04/03/2020 Baracoa 2

04/03/2020 Baracoa 2

Today we want to visit the eastern end of Cuba, the Maisi lighthouse. A guide will accompany us. We start in a cocoa plantation, where everything is explained to us about the plant, the harvest, and the processing.

The young lady of the plantation makes an effort to explain the processes in three different languages.

We are allowed to taste and buy. It is remarkable how good cocoa tastes without sugar, only at the end, with the "bonbons," do we recognize our chocolate again.

We continue to the lighthouse, which is about 60 km away. If the weather is good, you can see the coast of Haiti, which is only 70 km away. At the lighthouse there are huts for guests, a pool and a bar. But who wants to come here, so far away from the usual hustle and bustle. They don't even have beer and we drive back to a canyon and take a boat up the river flowing into the sea for a few meters. It is the dry season and the Rio Yumuri carries only a little water. We see the national bird, the tocororo. Can you recognize it in the picture?

In an airy beach restaurant there are shrimp and squid, then we go back, but not before visiting some beaches. At the last beach, unexpectedly, the air goes out of a car tire, and our guide promises to take care of that for us. After 2 hours he is back and has also taken a joyride with our car for 40 km, old rascal. We suspect that he let the air out while we were walking on the beach, because it was the tire of the car. And so he could be sure to have the car for himself and to show off a little bit.

For that, we go out nicely again in the evening, in the restaurant today there is a live band playing not so loud Cuban tunes. We are satisfied.