Holguin to Santiago de Cuba

We were late leaving Camaguey in the bus, so it gave us lots of time to check out the hotel's environs. A wide plaza with galleries, restaurants and the street sculptures. We began riding at about 1.30pm towards Holguin but we stopped at about the 32km mark as there were some serious hills on the potholed roads and it was getting darker, everyone back in the bus before nightfall. 

Our hotel was stately, but nevertheless the electricity went off again. It does go off every day in Cuba. A bit annoying for us as travellers, but much more annoying for those who want to live a life and make a living in this country. 

Leaving Holguin we had a short bus trip followed by a 63km ride up hill and down dale. I was very thankful that Ralph rode beside me pedalling up La Gloria and talked about movies. Took my mind off climbing and it worked - I got to the top without stopping.

Lunch was beside a sugar cane field and Arley broke off some cane and we sucked the sugar out.

Next, we visited Fidel Castro's father's home before arriving in Santiago de Cuba. He was described as an opportunist capitalist, unlike his more communist-minded son. The house had been reconstructed as it burnt down due to father smoking a cigar and leaving it unattended. There was the car, the bedrooms, the grounds and a lot more to take a look at and imagine a life lived there. 

We took the bus into the city on the south coast of Cuba and checking into our once amazing but crumbling hotel right in the middle of the city's square. After a shower, cold naturally due to power shortages, we set off for dinner and salsa dancing class. But not before we were treated to a cup of canchanchara, Cuba's oldest cocktail, a heady mix of Vitamin R otherwise known as rum, or perhaps it was fermented sugarcane juice, honey and lime. Served in a terracotta cup over ice we were encouraged to drink it straight down. Quite a blast. Especially for Des whose stomach reacted poorly to this guest. Poor Des. He missed dinner and the subsequent salsa dancing. 

Day 2 in Santiago was full of cultural activities including a walk through the hot and humid city, a trip to the garrison museum where we learnt more about the 1959 revolution  before going to a cemetery where Castro's ashes are entombed in a rock from the Sierra Maestre. The graves can be adorned with two flags: one Cuban and the other a black and red 26 flag signifying that the person, and perhaps their families, who lie below were part of the revolutionary forces.

We took the bus to an oasis for lunch - full of greenery, beautiful furniture and an outdoor kitchen where our food was cooked over coals. There was a coffee roasting and grinding demonstration as well as cigar making from tobacco leaves - quite an art. We were also treated to some music - a woman sang while her partner played guitar. Wonderful in every way. One of the men presented us with portraits of ourselves drawn with coffee before we tasted the local rum. That evening there was a huge thunderstorm. We went to bed and slept the night away.