Leaving Trinidad, as is often the case when leaving a city, requires intense concentration. It only took 15 minutes to get out of the city traffic which consisted of the vicious taxis, horses, horses and carts, bicycles, taxis, truck buses and so on.
Once on the road, it was pretty quiet and we began the day in perfect temperatures with hills and flats, seafronts and bridges, and all was well, until an horrendous headwind / crosswind arrived.
At the 42 km I succumbed and climbed into the bus along with most of us. It was only the four tough men who rode all the way.
We arrived at a Botanical Gardens for lunch and were met by Hilda, a very knowledgeable botanist who took us on a guided tour for an hour or so and explained the various indigenous plants. There was an extensive arboretum with specimen trees from all over the tropics.
After awhile, we all got back in our bikes and rode into Cienfuegos with it, stunning French 19th century architecture, very flamboyant and grand we stayed in a Casa particulare right on the waterfront along the very narrow and long Peninsula that is the hallmark of the city.
We didn’t venture out further other than to look at the sea. Dinner was in house and we climbed into bed early on, partly because the next day’s ride was 92 km in length.
Our destination was Playa Larga nestled in the Bay of Pigs, the site of the failed US invasion of Cuba. Before lunch we stopped at Playa Giron to go to a museum where all of the exhibits were about the invasion a number of Cubans of course got killed during that time at the Americans were repelled.
We arrived at Playa Larga in time for a swim in the shallow warm calm bay Waters. The beds were comfy in the shower was hot. Our dinner was on the beach on a table set up, especially for us and we enjoyed a talk from Frank a local wildlife and Flora expert.
During his talk a Stygian owl arrived which created much excitement for us as well as the birding group from Indiana who were well equipped with binoculars and so.
Such a barmy evening we stayed up late, drank too much and farewelled Angelika on her last night in Cuba.
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