Another brilliant morning greeted us on February 24, 2009. This morning we wanted to explore the local area surrounding our resort in the Parque Baconao, just about one hour east of Santiago de Cuba. We decided to go horse-back riding and went to our local friend Cheno who was stationed outside of the resort with his horses Careta and Muneca. Cheno himself was going to ride a little pony, creatively name Pony, and accompany us on the local trails.
We started walking slowly into the mountains, past simple wooden huts and a training centre for border guards who were standing around with machine guns. Then we turned east and walked through a forested area. After a nice ride through the woods we stopped on a hill above the Laguna de Baconao. We rested for about 10 minutes, headed down to the water and enjoyed the view over the large lagoon. After a short time back in the saddle we stopped at the Palmares Restaurant next to the southern end of the lagoon and quenched our thirst with a cold drink. After the rest it was a little harder getting onto the horses, because by now my rear end was seriously hurting. Despite the slight discomfort, it had been a great way of discovering the rural areas surrounding the Laguna de Baconao.
In the late afternoon I decided to embark on my next Cuban urban adventure. I had arranged with one of the resorts waitresses to meet in Santiago, explore the city at night-time and stay overnight at a friends place to continue exploring the city the next morning. During the ride on the workers bus I had an interesting conversation with the resorts maintenance manager who gave me very unique insight into the Cuban economy and the way tourism is run in Cuba. We also talked about life in Cuba and the role of the CDR (the Comite de la Defensa de la Revolucion).
At 6:30 I arrived in Santiagos Parque Cespedes and Maria and her friend Manolo picked me up to take me on a night in town. We walked past Plaza Dolores, then Parque Cespedes (Santiagos main square) and stopped in front of the Museo Emilio Bacardi Moreau, an imposing classicist building. Next we had a peek into the Casa de la Trova, a popular place that features authentic live Cuban music.
A few steps away we sat down in the famous Café Isabelica where we drank real Cuban coffee. After this it was time to eat and we picked a local state-run restaurant which had an interesting design reminiscent of old Andalusian buildings. Cuban food is not renowned for its quality at the best of times, but the food quality in state-run restaurants is usually even worse than in the privately owned restaurants. Also known as paladares, privately owned restaurants are one of the few officially allowed private businesses in Cuba, and the quality of their food is generally much better than that of the government-owned restaurants. My friends Maria and Manolo were not very pleased with the quality of the food and told the waiter about it who just shrugged his shoulders. Communism doesnt do much to enhance the customer service experience
After dinner we stopped at the Artex complex which offers various types of artwork and souvenirs and has a nice courtyard with a great ambience. A live band was playing traditional Cuban music for a small audience under the star-lit skies. Then we walked around a bit and checked out the lively scene on Plaza Dolores where we had a peak into what looked like a bar or dance club. Not many tourists seemed to be around, most of the nightlife was dominated by the locals.
We capped the evening off with some ice cream in another state-owned 24-hour restaurant and Manolo and Maria took me into the port area where I stayed at Manolos brothers house for one night. The house was very comfortable, and I even had a wall-mounted Sony television and a private bathroom at my personal disposal. My Cuban friends hospitality was outstanding and they helped me get to know Santiago through the eyes of an insider. There is no better way to explore a place than with the help of local experts.
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