Cuba - Part Three

Sierra Maestra

Right, so we had a very detailed itinerary that Eduardo at Cubanacán in Bayamo had put together for us. The plan was to get a taxi from Bayamo to Santo Domingo, meet a group who were doing a 3 day / 2 night hike up to Pico Turquino and join them, possibly go past Pico Turquino towards Las Cuervas but then come back to Santo Domingo for the night and the next day go to La Commandancia. Then get a taxi back to Bayamo, pick up our rucksacks which we'd left in a hotel and get the bus to Santiago! Phew! If it all worked out that way then it was going to be a miracle!!!

Day 1 - So Monday morning was an early start - dropped our bags off at the hotel at 6.15am (and they knew we were coming so that was a good start!) and then the taxi turned up and drove us to Santo Domingo. But when we got there we couldn't find the group we were supposed to join. After discussions with various people it turned out that there wasn't a group and they had no idea we were coming. However, they managed to russle up a guide for us so that we could do the walk we had paid for. We were quite pissed off at this as we wanted to do a four day walk that started with La Commandancia and ended at Las Cuervas (which was closer to Santiago so we didn't have to go all the way back to Bayamo) but were told we couldn't do this as we couldn't have a guide to ourselves. But it turns out we could so we could've done whatever we had wanted! To top it off they guide they gave us, Ramón, didn't speak any English and we had to spend the next 3 days with him - oh joy!! The trail was really easy aswell, well they was only one trail so you couldn't get lost so we were a bit miffed that we needed a guide in the first place as we could navigate it ourselves easily enough. So Ramón just walked behind us smoking for most of the time which was nice! Glad to see it was so easy for him!

The first day was only 8km and so we thought it was going to be easy. We could've extended it to 13km but the first 5km involved walking up a very steep road so we thought we'd just get a jeep up that bit as it wasn't a very interesting walk! We took our time and kept stopping as it was only supposed to take 3-4 hours and there wasn't much to do and the shelter where we were going to be staying. However, at about 3.5km it started raining REALLY hard and we all got completely soaked! There was no point even putting a jacket on as it wouldn't have done much! So we just put our heads down and stepped it out, trying to get to the shelter as quickly as possible. This wasn't the easiest task though as the trail was all steps - either up or down so it was quite hard going. My legs felt a bit weak and we were starving but had no food (the mule was carrying it to the shelter via a different path, or so we were promised!), but we kept going!

Eventually we got there, feeling pretty knackered, cold and wet! It wasn't even a particularly enjoyable walk as it was so up and down you had to look at your feet all the time instead of what was surrounding you. But we made the first leg!

I cleverly didn't bring that many clothes with me so had to keep my wet trousers on and I was freezing! We had no idea if there was any food and the communication barrier was going to be quite a bit of an issue. We decided if they didn't have any food then we were just going to go back down the next morning... But there were a few other locals up there (well it was a good a place as any to hang out I guess!) and when we asked about food they said they were cooking dinner and were preparing a little snack for now too! Excellent! Cheese and ham sandwiches have never tasted so good!!!

We saw a pig wandering around and it kept going into the 'kitchen' which we thought wasn't really that hygienic, but then the whole place wasn't exactly overly clean so we tried not to think about it. But then later we saw it eating out of a cooking pot and figured that our food had been in there and probably would be in there again...!! Interesting! There were a few dogs knocking around too so they probably had some of our leftovers out of the bowl aswell!

We were so cold though we decided to get into bed for a few hours until dinner! We were staying in a little wooden hut that had a few bunk beds in but was pretty minimal and there was nothing else to do as it was still raining. As it was so humid up there we realised our clothes weren't going to dry either so had to prepare ourselves for 3 days of wet smelly clothes! I also didn't have a sleeping bag, just a liner, so was expecting to be really cold at night too...! Vivi went to investigate the toilet situation and basically found a shed with two sides missing and a box with a toilet seat on top! She refused to use it so went for a walk in the woods and squatted down under her poncho! Tracy and I went to see it later and it wasn't that bad and at least you had a nice view as you squatted!!!

We woke up to find some French people had turned up too, only they were quite rude so we didn't really talk to them! We had dinner of soup, chicken (I think but didn't want to question it!) and rice. And then we went back to bed as it was the warmest place, well not really that warm for me but it's all relative!!

