Trinidad in Cuba

We are now in the southeastern part of Cuba, in a town called Trinidad.  Many confused this with the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, a pair of Caribbean islands.  We stopped at a pottery shop after driving into town.

Pottery Shop

Then we checked into the Casa Lieser for a 2-night stay, a nice and clean AirBnB run by a family.  Unfortunately, there were constant blackouts while we were here.  They have to rely on generators for a limited amount of electricity, which is not even enough to power a fan.

We set out to explore the town and have lunch.  The town looks old and the streets are made of stones or rocks.

A street in Trinidad

A common form of transportation

one of the buildings

A lobster lunch

The church, which is also a museum, in front of the square

We next have a lesson on Cuban percussion instruments.  It was a fun time for everyone.

Names of percussion instruments

Ready to play the bongo drum

The evening ended at a rooftop bar with live music.

A neighborhood

Neighborhood Street

Sunset view of the city

Rooftop Bar

Sunset from the roof

We had a free day in Trinidad the next day.  All of us chose to go snorkeling.  We drove about an hour outside of Trinidad to a beautiful, mostly empty Ancon Beach.  At its peak there must have been many tourists that come here.  The warm waters of the Caribbean Sea is inviting.  We boarded our catamaran and rode about 20 minutes off the beach.  For $15 we were provided snorkel gear and a ride to a dive spot.  All of us snorkeled, some with life jackets, some without.  There were beautiful corals and colorful fish.  The warm water and sun felt good.

Ancon Beach

Restaurant

Catamaran that we took out to sea

Our location in Cuba

That night we had our farewell dinner at a local restaurant.  We were entertained by a duet playing acoustic guitars.  We had a wonderful time listening to songs we loved:  Guantanamera, El Condor Pasa, Felix Navidad, La Bamba, Besame Mucho, etc

It's technically our last day of the trip.  We are taking a long drive, about 7 hours, back to Havana.  On the way we'll stop at Santa Clara, to visit the Che Guevara Mausoleum.  Three of the most notables names in the Cuban Revolution are Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro and Che Guevara.  The mausoleum tells the story with pictures of the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara.  

A 1960 Iconic Photo, from Wikipedia

"Until Victory Always"

A Che Guevara Statue

After a very long drive in a not very spacious van, we are finally in Havana.  We checked into the Casa D'Osbe, a multi-floored AirBnB.  This is our group's last night together in Cuba.  I was supposed to stay an extra day so that I can revisit some of the sites that I missed.  However, I think I have seen enough of Havana.  I decided to change my flight to leave a day early.  The wifi was slow and I had to repeat some transactions several times to get the flight changed on Delta Airlines.  Finally, with much relief, I was able to change my flight to leave a day early.  My flight leaves in the late afternoon so I have time to walk around the neighborhood before heading to the airport.  Some of the classic cars pictures were taken during this walk.  I also walked along the Malecón or the esplanade along the coast in Havana.  It feels unreal walking here after seeing so many pictures of Cuba, especially the Malecón.

We enjoyed out last dinner together at a restaurant across the street.  A few in the group ordered steaks.  They came out badly, almost uneatable.  They were returned.  Most of us were not too hungry because we had a big buffet lunch at the Che Guevara Plaza.

At long last our beautiful trip in Cuba came to an end.  In the morning we'll be taking taxis to the airport.  Since my flight leaves late in the afternoon I have another morning to walk around Havana.  I took pictures of more classic cars and sights that I missed.  I even stopped at Casa Azul, the hotel where I stayed the first few nights, to say good-bye to Frankie at the front desk.  He was the first Cuban I met who speaks very good English and took good care of me.  I said good-bye the night before to the hotel "go-to" guy, Cesar. who also took good care of me while I was staying there.

To answer the question that everyone has been asking, "No.  It's not dangerous in Cuba.  People are very friendly here."