Veñales

7:45, they're here, let's go! We'll be picked up by a Buick, no idea how old, the rear right window is missing, no display in the car works, as I said, it's raining like crazy and only one windshield wiper is working. But the guy seems to have it under control, we're sitting three in the front, otherwise the person in the back right would get wet, and when it starts raining harder, Max is offered a bag as a replacement for his missing window. I like it.

In the end, Malte also gets wet on the passenger seat and my feet in the front middle, as it's raining through somewhere on the windshield.

Our first stop is a kind of rest area, as we need breakfast. Not very spectacular. So let's continue...

Once again, 'oh no, actually not', the car won't start, so we push the car, to the laughter of the Cuban girls in the car next to us. It doesn't help, but somehow he gets the car running and we continue.🤘🏽

Veñales was definitely cool, we visited a tobacco farm and were shown how a cigar is rolled, then we went to a kind of limestone cave including a small boat tour, not very spectacular, but the view of the mountains at our first stop is really amazing!

On the way to Las Terazas, we pass by a group of young Cubans who are excitedly gathered around a cockfight, we take a brief look, but then continue to escape this strange tradition.

Our driver, who makes a really nice impression, worked through the night according to his statement and is visibly fighting his fatigue. Obviously, we feel a bit uneasy about this and keep an eye on him. So we stop at the next opportunity to strengthen ourselves. A small family provides us with the probably best piece of meat I've ever eaten, served with rice, beans, etc. Really good!

After lunch, we explore the garden. In addition to all the animals kept here, there are bananas, mangos, and coconuts growing here. We pick the coconuts from the tree and taste them. I didn't even know I liked that.

Now heading towards Las Terrasas and towards the zipline, but on site it turns out that we're 20 minutes late and this little adventure is cancelled for us, too bad but better for the wallet. So now back to Havana, where I think we're heading towards the city... what happens there, you surely know.

We meet a Frenchman who speaks German well and three Cubans, one of them a couple, who invite us to a party for the next day. We're not quite sure whether we should do that, because it's really annoying here that everyone just wants your money and you can never trust anyone. I would prefer to just pay money to make that stop and either get to know people who are fun or be left alone.

In any case, it is clear that we're both beach-ready, and for this reason, tomorrow we will either head towards Cienfuegos or Trinidad to put our feet up.

In case you're wondering why I'm writing such a detailed text: We had to drive a total of 380 km today, which means 8 hours in the car in Cuba.