Day 46, 47 and 48 - Trinidad <3 and Playa Ancon

Day 46 - Sunday 6.11.2022
Trinidad, a city to fall in love with

Today we had another great breakfast on the terrace right in front of our room. Yanara and Fambhi, our landlords, are really very warm and nice people. Today a city exploration tour was on the program. We strolled through the cobbled streets of Trinidad and enjoyed the pleasant, quiet flair of this small town.
Since the 80s, the city has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has hardly lost its colonial flair, especially around the Plaza Major. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Trinidad was even the third largest city in Cuba and very wealthy, as the sugar trade experienced a great boom during this time. Today, the small metropolis is known primarily for tourism and the surrounding nature reserve.
But now back to us. We stopped, feeling, in front of every second building to take photos because the architecture represented something very special. After a long walk through the streets of the former Spanish colonial city, we visited the museum in a historic Franciscan monastery, which dealt with the counterrevolution (revolutions against Fidel Castro). But the real highlight was not the museum, but the outstanding view from the bell tower of this building. Here we felt 100% the Cuban Caribbean feeling and enjoyed every second we spent there. Of course, we also started a photo shoot to capture some impressions for later.
In the afternoon we found a nice, little bar that provided us with Canchanchara (a classic Cuban cocktail) and snacks. Slightly tipsy, we went back to our Casa and on our way back we bought some smaller souvenirs so that we wouldn't come home empty-handed. We would love to take hundreds of souvenirs home with us, but unfortunately we don't have enough space in our backpack and often not enough money. In the evening we treated ourselves to a few tapas and another Canchanchara so that we can sleep well. There we met a nice Irish couple who told us excitedly about their trip to the nearby waterfalls, which confirmed our plan to go hiking in the nearby nature park the next day.

Day 47 - Monday 7.11.2022
El Cubano National Park and the Javira (El Cubano) Waterfall

As already mentioned, we went hiking to the Javira (or El Cubano) waterfall today. After a hearty breakfast, we put on our hiking boots and off we went. We wanted to do the tour without a booking and without a guide to save money. Equipped with Maps.me, we headed north out of the city. We walked on a road for half an hour until we had to turn onto a dirt road. Then it got better and better. We crossed fields, cow and goat pastures, and even gardens of local farmers, until we finally arrived in a jungle. There the path became a bit more "official" and signposted. You should actually pay an admission fee, but because we didn't come from the normal side, but walked through meadows and fields, we may have missed the entrance. After about 2 hours of hiking, we finally reached our destination - the Javira waterfall. There, the security guard immediately asked us for our ticket. With a simple "No, ticket" the situation was already settled and he explained to us where we could jump into the water and where not. After taking some photos, we jumped right into the fun. The water was pleasantly cool and extremely refreshing in these temperatures.
We relaxed a bit on the shore, snacked on some nuts, and finally decided to start the journey back home.
When we arrived home, we freshened up and went into town for some food. We found a cheap but good restaurant and treated ourselves to a '3-course menu'. Everything was great until we received the dessert, a coffee and a chocolate cake. Manfred devoured the first bites until we suddenly discovered a blue, black discoloration between the layers of cream. Immediately we thought of mold and remembered a story the Irish couple told us the day before (They had maggots in their meat). However, since everything else was very good and fresh, we asked the waiter if it could be mold. He laughed and said 'No mold'. He even brought us the chef who explained that the products came from Spain and the discoloration came from the creams. We believed him, at least we wanted to believe him, and ate the pieces of cake. Manfred had to help Anna because the portions were gigantic. To this day, we are not quite sure if it was mold or not. In retrospect, we were a little naive, but at least we didn't have any complaints, so it will always remain a mystery.

Day 48 - Tuesday 8.11.2022
Playa Ancon - A picturesque Caribbean beach

Today we wanted to try breakfast outside of our accommodation, in the town. But unfortunately, this decision turned out to be a mistake. At 9:00 in the morning on a Tuesday, the majority of Cubans are not really awake yet, at least not in Trinidad, and so almost all restaurants and bars were closed. Finally, we found a small stall that could prepare an omelet and coffee for us. After that, we headed to the bus stop. There we asked a tourist how he got his ticket and he pointed to the nearby travel agency. The lady at the counter was calmly planning a vacation for a Cuban couple. 5 minutes before the bus departure, Anna noticed us and we got our tickets just in time before the bus left, thank God!
Half an hour later, we found ourselves on a picturesque Caribbean beach. We were lucky because all the hotels on the beach were just closed. We were almost alone on the beach. The white sand and the turquoise sea were breathtaking. As a little treat, we had one or two cocktails (in a coconut) delivered to our sun loungers and enjoyed the rest of the day to the fullest. We made a few phone calls to our loved ones at home, we still had so much data volume on our Cuban SIM card, and watched the sun go down. Then it was back to Trinidad. A quick shower and off to dinner, just this time without cake.