Torrential Trinidad
We reunited in Trinidad, at simply the coolest casa in Cuba. Jorge Mendez showed us around, great room with a private bathroom with a hot shower, bonus. Throw in their own bar, kitchen, sun deck and swimming pool and we had our digs. Sadly we also had torrential rain so didn't get much use out of the pool and sundeck. We had a huge cuban meal and an early night, we had 2 main goals in Trinidad, hike to the waterfalls in Cubano Parque and for Juanita to try scuba diving.
The room was cool and pitch black, we slept for 12 hours, finally catching up after the jetlag and our solo adventure follies. We woke up to more torrential rain, as in, there's a river outside my door torrential rain. Another amazing breakfast. Hit the tourist office. No boats are running due to rain, ok, lets hike, its only rain. We packed up the wet weather gear and headed towards the park only to find the taxi drivers wouldn't go because the park was closed, also due to the rain. So thats plan A and B out the window, back to the casa. The rain gets heavier. Our new buddy Adonis, yes really, tells us that the champions league football final is on TV so we cracked a beer and watched football for the next few hours. I guess that's cultural in South America ?
The rain eased up and we headed into the old town for snacks and bevvies which ended up being dinner and hung-out in bars. The old town in Trinidad is beautiful, classic old colourful buildings and cobblestone streets, every house has stuff for sale in the front room, art, woodwork, clothes, food, drinks and live music in every bar with happy smiling faces, stark contrast to the previous few days. We grabbed a takeaway bottle of rum and headed back to the casa for a nightcap.
Sunny blue sky greeted us in the morning. Diving was out the window as the boat didn't get back until 5pm and we had a four o'clock bus. So, again, lets hike. Good news was the park was open, our taxi was a tiny little Fiat 1000 which soon became a 4-wheel-drive as the road in was a mess from the rain. A few gnarly moments and we got to the trail only to find it closed due to mud slides and high water. Ah crap. We tried. The road back was just as interesting as the road in, except this time Jorje was tasked with holding onto a log out the window of the Fiat as we drove. The log used to get up and down those bigger bumps in the little car.
So with nothing we wanted to achieve in Trinidad actually done, we got ready to move on. We were however happy with our time, the mood and vibe was definitely back. Trinidad is a charming place. The last few hours spent sitting outside with cocktails and live tunes in the sunshine of the musica club.
Cienfuego here we come.
