Our Cuba Adventure - Part 5

Trinidad is where our Cuban adventure almost ended. It was here that Air BnB let us down, where the places for rent were dirty and dingy and where the beaches we saw in La Boka reminded us of Addington Beach on a bad day.

As we sat in the main square in Trinidad, and we started making plans to leave Cuba and venture somewhere more adaptable in the Caribbean, and while Tomas waited in the queue to buy internet cards, so we could surf the web to look at available flights out of Cuba, I was chasing the shade on my park bench.

The lack of basics has started to get under our skins. Feeling like you are constantly being ripped off by everyone you come into contact with was so soul destroying, the one shop tried to rip us off for $26 on just a water and ice cream. The dual currency was confusing and we were still trying to identify one peso note from the other resulting in us sometimes paying twenty five times more then we were suppose to.

While waiting on my green park bench, checking out sweet uncles discussing the beauty of their caged birds, I saw Tomas coming from the Internet shop waving the cards and displaying new found enthusiasm. He had just spent two hours in the full sun waiting to get the cards.

When he sat beside me he said; "I just met a really cool chic, and she recons that Trinidad has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and definitely in Southern Cuba." He pulled out his phone, punched the two long secret numbers into his cell phone settings and Googled Playa Ancon, he put his screen in my face and said; "Look at this baby, I think we have arrived."

When I saw the photos of the famous Ancon beach, I knew we had found what we came searching for in Cuba. We found our piece of paradise, sadly it took us almost two weeks, but as they say in the West, better late then never.

Our next stop was the bike rental place, Trinidad has two rental places and you cannot book the bikes in advance. It's strictly on a first come first serve basis. We were lucky, we arrived at 3pm and someone has just dropped off their bike and we were handed an almost brand new Suzuki AN125 scooter.

That afternoon we drove to our dingy sad Casa Particulare, packed our bags and decided to find a decent home for us to enjoy the next four weeks of our holiday. That night we drove around La Boca and looked at all the rental homes, which are easy to locate as they all have a sign that looks like a blue upside down anchor on the front door.

We knew we found our Cuban home when we saw granny Nieves' Casa, it was clean from the outside and beautiful potted plants dotted its porch. Two traditional wooden rocking chairs stood in a neat and tidy courtyard.

Within 30 minutes we had found not just a home away from home, we had also found the family that would take care of us and make us feel like we were visiting our relatives. Granny Nieves, who is 82 years old, welcomed us with open arms; "Primera, Primera."

"Ustedes son mis primeros visitants," she said, meaning you are my first visitors, and she kept reminding us. It was our good luck as well as hers. We settled on $15 per day and we booked for just two nights. You can never judge a place you see just by looking at it, it may look fantastic but maybe the plumbing leaks or the road is noisy or maybe the bed is wonky, you have to consider all these things when you book your next holiday spot.

Needless to say, granny Nieves home was "Primera", "Perfecta". New beds, new sheets new structure, but the best part of our new Cuban home was that, granny Nieves, Carlos (Nieves' son) and Chinas (Nieves' daughter-in-law) were living at the back.

With our Scooter and our new home, our Cuban adventure took a new form. We had freedom at last, no more dealing with crooked taxi drivers, no more dealing with slow internet (we did not need internet anymore) the search was over.

Now our days were filled with holiday routine, morning Yoga, lavish breakfast (fresh bread was delivered daily to our door by a whistling bicycle man) and a short motorcycle ride to one of the magnificent beaches that Ancon has to offer. Once there we would swim, snorkel, jump off coral reefs into crystal clear turquoise delight and drink rum from the bottle.

We were free to reconnoitre, discover and explore, Cuba was our oyster.

Each day after our swim we headed to Trinidad where we indulged in some five star luxuries. A quick chat to our sons and parents, a double espresso and an Italian mineral water. By now we also knew where to buy cheese and veggies and we started to feel like we were on holiday.

Trinidad is one of those Cuban cities where time slips easily away from you. Its a compact and colourful town with plenty to keep you occupied, from little art galleries and street markets to climbable clock towers and an underground disco cave.

When you here you must visit the "Valle de Los Ingenios." Just outside of Trinidad is the "Valle de Los Ingenios", a stunning valley which once fuelled the country's sugar industry. Nowadays the ruined 19th century sugar mills are all that's left, but they're still fascinating places to explore. We headed to the Manaca Iznaga sugar estate, which is situated about 15 km away from Trinidad, and climbed up the old 44-metre-high bell tower to gaze across the valley. Later we bought some souvenirs from the hawkers selling beautifully hand embroidered crafts.

Next week we might, just might take you on our revolutionary motorcycle diary adventure to Playa Garon and the Bay of Pigs but maybe we might just linger a little longer in Trinidad with my granny Nieves.