On the road to Trinidad (1951 Chevrolet) we passed our Norwegian friends – bicycling! – with the bus following behind like the “kits and capes” truck. Cuba is a very good place for bicycling – much of it is flat and there is little traffic. And it’s not too hard to avoid the potholes… On arrival the owner of our casa particular was waiting for us at the entrance to the town and led us in on his motor-bike. There is a lot of poaching of tourists between casas particulares and the touts can be troublesome.
Trinidad is indeed a pretty town – also undergoing its own restoration programme.
Lots of 18th century buildings… but full of tourists. The Casa de la Trova we found rather sleepy, but the Casa de la Música – with an open-air stage on the wide steps climbing up beside the church – was more lively. Having done our tourist duty the first day, on the second Magda headed for the beach while I went on a hike in a nearby park – Topes de Collantes. The group consisted of a Swiss woman and a young Danish couple. The guide was reasonably well-informed but weak on birds, so my bird-book came in handy. We saw the Cuban trogon – Cuba’s national bird because of its red, white and blue colouring
(Magda’s photo from a later day) – a Cuban tody and lots of North American warblers. And of course the Cuban emerald humming-bird. We bathed in a natural pool below a waterfall – the water was surprisingly cold.
The region (and much of the island – like Jamaica lying just south) is mainly limestone and there were some interesting formations.
Afterwards we had lunch in a restaurant in the park. The menu – as everywhere in Cuba – offered chicken, pork and fish…
Trinidad was the centre of the Cuban sugar industry in the 18th century, and production continued during the 19th and 20th centuries even though it lost its pride of place to Cienfuegos (next blog). Just outside is the so-called valley of the sugar mills where you can take a ride in a tourist steam train – but we didn’t have time! We saw the slightly more modest house of the owner of the House of 100 doors – apparently he went there only to work.
Lots of 18th century buildings… but full of tourists. The Casa de la Trova we found rather sleepy, but the Casa de la Música – with an open-air stage on the wide steps climbing up beside the church – was more lively. Having done our tourist duty the first day, on the second Magda headed for the beach while I went on a hike in a nearby park – Topes de Collantes. The group consisted of a Swiss woman and a young Danish couple. The guide was reasonably well-informed but weak on birds, so my bird-book came in handy. We saw the Cuban trogon – Cuba’s national bird because of its red, white and blue colouring 
(Magda’s photo from a later day) – a Cuban tody and lots of North American warblers. And of course the Cuban emerald humming-bird. We bathed in a natural pool below a waterfall – the water was surprisingly cold.
The region (and much of the island – like Jamaica lying just south) is mainly limestone and there were some interesting formations.
Afterwards we had lunch in a restaurant in the park. The menu – as everywhere in Cuba – offered chicken, pork and fish…
Trinidad was the centre of the Cuban sugar industry in the 18th century, and production continued during the 19th and 20th centuries even though it lost its pride of place to Cienfuegos (next blog). Just outside is the so-called valley of the sugar mills where you can take a ride in a tourist steam train – but we didn’t have time! We saw the slightly more modest house of the owner of the House of 100 doors – apparently he went there only to work.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario