10 Days in Cuba: Havana to Viñales and the Coconut Chicken
Day 1: Arrive in Havana.
We arrived safely in Cuba after around 18 hours of travel. We ate cereal bars and fell asleep. We wild.
Day 2: Our first real day in Havana.
We start with the usual walk around to acclimatise. I think I love it already. It isn’t manic like you’d expect from a capital. It’s relaxed but still colourful and vibrant. For two girls travelling we felt pretty safe, which is obviously a bonus. I mean, one does attract attention (lots of catcalls, “Hey lady” and kissing noises which is odd) but that said, it’s actually playful rather than threatening. Another plus is that it’s pretty liberal. I’m always happy in a place where the locals wear less than you.
We explored, waited in a long queue to convert cash, (I mean long, I complained constantly) and lastly, sourced WiFi. This consists of buying a WiFi card and sitting in a designated park to get connected. WiFi is pretty restricted in Cuba if you hadn’t twigged.
Our hostel (Hostel Corazon del mundo) has a roof terrace where everyone gathers at 8:30pm to drink rum and hatch a plan for the night. A bottle of rum costs the equivalent of 3 dollars so you can imagine what happens with that and a load of backpackers. Havana is full of smiles and spontaneous salsa, so the nightlife is no exception.
Day 3: Taxi to Viñales. A rickety car filled with 6 people for 3 hours, on bumpy roads post rum tum. Nobodies dream especially mine seeing as the Imodium packets already been cracked. Can’t take us anywhere. I think we arrive in Viñales, head to a vegetarian restaurant and fall asleep. Let’s blame jet lag. And my hangover.
Day 4: We took what looked like a converted army truck to the beach. You can never get tired of the cars, every day brings a new surprise. We got pretty burnt and took selfies (standard Brit’s abroad). Seriously though, Cuba has beautiful beaches. Pinar Del Rio had crystal clear water, mangrove trees growing through the sand and generally looked like a screensaver. I think we got heat stroke. Roxanne, an ecologist might I add, said “That’s a weird looking chicken. Oh wait, it’s a coconut”.
Something to note: Learning Spanish before I came would have been super handy. When our Host-Mum spoke to me on any occasion I just looked confused and called Roxanne.
Day 5: Tour of the national park. It wasn’t quite what we expected. As in, a lad in welly boots met us by our front door and led us up the back roads of Viñales. Luckily he seemed nice, though spoke little English and I realised why he was wearing wellies... my trainers didn’t quite cut it. That said, it was a beautiful way to see the mountains and a Tabacco plantation. He then told us we were going to check out some caves. What’s claustophic in Spanish?
