La Terrazas Tour

After watching the Oscar results on CNN we finally found out about Eddie Redmayne's success before heading off for breakfast. We had a tour organised for 9.30 and met up with a Belgian/Dutch group of 4 and a German couple.  Our guide Oriol used to be an English teacher but becoming a guide enabled him to earn more. He was very lively and entertaining and it was a pleasant tour with lots of opportunities to ask about life in Cuba. We started at a viewpoint, an old French coffee plantation where we learned about coffee growing and the slave conditions on the ranch. Our guide heard the Cuban national bird, the tocororo and used a call on his phone to bring it closer. It was a very colourful bird and the photographers in the group were very glad to see it.

Our guide had 2 daughters and the older one was a beautician who "does restoration to women". What a great way to describe it.

On his recommendation we went to the "best vegetarian restaurant in Cuba". It was very good but too much and we probably ordered too much as well.

La Terrazas

It was time to say goodbye to Marit and Leo, our Dutch companions. Hopefully we'll see them again later. We had another lovely breakfast then paid our very reasonable bill for evening meals and drinks.

We packed and waited for our taxi to La Terrazzas. Another surprise, our car was a 1954 Chevrolet in beautiful condition. It was less than 2 hours back to Las Terrazas, an eco village developed in the late 60's and our hotel, built in the 90's. We had to wait for our room so had a walk round,  The facilities are excellent, a huge room and bath/shower with a view. It was pleasant to spend the afternoon beside the pool, just chilling out.

Our meal was in the hotel restaurant, a bottle of good Argentinian wine, 12 CUCs, about £8 so quite a bit cheaper than home. The meal itself was OK but the chicken was a bit stringy, perhaps reflecting the rather thin chickens which peck around the place.

The Tobacco Fields

A fantastic breakfast awaited us at our Casa Particular. Silvia, our hostess provided coffee, juice, an omelette, pancakes and French bread as well as fruit. It was a feast but we had no problem trying everything. Along with the other two guests in our Casa we joined the walking tour through the tobacco fields. We set off down a different street than yesterday, much prettier with attractive bungalows, many with rooms to rent. Soon we were on a path through the fields with our guide, Douglas, and an Australian, originally from Czechoslovakia. The Dutch couple were very good at spotting birds and one of the highlights was seeing a humming bird. Another thrill was to see leafcutter ants taking their bits of leaf down to their colony to feed the fungus they live on. We have seen it on TV and even at Butterfly World but not in the wild. another first was seeing a giant tree rat perched on a post at a refreshment stop on the walk. We had a fresh coconut drink then ate some of the coconut.

The main aim of the walk was to learn about the tobacco growing process and see a cigar being made. This is the season when tobacco is ready to dry and we saw lots hanging up. The farmers have to sell 90 per cent of their crop to the government. They keep the other 10 per cent which they can use or sell. We all had a try but decided smoking was no longer for us!

After a tapas lunch we headed off to Hotel Jasmine, 3 km out of town. Luckily the weather though warm was overcast so we survived the

climb and the view over Vinales Valley was well worth it. After a beer we braved the steep path down to the valley floor and found our way back to Vinales with little difficulty. The little houses on the way were very pretty. A stop at a craft place on the way back yielded a few souvenirs.

We saw among other birds the Turkey vulture, king bird, bullfinch and nightingale which is very rare.

We had another lovely meal with far too much provided, courtesy of Silvia.We then had a walk down the Main Street where there was music and dancing.

Road to Vinales

It was an early start though we managed breakfast and waited for our bus with a family from Brighton who had waited until their children had no exams before they felt they could have a break in Cuba at this time of year. It was pleasant to chat and exchange ideas as we waited half an hour for the bus. Mañana!

Another hour and a half passed as we zigzagged around Havana picking up our fellow travellers from hotels all over the city, and passing many of the sights we had seen the day before. Finally we were on the open road and things moved a lot faster as we zipped along a nearly deserted six lane highway. Two and a half hours and one brief stop later we were in Vinales, and a short walk from our home stay for the next two days. It's "Homestay Silvia" and is a good equivalent to B and B though she is willing to cook you an evening meal as well. After getting our bearings, and some lunch, we spent the afternoon exploring the back roads and tracks around the town and an amazing botanical garden which was set up by a Chinese immigrant to Cuba, his daughter and a friend. Both ladies lived into their 90's. We shared the tour with a couple from Minnesota. It was no problem to come to Cuba as they had travelled via Cancun. Many pictures were taken of bullocks, carts, fields of tobacco and the mountains.

Bus Tour of Havana

Yesterday had been a bit cool and showery but today the weather was cold and dry and very windy, coming our way from the Eastern United States. We took the "hop on hop off" bus tour round Havana but decided not to get off. The waves driving up on the Malecon were quite spectacular and one way was closed to traffic. We had a strange encounter on the bus journey. The couple from Norfolk had said to look out for them in a convertible which they were sharing with another couple. Unbelievably as we sat at the front of the bus we saw them as they spotted us and exchanged waves. Amazing! A visit to a couple of museums followed, the Revolutionary Museum and the Cuban art museum. There were no holds barred in the first one with the Cuban view of the last 56 years. The art museum had an installation of the "Cuban 5" who were recently released from prison in America, and we watched a film about events over that period. After all these politics it was good to go out for a meal, inside in order to avoid the cold wind. We reflected on our day marked by many people shouting

"Hemingway" as we passed. All Tom needs is the hat now though he is not fond of fishing. Maybe tomorrow would have warmer weather.

Havana

The day started with a lovely breakfast in the inner courtyard of the hotel - fruit juice, breads, omelette and fruit as well as good coffee. The tour company’s local rep came along to sort out our travel arrangements and offer us more tours. We decided to go with a night tour of Havana and a trip into the mountains from Trinidad. We then set off to find a bank, and found a travelling exhibition of decorated bears in one of the squares. The rest of the morning was spent looking at the buildings, admiring those which were restored and wondering how long it would take to finish restoring the rest. We walked along the Malecon - the promenade - where the buildings are almost all in a very poor state. The tourist dollars are being used to restore buildings, and the other feature is that social projects are included in the old town - a primary school, an old folks home and art studios.

Tom had the usual photographer's problem of when to stop taking pictures of 1950’s American cars. The people are very photogenic as well, especially when they are in a doorway or hanging over a balcony.

We duly turned up for the evening tour but the bus was about 40 minutes late due to folk along the way being late for their pickups. We started with a walking tour and our small group of English speakers included a couple from Norfolk and two Chinese. We then had our first mojito, pleasant and quite a kick with it. The entertainment was to see the gun being fired from the castle on the other side of the harbour, a cross between the one o'clock gun and Up Helly Aa with twirling fireballs and a great deal of marching. We then headed off to a restaurant for a meal, a selection of tastes of Cuba, just what was needed after a busy day.

Cuba 2015

Journey to Cuba

Our journey from Kinnesswood to Havana was a long one, up at 5 a.m. to drive to Halbeath Park and Ride, bus from there to Edinburgh Airport, flight to Charles de Gaulle airport, then a delayed connection and a 10 hours plus flight arriving in the evening local time, but really after midnight UK time. We were met by a guide who sorted out our papers then put us into a 1950's American convertible for the half hour drive to a very pleasant little hotel in central Havana. What a way to arrive! We had a little walk around some lovely squares in Havana Vieja before very welcome bed.