
A trip around Cuba
After my stay in the hostel in Havana, it was time to join my travel group. We had a small group with only 5 people, which consisted of one English girl, a Hungarian couple, an American girl (my roommate) and myself. It was nice to have such a small group, and we all got along quite well.
The tour included a round-trip from Havana to Venãles to Cienfuegos to Trinidad and back to Havana via Santa Clara. I decided to stay in Trinidad rather than going back to Havana, but more about that later.
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After long days walking through the city in Havana, arriving in Venãles was a nice change. Venãles is a small town with one main road through it. The region is known for its tobacco, and we did a walk though the countryside visiting a few farmers both tobacco and coffee. It was lovely walking through the green fields, seeing ‘cowboys’ on their horses and seeing the mountains made out limestone in the background.
One of the highlights of this the tour were our nights out. I think Venãles had the best nightlife for me, because it was such a small town. The first night we went to a club. They had a dance show which was pretty funny actually, because it didn’t quite look as professional as you would imagine it to be. I actually took a video of it, but deleted it later, which I now regret, because it was so funny. It still puts a smile on my face now, thinking about it. After the show I had the chance to practice my Salsa. I have to say it needs a lot of work, especially with those fast beats here in Cuba. I danced with one guy who was really good. He swung me around like crazy and it was so much fun until I got tired and struggled to keep up. My fitness is not quite what it used to be…ha, ha…
The next night the party happened on the street. First we got to witness a political gathering where they were speaking about an upcoming amendment of the institution. The Cuban people will be able to vote on whether they want the amendment or not. From what I heard from my guide, the changes are so minimal, so that he doesn’t think it will be much of a difference.
Afterwards everyone started dancing in the street. There were stalls to buy Mojitos, Pina Coladas, Cuba Libres… Did I mention the Cubans like to drink? Apart from dancing it would be their next favourite past time. It was such a good vibe that night and all the people that we met the night before were also out that night. We found that whatever city we were in we would meet the same people every night, which can get tricky if you get closer to some…ha, ha…I’m not talking about myself by the way. For some of my fellow travellers though this sometimes created a little problem.
Check out the photos and videos below. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge images.
Next we drove to Cienfuegos. On the way there we stopped at a beautiful place called Bay of Pigs. It was a little cove with sparkling blue clear water and a waterhole with an underground cave. I didn’t end up diving the cave however I did go for a swim in the waterhole. When I first arrived there it was so lovely and peaceful. The water was quite clear and you could see the fish swimming in the hole. It was so nice jumping into the water and enjoying a refreshing swim. By then more people had come but it was still very enjoyable.
Check out the photos and videos below. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge images.
Cienfuegos is one of the youngest towns in Cuba and is also declared as a world heritage side by UNESCO. So the city center was very well looked after and the buildings were the newest looking buildings from what I saw throughout the whole of Cuba. Cienfuegos also has a strong influence of French architecture. At some point in time, there was a lot of money in Cienfuegos and the rich people started a competition on who can build the largest and best houses/palaces. Therefore, one can find a lot of beautiful large palaces in town. We spent only an afternoon in Cienfuegos, but I returned later on my own to spend a little more time there.
Check out the photos and videos below. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge images.
Next up was Trinidad. I liked Trinidad a lot. It has beautiful old town and one can easily spend a couple of days in Trinidad without getting too bored.
There is Ancon Beach which is 14km away. We went there on our first day, but I also returned another day, deciding to rent a bicycle to get there. It was a good work-out and great to get the heart rate up. Ancon Beach is a white sand beach and the water was surprisingly refreshing. It’s funny, in the past when I thought of Cuba, the beach was always one of the first things that popped into my mind, but I didn’t actually end up spending a lot of time at the beach.
