Leaving the Tower Iznaga on the bike we retraced our steps and headed for the beach, Playa Ancon, which is only 4 kms outside of Trinidad. This sign below was one of the first ‘motorway’ signs we had seen so far in Cuba.
We buzzed past some tidal estuaries which are renowned for the local bird life. Rosie felt sorry for the birds, they have to compete with a tidal estuary completely full of rubbish and plastic. The whole country is just one giant rubbish dump. At every beautiful place we have been too rubbish is strewn everywhere. In the national parks, near the tourist hot spots, it is totally shocking and yet this nation personally seems to be so house proud. All of the places we have stayed are spotlessly clean, steps and footpaths outside houses are scrubbed every morning….yet any open area seems to be free for dumping.
We carry on, Playa Ancon is THE beach, it stretches for a couple of miles and there are resorts at the end of the peninsula, Rosie and The Operator didn’t go and see them, we were only interested in the free beaches, turned out they still were not free, the local parking warden was there and charged us $1cuc to park the bike.
We weren’t actually sure if this was legit, but hey, there was a gang of them, it was $1 plus we were leaving our bike unattended. Seemed wise to just pay.
To have a tiki hut on the beach offering some shade was another $1cuc and to be on a beach that offered sun loungers…that was another $1cuc each too…for these daily prices, they are nearly free.
The small areas of sand were pure white and the sea was a beautiful turquoise…you all know what beachy people Rosie and The Operator are…we stalked the perimeter, took a few pics and went to find a lobster lunch. Let it be noted, there were no locals on this beach, it was lined with pasty red skinned tourists and speedo clad leathery skinned Germans…who are a tourist class all of their own.
This restaurant, in the middle of no where, on the beach front, with the most fantastic view ever, was jammed packed full of people and there were no tables…which meant no lobster for Rosie.
We rode on to Casilda, a small village that has a commercial fishing fleet.
Casilda is one main street, it was Sunday and everyone was lounging in the shade on said main street. Dogs were roaming and goats were nibbling at any elusive greenery they could find.
Down at the ‘port’ it was all closed off with a droopy chicken wire fence with mean as human sized holes cut into it. There was a gate and dudes were inside repairing, sanding and repainting their boats, there were about 50 tied up there in total.
We were about to enter the open gate and a man comes out of a hut and tells us we cannot come in, he seemed very apologetic and motioned that we could take photos through the wire….OK, we did and headed back to the main street.
A lively open air bar was up and pumping some good sounds, time to stop for a drink, it was a local cantina and was selling all manor of drinks, ice creams and ciggies. We ordered the tap beer in a dispenser, ‘uno litro por favor’, we are driving after all.
Was nice to sit and watch the empty main street in the shade with everyone else. A man was getting a new mattress delivered on the back of a horse and cart.
People were coming and going from the cantina and nodding at us. Time to move on, a man was sitting next to our scooter which was parked in the shade on the footpath about 50 metres from us, The Operator thinks he was trying to charge us for ‘watching’ it for us….not in this life time. He was talking away to us in Spanish and holding out his hand, with a cheery Adios, we were off.
We stopped for lunch at a breezy wee open sided Tiki Shack just off the main road on the beach.
We had fresh fish (and even think we saw it getting delivered from the beach) with shrimps, rice and salad. Rosie looked down, we had companions, half a dozen lizards were around us on the floor looking up at us with curly tails and flicking tongues.
The Operator feed them some rice, they loved it, they were cute and getting a little to bold and close for Rosies liking….then a big group of people turned up and they scuttled away to the rock borders at the edge of the restaurant.
La Boca was our next stop, about another 5km on. The Lonely planet said there was nothing there but a ‘couple of casas and a nice beach front’, well, this info was well out of date.
There were plenty of colourful houses advertising rooms for rent. There was a lovely pebbly beach front with heaps of local people swimming in the blue rocky lagoon. Huge trees lined the beach front offering plenty of shade under which horses and carts parked with families lounging on them.
There were a few tiki hut style cocktail bars, a pizza joint/bar and an ice cream store. Rosie would have loved to stay in this sleepy hollow for a day or two! It seemed so laid back and really chilled, not that many people around and no tourists except us. It really reminded me a little of the Coromandel at home in New Zealand, this place is on the rise and me thinks it wont be undiscovered for too long.
Riding back to Trinidad we dropped off the bike and Rosie and the Operator went back to the Casa for a wee siesta from the heat. As the sun set and the shadows became longer the colours of the houses become more intense and it is the perfect time for a final wander around Trinidad.
The next morning Dr Amaro was almost tearful as he kissed us both good bye and and wished us a safe journey, thanking us for staying in ‘his humble home’. ‘It means such a lot to us,’ he said, ‘every tourist that stays gives us financial independence and a better life, tell all your friends about us and don’t forget to review us on TripAdvisor’.
We had thoroughly enjoyed our time in Trinidad and, with Dr Amaro getting smaller in the back window and still waving vigorously, we were off to Santa Clara.
Join us there tomorrow as we show you around where the Cuban Revolution ended.