Day 2 - up early as we had a reasonably long day ahead of us! It was 5km up to the peak and we could tag on another 4km round trip to the second highest peak if we wanted to...! We had an interesting breakfast of coffee, sliced rolls and hot dogs, which we had to share with the French so there wasn't really that much to go around. Then they started singing before we ate (the French!) which was a bit odd!

Off we went and the first 1km was constant uphill and really tough as even though it was steps they were uneven so you had to concentrate. I felt like a robot, just putting one foot in front of the other until we made it to the top (of the first section!). Then it was undulating after that, although still very up and down and pretty hard going. Legs felt better than yesterday though so even though it was tough it was still doable. We could see the peak in the distance but it looked so far away, however after less than three hours we got there!!

It was a slight anti climax though as you couldn't see anything from the top as it was all overgrown bushes!! The only reason I knew we were at the top was because there was a statue up there that I had seen in some photos!! But at least we made it! It was nice and hot and we weren't sure what the weather was going to do so we decided to just stay up there for a while instead of carrying onto the next peak. We managed to dry most of our clothes/socks/shoes off whilst we were up there which was great!

We walked back down which I thought would be slightly easier but I had forgotten how much downhill there was on the way there so it was uphill on the way back! So it took nearly as long to get back as it took to get there! But we had done the challenge so were feeling good (ish!)... Spent the rest of the day chilling out at the shelter and drying the rest of our wet clothes. Then had another unidentifiable dinner and went to bed!

Day 3 - we were going back to civilisation, yeah!! We had a hotel booked for that night as it was the only accommodation in the village and were really looking forward to having a shower, a private wee and some good food!

Ramón did his only guide bit of the entire three days by taking us back a different way to the one we came. There weren't any steps, just a trail that zig zagged down the mountains which was great! It was so much nicer than the trail we came on! It was probably about 13km ish back to the village and it took just over four hours. It was a lovely day too, really nice weather so it was quite enjoyable really, you even had some views of the surrounding area, it wasn't restricted like the other trail!

We got back to the hotel and it was so nice to have some good food and a hot shower!! We also tried to organise our trip to La Commandancia for the next day to see if we could get an English speaking guide. We thought we were successful but only time would tell!!

We chilled out for the rest of the day and then had a great dinner and a few drinks in the evening. The waiter gave us free mojitos as well which was nice of him! But then he decided to sit with us, although he didn't really talk much! All we got out of him was that he had an English girlfriend and was really bored at work!! Eventually we went to bed but then 5 mins later I got a knock at the door and Vivi and Tracy had come to tell me that the waiter guy had come looking for me and had been knocking on their door whispering my name!!! Fortunately they didn't tell him which room I was in and told him to go away, so we didn't hear from him again that night!!

Day 4 - The next morning we went back to the tourist office, and even though we weren't given the guide we had arranged, we were still given an English speaking one which was good! We were supposed to get the jeep back up the hill but it was taking ages and we were on a bit of a tight schedule as we needed to get back to Bayamo in the afternoon for our bus to Santiago. I kept asking the guy where the jeep was but he didn't really seem that bothered and was quite surprised when I said we had been waiting for 1/2hr. But eventually it turned up and I understood why it took so long - the jeep was about to die!! It sounded horrendous and could only drive at about 5 mph!! But we made it to the top without it breaking down and then walked to La Commandancia. It was a really nice walk, quite easy, and the views were really good too. The guy really knew his stuff aswell and so could tell us all about the history of the place which was really interesting. There were lots of huts around that were used for different purposes, e.g. hospital, kitchens etc, and then there was the main place where Fidel lived and slept during the Revolution. It was really interesting and so I'm really glad we made the extra effort to stay overnight and come to see this.

And then once we got back to the hotel we picked up our stuff and found a guy who was supposed to be taking us back to Bayamo! We got back to the hotel in Bayamo where we had left all our bags, picked them up and then walked to the bus station. We had to exchange our voucher for bus tickets but the guy wouldn't let us until the bus turned up. I really didn't understand why and so kept asking but he kept saying no. I asked if there was a problem, as the last thing we wanted was to have to stay in Bayamo another night and he kept shaking his head. But eventually I realised he was just messing with me - a Cuban with a sense of humour, fancy that!! However, I wasn't really in the mood but didn't know how to say that in Spanish!! So there I was in the waiting room at Bayamo bus station and I suddenly declared 'I think Cuba has finally taken it's toll on me!' It had taken a few weeks but it had finally broken me! But after laughing hysterically for a few minutes I was OK again, the bus turned up and off we went!!!