along narrow pitted roads we arrived at a small town, Cumanayagua, at a high point where we stopped briefly for us to look around, take photos and visit the baño.

It was definitely worth the stop as there were some nice vistas and other good photo opportunities including the flowers in these photos. Unfortunately, we neglected to ask the type of the orange flowers covering the roof and elsewhere, so I can't say what kind of flower it is.

Local folks sitting on benches in the small plaza and a couple of donkeys resting, one in the middle of the road here and another tethered to the tree in the photo below.

After about 10 or 15 minutes here we were off again until, after a total of about 2 hours of more bone chattering driving (I'm glad that my bone density is up to it), we arrived at the Parque el Nicho.





The red tree top flowers seen in this photo are prevalent along the mountain road - their common name is African Tulip.






Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the entry to the park but "understated" would be a fair description. It consisted of a couple of vertical wooden posts spanned by another which displayed the name Parque Nacional El Nicho behind which was a relatively small dirt parking lot. To the right was a similar smaller structure marking the entry to the walking trail.

Here we acquired a local guide (quiet spoken but excellent) who led us on a 1 1/2 to 2 hour hike to a couple of small but beautiful water falls with swimming areas below the falls.

Along the way he identified some interesting plants, including flowers of a ginger plant (right), anise leaves and flowers, coffee plant, african tulips and a loofa plant. I have wondered where loofa items came from but had no idea that basic loofa material grew as a pod on a relatively small tree.

And, he told us that this is a major coffee growing area and many of the folks living around here make their living producing coffee. - at least the  beans - we didn't learn where it is processed.

Several places on this walk were quite challenging for both endurance and balance as you might be able to discern from a couple of accompanying photos. For example, while the bridge pictured here proved to be very solid, at first glance I was not convinced.

Below is a particularly steep descent and the log in the bottom right was the rather unstable "bridge" across the small stream.

And we were not through with vistas - this one appeared shortly after we emerged from the wooded areas above.

And there were more but quite different waterfalls.

Some members of the group (about 10 or 12 people) went swimming in one of the quiet ponds but Bob and I demurred.

You can see that they took care to provide a Red Cross life guard in the swimming areas.

After the walk we had a less than delicious lunch, included in the price of the tour and were entertained by 3 fellows who gave it their best. Following lunch we boarded our vehicle for the ride home where we arrived just before 5 pm. Someone along the way said that our truck was built in 1935 - if so, it is 77 years old!

We were both quite tired and Bob, who had been struggling all day with a sore foot, was now in quite a lot of discomfort, so it was a relief to get to our room and the anticipation of another very acceptable Fabio meal.

Tomorrow we are to join Fabio and his friend, who was apparently a professional baseball player, at a baseball game at the Cienfuegos stadium - apparently, if we understand correctly, this game is an early stages playoff game in pursuit of the championship of the Cuban National baseball league.

Cuba - Day 12 - January 14th

More "housekeeping" today. Aglaes, our host, volunteered to go with us to the bus station to get our tickets to Varadero. So, after breakfast we went to the bus station where, thankfully, she guided us through the process of getting our tickets much more easily and quickly than we could have done on our own (the place is bereft of signage - a little like the Toronto airport).

Off to the bank for money exchange, which also went smoothly.

At the tourist place we booked a 2 hour boat tour of the Bay for this afternoon and a trip to the Parque el Nicho for tomorrow. The latter, which all of our Cuban contacts say is a beautiful nature experience, is a full day outing so we are scheduled depart from Hotel La Union at 8 am.

Remember the truck transport vehicles, los camions, I mentioned in an earlier blog? It was these that came to mind when the woman at the tourist place mentioned, casually, that, at the pick up area, we would be getting on the "truck" for the trip to El Nicho. Of course, we concluded, she mis-translated truck for bus.

With those bits out of the way we thought we would have a sip of something at an outdoor bar and we both thought the waiter's suggestion of sangria sounded perfect. After our first sip we both realized that, in view of the persistent low grade symptoms we were both experiencing, this drink was not the best choice so we abandoned the sangria for water.

We did a quick tour of the small handicraft store on the plaza then went back to our casa to pick up some sun screen for the boat tour of the bay after lunch. We calculated that we could walk to La Aché, have lunch and easily arrive for the tour precisely on time. Which we did.

We had been told that the tour would be 2 hour and it would take us all around the bay, neither of which proved accurate. It lasted just under an hour and covered about a quarter of the bay shoreline - in short, it was a complete flop (well, almost complete) . Bob was determined to visit the tour ticket place to inform the woman of our dissatisfaction and to request a partial refund which he did later, resulting in a 5 CUC (25%) refund!

Cienfuegos Club

The reason they gave for the brevity of the outing was that the bulk of folks on that particular bay tour were members of group of German tourists who had only an hour available. So they abbreviated the tour for them and slipped us into that group presumably thinking we would just accept it - but they didn't count on the tenacity of Bob James to call them to account!

After the boat tour disappointment we walked down to the southern part of the Punta Gorda isthmus to check out the area past the hotel we had visited a day or so ago.

On the way we discovered an interesting little park with several large whimsical sculptures that we were happy to have found and speculated that the sculptors must have had fun creating these. You can't tell from this photo, but the meat grinder is about 12 feet tall!

Punta Gorda

The walk to the end of the isthmus took us to a small park and a gazebo like structure we had seen from the ferry (far right in this photo) and from this location there was a nice view of the bay with the mountains, where we are going tomorrow, in the distance (below).

An hour after starting for home we arrived at our casa both pretty tired and ready for some rest and another tasty meal by Fabio - and he did not disappoint.

That evening Bob's toe was quite sore - a problem that not only persisted but became more uncomfortable in the coming days.