Cuba 2012 - Southeast

Cuba 2012 – Southeast:

As with our previous trip, we spent our time in Cuba land cruising. In the southeast we revisited Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba with new destination sof Holguin, Gibara, El Cobre and the small village of Cauto Cristo. 

As we people watched in one of Holguin’s elegant treed plazas, we were approached by a school teacher who wanted to talk about the state of affairs in his country. He pointed out the line up at the Coppelia ice cream store as an example of good quality products not being accessible to all Cubans. We asked him for a recommendation for a good non-tourist restaurant for lunch and invited him to join us for a meal. While we waited for a table to become available he treated us to a personal walking tour of a nearby historic district of the city that has not yet made it to the top of the restoration list.

Public art is everywhere.

Our new friend gave us a tutorial on the difference between two of Cubas popular street refreshments; guarapo and granizaado. Guarapo is the juice squeezed from sugar cane that is sold at stands called guaraperas while granizado is crushed ice flavored with sweet syrup and usually sold from mobile street carts

International Women’s Day is a major celebration in Cuba. Every woman on the dock in Puerto de Vita was presented with a single, fresh red rose from the marina management. We were also invited to one of several parties in the village that night. A boom box was set up on the open air stage and a pot of mystery contents was brewing over an open fire nearby. A small crowd of girls and women gathered and the dancing began. The mystery meal, which turned out to be a flavorful vegetable stew, was dished out and a fancy decorated cake appeared to finish the celebration

Holguin’s street vendors were out in full force in honour of International Womens Day.

The autopista from Holguin to Bayamo passes through several villages. Cauto Cristo appeared to have opportunities for lunch without going too far off the main road.

Guarapo was on the lunch menu at this guarapera.

 Besides having  lunch our travelling companion was able to have some footwear repaired while she waited barefoot on the street …

 … and Tom got his hair cut for about 80 cents.

As we passed through other villages we saw …

… swimming lessons in progress …

 … fresh leaf lettuce for sale …

… strings of mandarin oranges in season.

In Bayamo, our casa particular host, Arturo, told us that the three room maximum has been eliminated for casa owners as one of many recent economic changes that have taken place in Cuba. Arturo was in the process of renovating the building next door that he had acquired to increase his number of rooms to six.

Posters publicizing the Pope’s upcoming visit were in abundance when we arrived in Cuba. Also advertised was a major anniversary of the Iglesia de la Caridad del Cobre, one of the locations in and around Santiago de Cuba where Benedict XVI was expected to make an appearance. We made a point of planning our trip to the Santiago area to NOT coincide with the papal visit to avoid having to deal with potential crowds, road closures and scarcity of accommodations. Juana, the older of the two sisters that we hired to do our laundry, is a staunch catholic. We promised that we would bring back some souvenirs for her.

The Iglesia is home to the Virgen de la Caridad , an icon that was reportedly recovered from the sea in 1606 by some nearly shipwrecked sailors who were rewarded with calm seas after rescuing it. Over the years the icon has become an important religious symbol in Cuba representing both the Catholic Virgin of Charity and Santeria’s Ochun or goddess of love.

The grounds and building were spotless. The famous golden statue is on display high above the altar.

On arrival in Santiago de Cuba we went directly to the same casa particular near the city center where we had stayed the year before only to find that it was already occupied. As always seems to be the case in Cuba, we were quickly shown to another casa nearby that had space available.

 The view from our casa particular lit by the early morning sunshine.The Cathedral on Parque Cespedes (far left) was in the final stages of a face lift in light of the papal visit just three weeks away.

Parque Cespedes is a great spot for people watching.

 From the balcony of the Hotel Casa Granda we were able to enjoy the performers without constsntly being hit up for tips.These two guys were my favorites.

We visited a museum in Santiago where one of the guides treated us to an impromptu rendition one of a song used to motivate the revolutionaries. The original recording was on display. Outside we met a former doctor who had been incarcerated for several years after giving a less than diplomatic response to a question about the state of certain health issues in the province.

 There were dance lessons and excellent late night entertainment at the Casa de las Tradiciones.

Evidence that the Canadian banking industry had a presence in Cuba prior to the revolution.

Coffee to go. No double double here.

On our final day in Santiago de Cuba we drove out to the marina and Castillo del Morro, a Spanish fortress built in the 1600’s, both about 8 km south of the city.

At the marina we met up with two boats that we had met in the Bahamas and were making brief stops before heading further south. The marina itself was in much the same condition as last year – in need of a good face lift.

The fortress was almost deserted. We wandered through the maze of rooms and enjoyed the magnificent views; south out to sea, west across the channel to Cayo Granma and north to Bahia de Santiago and the marina.

                              The fortress was built in the 17^th century to ward off pirate attacks.

                                       Several ornate canons line the road leading to the fortress.

With one day left on the rental car when we returned to Puerto de Vita we had time for a day trip to the fishing village of Gibara. The map book that came with the rental indicated a road that looked shorter that driving back to Holguin then north to the coast.

The map is pretty accurate with respect to the location of the roads but it falls short when it comes to describing the quality of the driving surface.

Cooling off.

When we arrived at the village it was soon obvious to us that this is not a place frequented by large numbers of tourists. Finding a place for lunch was going to be harder than we expected, that is until we met Leonardo. When we asked Leonardo about a restaurant he told us that his mother has a casa particular and suggested that maybe she could make lunch for us. He took us to meet her and have a look at what she had to offer. We agreed that we would return for lunch after a walk about the village.

 The ladies in this small cigar factory greeted us with smiles as we walked past the open windows.

After lunch Leonardo took us to see his house. He felt fortunate to have a place of his own with his wife and young son. He explained to us that Cuba the divorce rate is very high because most young couples do not have a choice but to live with their parents. The small two room house where he lives belongs to his aunt who did not need the space. It has a small yard where he can keep a few chickens. He talked to us about his dreams for the future. He is studying several languages (mostly self -taught using multiple dictionaries) to improve his chances of being able to work at the small hotel that is being restored to increase tourism in the area. Eventually he would like to have his own casa particular.

This is the view from the bar at the Mirador del Gibara – Los Caneyes where Leonardo works. It is open 24 hours and he is able to study during the long night shifts when it is not too busy.

We were honoured to be invited to Alexi’s home for dinner with his wife Cecilia and their children on our last night in Puerto de Vita. This was another example of the changes in Cuba since our last visit. Alexi is an employee of the marina and fraternizing with the guests used to be discouraged. Inviting them to your home was not allowed. Now it is possible as long as permission is requested and granted in advance.

Alexi and Cecilia preparing our meal.

 Tom gets painting lessons in Spanish from Maria.