In the morning, I got up very early to find myself a new casa. Another night in a cockroach-infested room with a less than perfect bed didn't seem very appealing ;-)
Since I didn't really want to knock on people's doors that early, I walked around until I found one where the owner was sitting on the door steps. Her rooms were already full, but she pointed me to her daughter's house next door. I have to say, this place is really a lot nicer than the previous one. The owners seem to be quite rich - they even have a household help who does laundry (even mine), cleaning and cooking.
After checking into the casa, I went to the pickup point for the guided tour to the natural park of Topes de Collantes. I joined an organized tour because it is not really accessible by public transportation.
I have to say, the trip to get to the park alone was worth it. We went on an old Russian military truck - which was really necessary because the roads, especially towards the end, were extremely steep and muddy.
At one point, the driver had to stop the truck, get out, and put some kind of metal plate on the wheels to enable the six-wheel drive - otherwise we wouldn't have made it...
The hike itself was quite easy, just a couple of kilometers down a valley. It turned out to be a really good decision to join a tour: the guide had an impressive amount of knowledge about the local flora and fauna. Among others, I saw a Kolibri, part of a Tarantula in her hole in the earth, a termite nest, a cannibal snail and some tree rats. As for the flora, there were coffee plants, banana trees, vanilla plants, African tulips, mimosas (the shy plant that folds up her leaves when you touch them), mariposas, and, of course, palm trees. Very very beautiful!
There were also some great waterfalls and a natural pond we could swim in. The pond had lots of small fish that - when you kept still for a while - came along and nibbled on pieces of dead skin.
What a great tour!
In the evening I met up with two very nice Dutch girls I met on the trip to go to the Casa de la Musica. I took the opportunity to taste two of Cuba's famous cocktails: Mojito and ... another one whose name I've forgotten, which is supposed to be Trinidad's signature cocktail made from rum, lemon and honey. Though the Mojito is not bad at all, I prefer the other one for its sweet honey taste :-)
Since I didn't really want to knock on people's doors that early, I walked around until I found one where the owner was sitting on the door steps. Her rooms were already full, but she pointed me to her daughter's house next door. I have to say, this place is really a lot nicer than the previous one. The owners seem to be quite rich - they even have a household help who does laundry (even mine), cleaning and cooking.
After checking into the casa, I went to the pickup point for the guided tour to the natural park of Topes de Collantes. I joined an organized tour because it is not really accessible by public transportation.
I have to say, the trip to get to the park alone was worth it. We went on an old Russian military truck - which was really necessary because the roads, especially towards the end, were extremely steep and muddy.
At one point, the driver had to stop the truck, get out, and put some kind of metal plate on the wheels to enable the six-wheel drive - otherwise we wouldn't have made it...
The hike itself was quite easy, just a couple of kilometers down a valley. It turned out to be a really good decision to join a tour: the guide had an impressive amount of knowledge about the local flora and fauna. Among others, I saw a Kolibri, part of a Tarantula in her hole in the earth, a termite nest, a cannibal snail and some tree rats. As for the flora, there were coffee plants, banana trees, vanilla plants, African tulips, mimosas (the shy plant that folds up her leaves when you touch them), mariposas, and, of course, palm trees. Very very beautiful!
There were also some great waterfalls and a natural pond we could swim in. The pond had lots of small fish that - when you kept still for a while - came along and nibbled on pieces of dead skin.
What a great tour!
In the evening I met up with two very nice Dutch girls I met on the trip to go to the Casa de la Musica. I took the opportunity to taste two of Cuba's famous cocktails: Mojito and ... another one whose name I've forgotten, which is supposed to be Trinidad's signature cocktail made from rum, lemon and honey. Though the Mojito is not bad at all, I prefer the other one for its sweet honey taste :-)
