Riding along the coast around the Bahia de Conchinos and towards Trinidad is much more satisfying experience than the previous few days of hot flat tarmac in the interior of Cuba.
The area around the bay is mostly swamp and the home of a huge range of indigenous wildlife. I manage to find some sections of [...]
Leaving Australia, it is not very long before I reach Playa Larga on the Bahia dos Cochinos.
This is the good life.
It a hard line to push. Somehow it just doesn’t seem as attractive as capitalism’s false promise of whatever you want, including eternal youth and beauty.
Also taggedI never knew that there was an Australia in Cuba but as soon as I learnt of it I was intrigued.
I discover that Australia is a small sugar mill town, about 35 kilometres from the Bahia de Cochinos and that it played a pivotal role in the sorry and sordid affair of the US-backed [...]
When I finally drag myself away from the cooling waters of San Juan my next real destination is the Bahia de Conchinos, the infamous Bay of Pigs, but reaching the bay means heading east back through Havana and then crossing Cuba from the north coast to the south coast of the island. I don’t really [...]
Also tagged campingLeaving Vinales, I camp at an abandoned campismo in La Guira National Park, a lush forested region in the mogote hills.
My aim for the day is Las Terrazas, a settlement billed as Cuba’s exemplary eco-village. The project was initiated in the late 60s as a reforestation initiative to combat the environmental devastation caused, largely, [...]
After my tour of the Santo Tomas caves, I return to Vinales. I find the local market and stock up on food; my prize purchase is a giant watermelon which I struggle to strap onto my bike rack on top of my tent. I pass through the town and catch sight of an English woman [...]
Also tagged dirt roadsVinales Valley is famous for its amazing rock formations, domed limestone outcrops known as mogotes. The area has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site not only because of its natural beauty but also for the cultural significance of its traditional agricultural practices which have survived unchanged for centuries.
It certainly is a picturesque scene.
I [...]
I leave the Gunahabibicanes Peninsula, somewhat reluctantly. I dislike the sense of haste I feel because I know my stay here in Cuba is limited to only 30 days. I know that I would stay for longer on the Peninsula without that pressure.
My attempt at a reasonably early start in order to evade the midday [...]
I finally reach the Gunahabibicanes Peninsula and head straight for the National Park Ecological Station for information.
The station manager opens our exchange by offering to buy my bike. I explain that without a bike my life wouldn’t actually function and that it wasn’t really just a bike but also my companion and friend. He looks [...]