On the second day in Trinidad we went on hike to Parque el Cubano. It has a swinging bridge, nature trails, caves, swimming holes and a waterfall that plunges into a deep natural pool. The hike to the waterfall is a 3 hour return trip. It’s a little steep at the beginning, but gets easier quickly. This excursion was another of my highlights in Cuba. There was a beautiful waterhole and cave attached to the waterfall. We got there before most of the bigger tourist groups, so I was lucky enough to have the water hole to myself. It was amazing floating in the water on my own with the waterfall on one side and the cave on the other.
Of course, we went out every night while in Trinidad as well. First night we just went to a small club, but on the second night we went to a cave that was a disco. When we arrived at the entrance we were a little confused, because we couldn’t hear any music. The reason we couldn’t hear any was that the main dance area was below ground. It was a pretty cool experience. It was a massive cave underground which filled up really quickly with people after we arrived and it didn’t take long before people hit the dance floor.
Check out the photos and videos below. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge images.
The group left me the next morning, and I was on my own. So the remaining time I spent exploring some more and spending some extra time in Cienfuegos and Havana. I had read it’s hard to meet people in Cuba when travelling solo. That was one of the reasons I had joint the group. In Havana when I first arrived it wasn’t an issue, but after I left my group I had only booked rooms at Casa Particulas. It’s a bit like AirBNB and the places I stayed in, only had one room. This meant I spent a fair amount of time on my own in those last days. I recommend for any solo travellers to book hostels where possible.
Tomorrow I’m flying back to Mexico. I only spent 4 days in Cancun before Cuba, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Mexico has to offer. My first stop will be Holbox, a small island that looks beautiful. Thank you for taking the time to read my story, below the pictures are a few more personal thoughts about Cuba in general. Until next time. Sabine xxx
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Some personal thoughts about Cuba
When I first arrived in Cuba the word that always came in mind was intriguing. Now that I spent some time here I thought I write down a few thoughts:
Cuban Socialism
The idea of Castro’s Socialist world was to make everyone equal, but it doesn’t work, there are always some people that have more money than others and some people that have very little.
What does work here is the health and education system. Health care is totally free, so are schools and university.
The whole country is clearly in need of repair, the houses the roads. I kept asking people what happens to the money that tourists bring into Cuba and no one could answer that question. One person told me that the military receives the majority of the money, and they are in charge to look after it. However, no one could tell me what the military does with it. Clearly very little is invested back into the country. A lot of renovations that are done are actually financed by Unesco and other overseas organisations. And although no one has to go hungry, the Cuban people, especially the ones with government jobs, have very little and there are still many restrictions on leaving the country.
So often did I have to think of my own past and thought how grateful I am that the wall came down and Germany was reunited. Otherwise, who knows maybe the situation here in Cuba could have been the same situation for East Germany.
Some ‘fun’ facts
- I don’t think Cubans know how to talk quietly
- People yell outside windows to get their neighbours attention (I did see some doorbells, so not sure why that is all about)
- Not so fun, Cuban man think lip smacking/kissing noises and cat calling women is ok. I found it quite offensive to be honest. I even came across some young boys maybe 13 years old who thought it was ok to do it.
- Despite the male attention I found it quite safe to walk around the cities.
- Cubans love to dance and drink. Every person I saw dancing looked like they were born with rhythm and dance skills.
- You can’t leave Cuba without having danced Salsa at least once and you have to drink at least one Mojito, one Cuba Libre and one Pina Colada.
- Nothing is free in Cuba, not even the cemetery.
- Toilettes are also not free and often you get to pay for a dirty not functioning toilette. So much fun. 😉
- Cuba has an average amount of 330 days of sunshine a year. For someone like me that is heaven.
The Revolution
I really struggle to see why Cuban people were so happy about the win against America when the Revolution happened. And why the Castro brother and Che are so idolised here. I do understand that every country wants to be free and maybe having your country connected to the US is not necessary the best thing in the world. But if you look at the situation in Cuba right now, I like to think that the people might have been better off with a democratic society and the influences of the US. It might be a little naïve from my side but I think that the people would have had more, be happier and free. It’s a topic one can have very long discussions about.

