Today we are off to Trinidad, our Hostal has arranged a private taxi to take us there, the drive is one and a half hours and Rosie is hoping it will be drama free! We have a young driver called Ronaldo, his English is very good and he turns up on the dot of 1000.
He asks if we would mind if his girlfriend comes with us in the front seat of the taxi. He would like to take her out for the day in Trinidad after he drops us off.
No problem, his family home is a large place on the Prado and he toots outside. We are off and Ronaldo points out the places of interest along the way. He tells us that the belching oil refineries that we can see process raw oil shipped in from Venezuala, one of Cubas remaining friends after the US dumped them, and its processed into petrol here in Cienfuegos.
Ronaldo tells us that after the revolution the government shut down the sugar mills in Cienfuego which had made this town very rich. What was once a massive economic plus for this town is now nothing and Ronaldo said their sugar is now sent to Cienfuego from other parts of Cuba. Rosie kind of thinks with a socialists governments thinking, the government was reshuffling the economy of Cuba…you cannot have everything in one area…
Ronaldo was proud to say that he went to university and trained to be a school teacher. The government wages though are too poor. He has bought this car, which is the family car and has been working as a taxi driver for the last couple of years. His grandfather started the family taxi business and had a big American car. Ronaldos father then took over the car and sold it to buy their current Peugeot as the American car was unreliable and started to break down. He proudly said the tourists like its comfort better and it has air conditioning. He now owns and drives it, working 7 days a week and never has a day off. He said it is a hard life and everything is so expensive here in Cuba, the young people want more and are starting to complain that they cannot earn more. Rosie asks if he thinks there will be another revolution on the horizon….Ronaldo grins and shrugs his shoulders, no one verbalises any discention here.
Ronaldo drives us carefully in his Taxi, the road to Trinidad is slow, narrow and filled with potholes. He tells us that it is the time of the year that the crabs come down from the mountains where they live in trees and make their way to the beach where they mate and have their babies.
What at first glance you thought were stones on the side of the road are actually crab corpses. The Operator and the taxi driver saw a couple scuttle away, apparently they are quite big and quick moving. At this time of the day the temp outside was 32c, the road was way to hot for the crabs said Ronaldo, they only cross to the sea at night and not a word of a lie he said the road is covered in crabs during the month long migration. Wow, Rosie would have loved to see that.
Being a diligent driver Ronaldo takes us to the door of our next Hostal just a couple of hundred meters from the old town we wish him well for the future and tell him to be ready to embrace the changes which will come to Cuba.
What a fabulous hassle free ride we had today to Trinidad from an amazing young man. Join us tomorrow as we show you around this beautiful picturesque town…..it is incredible!
