Trinidad

The town not the island, a good six/seven hour bus ride from Vinales. The bus dropped us off on a side street with hardly any room to move between the people scrambling to get your business in their casa. We went with Elio, a teacher of languages who lives just a short walk down the road. Sarah was well catered for as Elio's brother was a chef who was more inventive with dinners, not an omelet in sight. 

Streets of Trinidad

Canchanchara -a Trinidad special, firewater (rum), water, honey, ice, lime juice, served in bulbous clay pots, a delicious concoction for pre-dinner drinks. Another night for pre-dinner drinks we wondered into the Iberostar Grand Hotel, a Spanish owned hotel chain that felt like stepping into the Titanic. Full of art deco, vintage decor and a waiter with impeccable service so much so we went back the three nights we were in Trinidad. 

A day out at Playa Ancon, not as secluded as Cayo Levisa, yet just as nice, with a good mix of locals and tourists enjoying the sunshine. While on the beach there was the threat of another tropic storm which ended up just being very dark clouds coming over the beach - a pretty cool visual.

Playa Ancon

There were various tour operators, but we found them to not quite offer the full listing, the most helpful was a guy sitting on the Cubatur desk. We booked a tour out to the national park to the Guanayara trail with a waterfall and small pool to swim in. The road up to the trail was pretty rough, needing a 4x4 wheel drive. The taxi driver dropped us at one end of the walking trail and picked us up at the other end after lunch. We wondered the trail though coffee plantations at the beginning then it turned into lush forest, it took about two hours, a very relaxed trail nothing too extreme, no one but us and a couple of locals overtaking us. On the way back to Trinidad we passed what I think was a hire car with a few tourists in trying to get up the trail and not having much luck at all. They were going in the opposite direction, I hope they got to wherever they were trying to go.

Guanayara Trail

Trinidad had the most amount of shopping for tourists selling much of the same thing, art, lace, wooden trinkets, and buckets of necklaces made of seeds, all a little same, same, but different of which I bough just a few. 

We went to Cuba in low season, I hope that in peak season it gets busier, as we went to a few places that just had way too many staff for the number of customers coming in. Don't go to Cuba for the food, it's not that exciting, except the fruits, I had a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich every day the whole trip. Do go to Cuba to sit, drink rum, wonder around, listen to music and take your time. More photos of Trinidad here.