Cuba - Trinidad

With no little trepidation on my part, we set off next day to see what sort of hire-car we might (or might not!) get.  We found the office, it was open – good start – and such a nice man, Francesco greeted us warmly.  He then spent the next 20 minutes filling out the paperwork and trying to get the credit card machine to work, but eventually we were taken off to be handed the pride of their fleet – a relatively new Geely saloon with  “only” 30,000K on the clock – that’s like brand new in Havana!!  Apparently Geelys are made in China, and work quite well when new, but are buggers to repair!  Still, it was a lot better than anticipated, so off we set on our road trip…..

 

Got a bit lost early on, but eventually found the Route no 1 National Highway and settled in for the ride – all pretty dull at first, but perked up as we switched to the Costa Sol and headed for the coast.  The further we got into the countryside, the more we slipped back in time.  Horses are the main form of transport, interspersed by yet more fab old cars,  and oxen are yoked to plough the fields.

And then we saw the sea – WHAT a colour!! Well, colours plural, the brightest turquoise plus sapphire and green ….glorious!!

Our hotel was 12k outside Trinidad itself, on a fabulous long beach.  Like most Cuban resorts it’s a bit of a  glorified Butlins; all found, including 3 meals a day and all you can  drink, for GBP 80 for 2 of us – incredible value!  Mind – the drinks were in tiny plastic cups and the food pretty awful, but never mind!!  We had a nice balcony over the beach front, so put up with the taped up balcony door glass, tatty curtains and the broken shower head (which they did fix next day, I must add!!).

Had a wonderful stroll up the beach for sunset

 

Next day, we had a wee trot along the beach before brekkie, then an enjoyable sunbathe and swim in the morning before heading into town to “do” Trinidad, a nice little town, well kept and pretty. 

 

There are some amazing cafes and restaurants and handicraft stalls and markets, plus a few Museums.  It’s a Unesco Heritage town, so kept pretty nicely

 

 

We particularly enjoyed the Museum of History, set in a wonderful old home

 

Back at the hotel, we elected to go to the “posh” restaurant, which you could do only for one night in seven.  Slightly better service, nicer décor, but pretty much the same dire food!!!

It had been a spectacular day weather wise, so we resolved to go snorkeling the next day at a smaller  beach nearby that we had recce’ed the day before – complete with Lobster shack for lunch - poop to the hotel buffet! 

Unfortunately it was cloudy and dull on waking and as we waited for the sun to burn the clouds off, quite a strong wind set in, so that by the time we set off for our snorkel it was all a bit wild and wavy!

 After 10 minutes we could tell we needed to go a lot further out to see anything really interesting, plus we were getting constantly swamped by seawater down our snorkels, so we gave up and headed for shore.  Tried to dry off on the beach but the wind was still fierce, so we retired home for a  hot shower - note below our maid with a particular talent!

 

Went back for our lobster lunch – by far the best meal we had!  Butter, garlic – decent wine, yum, yum!!

It calmed down a bit after lunch so I took to the hotel beach again while Mick tackled the blog.  Then we planned the route for the next day, a south to north venture.