I’ve seen how beauteous streamsÂ
Flow through the dark of nightÂ
And descend as radiant beamsÂ
In a luminous shower of light.– José MartÃ, Simple Verses
A highlight of the tour in Cuba with Geographic Expeditions was a stop in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Trinidad on the southern side of the country. It’s a long drive from Havana — about four hours — but it’s worth the journey, especially when you’re on a small tour bus with someone else driving. Pretty much everyone (all eight of us on the tour) agreed that we should’ve had another day in this beautiful town, as well as in nearby Cienfuegos.
There isn’t much along the ride to enjoy, which makes it a great opportunity to read and nap. This was the point at which we learned that Cubans will stand along highways waving pesos to flag down buses and trucks for a ride. There are laws that military and official transportation must stop for citizens who need a ride, assuming there are seats available. Our driver Jorge could’ve made a few extra pesos if he stopped — we had plenty of space.
We made one pit stop at a rest area called Las Palmas. It’s busy with an outdoor restaurant, picnic tables, and a lot of souvenir vendors. Most importantly for the tour was the restroom — it is a long ride after all. Our guide paid the attendant and we stood in line to use the facilities. We made an additional stop to use facilities at a restaurant on the way back to Havana.
We also stopped in another UNESCO site an hour from Trinidad at Cienfuegos, a beautiful town that’s also in Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana. We only had a few hours to see the historic center and enjoy a musical performance at Museo de las Artes Palacio Ferrer. During our time in town, we had a tour of Teatro Tomás Terry, built in 1890, and José Martà Park. There was a nice stop for lunch along the waterfront before heading off to our overnight destination of Trinidad.
As we entered Trinidad, we saw the beauty of the town and the cobblestone streets of the historic center. It’s a well-preserved colonial town founded in the early 16th century that thrived with the rise of the sugarcane trade. There’s a reason this part of Cuba is popular with tourists.
We stayed in the heart of the historic town at Alameda Mansion, which had a beautiful courtyard to relax with breakfast (there’s also a small pool that is supposedly open in the summer). The courtyard was also where we had some evening activities. As all the rooms face the courtyard, it’s a quiet stay.
A great feature of Alameda Mansion, aside from the relaxing, lush interior courtyard, is the rooftop. It’s not a space to sit around with a drink, but it offers amazing views of the town and surrounding landscape. If not for all the stairs, it’d be a great place to bring some coffee in the morning (maybe if you’ve got a travel mug to avoid spillage).
The walk to dinner wasn’t long, but it wasn’t easy. As was common in Cuba, the electricity was out, which meant no streetlights. We walked carefully along the uneven streets with our cellphone lights leading the way. The advantage of independent businesses like our hotel and restaurant is that they run on generators to avoid power outages — the restaurant was the only light on the street.
Restaurant San José is enormous — it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the place is deceptively large. And farther into the restaurant you go, the more modern the design becomes. I can’t comment on food because the tour requires set menus at all restaurants, so we didn’t get to enjoy individualized meals like other tourists.
We did get to enjoy the band that evening. As usual, our guide Carol Steele knew them. This was the first time we saw musicians in Cuba invite her to join in on percussion. It was fun to watch her in her former profession.
The following day, we took a walking tour around the center of Trinidad — it was a bright, warm afternoon, and we tried to walk in the shade as much as possible. We admired the architecture of the town, which has had some restoration work thanks to the UNESCO designation and some Obama-era policies on imports to Cuba.
We met a local guide in Plaza Mayor, a beautiful central plaza surrounded by a wrought iron fence and bordered by the colorful colonial architecture of the region. Our Geographic Expedition guide had already pointed out some of the interesting aspects of Trinidad along the way from the hotel.
Throughout our walk around the UNESCO town center, we stopped in artists’ galleries and workshops — as our visas were designated “Helping the Cuban People,” we could only go to independent businesses like art galleries. And the galleries we visited in Trinidad were the most impressive of the entire trip (a totally subjective opinion).
The first artist we visited, José Miguel Rodriguez Cadalso, made carved wood fans. He traced his inspiration to an amateur archeological dig at which he found a metal fan. He was allowed to keep it. And now he creates designs in all sizes, including an enormous one on display in his gallery (but hey, you can fold it up so it doesn’t take up as much luggage space). Of course, he also sells small, inexpensive fans that aren’t ornate for tourists who don’t want to carry much home.
The largest fan that greets visitors upon entering the gallery won an award, so he has the framed award to point to his success. It’s so large, I don’t think it would fit on a wall in my apartment.
Later we visited the gallery and workshop of Lázaro Niebla, a woodworker who creates beautiful wood-carved portraits. Lázaro also spends time in Minnesota with his family, so he’s able to display his work outside Cuba. The detail in the carvings is amazing, and everyone on the tour was enthralled by his work. Some of his work is large and created from an old door.
He explained that over the years, he has traveled around the region’s rural towns to get to know long-time residents. All of his portraits are of older people, and he adds all the character of their faces. There’s a depth that goes beyond the carvings, giving the viewers a sense of the person so elegantly depicted. He has their photos, which he takes of each subject after spending time with them, for everyone to see how close to
On our tour around the center of town, we stopped by Plazuela del Cristo. Our guide, as she did many times on the trip, knew the street musicians sitting in the shade. She explained some of their instruments and told translated their stories about playing together there over the years.
After listening to the musicians and admiring the surrounding buildings, we were led to a small space at the corner of the square. This was the art studio of Yuniesky Fernandez Frias, who often isn’t around during tours. It was our opportunity to meet the artist, hear about his inspirations, and check out his work. My brother and sister-in-law even bought three hanging fish. If not for the size of the artwork, I would have bought some. Much of his work uses reclaimed wood and old fishing gear, depicting fish and the people who depend on fishing.
Yuniesky also had a table in the room full of designs for his work. We were encouraged to look through the drawings to see his artistic process.
After our tour around Trinidad, Cuba, we had a few hours. Most of the group returned to the hotel to rest, but some of us walked around on our own. There wasn’t much in the immediate area, but we got to see some local souvenir shops, where I got a clay canchánchara cup. There were also some small groceries with little on the shelves.
That evening was our dance lesson followed by traditional Trinidad music in the hotel courtyard (don’t ask me to repeat the steps). Considering the dance was meant for partners and my brother and I were the only men in the tour group of eight, the instructions were a little difficult (it was fun). The music was more relaxing as we could sit in the courtyard with cocktails on the warm evening. We also learned about the marimba, which is a homemade instrument in Cuban music.
It was a delightful way to end our short stay in Trinidad, full of art, music, and culture of this vibrant Cuban town. We all would’ve enjoyed another day there as well as in Cienfuegos to balance our time in Havana.
