Monday 5th December continued
We arrived in Trinidad and after a short orientation walk around the area we were staying in we were dropped off at a Casa Particular which was in a central location for our home stays. Jayde and I were introduced to our host and followed her to our home stay “La Dueñas” which was only a short distance though the heat and weight of my bag meant it felt much longer.
After we had freshened up we returned to the central Casa for dinner. There was a fugly dog that thrived off the attention it received whilst we waited for everyone to arrive. Once we were seated we all ordered Canchancharas (rum, lime luice and honey) before lots of different foods were laid out on the table. Passing the dishes around was a good way for the group to interact and for us to remember each others names.
I had made the mistake for the second night in a row of wearing long trousers and a shirt. Whilst it had been fine for dinner it would have left me melted if I’d gone to the club the rest of the group were going to. I did consider going back to get changed and re-joining the others but ultimately Jayde and I called it a night.
Tuesday 6th December
Jayde and I had arranged for a 8am breakfast however as we didn’t need to leave until 10am we emerged from our room, possibly to the surprise of our host, in our pyjamas. The breakfast was good consisting of a fruit cocktail, some tasty homemade gingerbread biscuits and an omelette.
We arrived at the El Cubano National Park and after the coach dropped us off we started a small hike to a waterfall first crossing a swing bridge. The walk was quite tiring work because of the heat and some of the steeper gradients. It was difficult to fully appreciate the scenery because most of the time I was checking my footing especially when using stepping stones to cross the river.
On our way we passed some rocks which appeared to have stalagmites hanging from them. I arrived as Dayami was talking but I thought I heard her mention something about bee’s and around the same time noticed the sign in front of the cliffs had a picture of bee’s. It quickly became apparent the Stalagmites were in fact hundreds of bee’s nests.
I spent most of the walk to talking to Dennis from Russia, and Dan from Sweden as we all had different makes of Nikon cameras. At some point we heard a scream up ahead and realised there was a small green snake on one of the plants. Knowing it wasn’t venomous we spent a couple of minutes trying to get a good picture before continuing on.
Eventually we arrived at the banks of the river leading to the waterfall. Quickly getting changed we stepped in to the refreshing water. The water was only waist height but most of got the sharp short shock of the sudden change from hot to cold but ducking under. The area around the waterfall was much deeper and people jumped from an overhanging cliff. To the left of the waterfall was a small cave which we congregated in as bats swooped around high above.
I was feeling a little light headed when I climbed out and despite a couple of minutes to get my breath I left my baseball cap on a rock after putting my shoes back on, not realising until I was back on the bus. Despite having less protection from the sun, the journey back seemed more tolerable and I had a much craved for cold beer once the walk was finished.
We were all very hungry when we finished and went to a restaurant back in Trinidad. Unfortunately as we were a big group and being quick didn’t appear to be part of the Cuban psyche we were waiting a fair while for the food. I ordered a Trinidad Colonial cocktail which was served as 3 traffic light coloured lights which was less attractive when all mixed together. The pizza I had was devoured and we then returned to our home stays to have the quickest of freshen ups before a salsa dancing.
Jayde and I arrived in time and after some easy opening solo steps I was paired with Annabel who dances back in Germany which meant I was under pressure to perform. We were taught some of the spins and despite getting the steps I was mostly as stiff as a cardboard cut out. I had been a long time since I’ve had to learn any form of dance move and I’d forgotten how much fun it can be.
The endorphins were still flowing in me when Jayde and I returned to the home stay to get ready for the dinner. I poured us a rum and coke and then we met Celia, Val, Bridie and Neha at Bar Floridita where I ordered a classic daiquiries. Shortly after arriving a little old man with a guitar started to serenade us and handed out musical instruments. It didn’t take long for us to get in to the spirit and the spontaneity gripped us all. The cynic would say it is a way to get money from tourists but on this occasion the memories were priceless.
Neha and I went back to Daisy and Bridie’s Casa as they were close to the meeting place. They were staying with an Irishman called Shaun who had a huge dog which seemed quite excited to see new guests, especially Neha. We then played a drinking card game called on the bus before we left and joined the others at the bus.
We arrived at the restaurant where I was sat with the girls and Andy. We all ordered Canchancharas to drink and I got the shredded lamb which Andy recommended having eaten it at lunch. The food was good and the company even better and towards the end we all tested each other on knowing each other’s names, an idea of Briedie’s which I passed.
After dinner we returned to central Trinidad and made our way to Ruinas de Segarte however the vibe wasn’t that lively so we continued on to a club called la Salsa. At around 12pm the police shut the club down apparently because it was “Revolution Day”. Jayde and I returned home and whilst the world wasn’t spinning I’d probably had enough.
Wednesday 7th December
Whilst Jayde and I had to be up at the same time for breakfast only I had any real plans and a place to be at a set time because I was horse riding. Our host seemed to go to a real effort for breakfast, this time preparing cheese and ham toasties, another fruit cocktail, an omelette and pancakes.
I met the others and whilst we waited in the park for the bus, Andy I quickly got a sun hat and I also got some money out. After a drive through pretty scenery we arrived at a field where we were helped on to our horses and then set off after the briefest of instructions. The sun beat down as we plodded along at the front of the back group, a gap which my horse didn’t seem to want to close despite my efforts. I tried vamos and Yalla yalla but nothing worked and we continued at a slow steady pace until we reached our first stop.
Two men were using what looked like a medieval torture machine to crush sugar cane vines to extract the juice which a few of us then brought to taste. It goes without saying it was sweet and none of us finished it. Sometimes I can be awful at noticing things, but even I surpassed myself when I couldn’t remember what my horse looked like. Fortunately Annabel had a picture of me and our guides remembered ushering me to one when we were ready to continue on.
In order to feel a better bond with my horse I named her Caramel. Something seemed to click and we stayed with the front group. After a while we stopped again and made a short walk on foot to a waterfall. Initially I wasn’t going to go in but the water looked increasingly inviting and ultimately I couldn’t resist. Once in I swam to where Daisy, Bridie and Andy (who had rather bravely gone in wearing his boxers) were. I swam right under the waterfall which was particularly refreshing and then joined Celia, Val and Neha outside of the water as I tried to dry off.
Caramel and I again stayed in the front group riding with Andy and his horse Hendrix albeit not with the front riders. In a particularly open section I could see the leading riders and stopped and initially presumed it was due to a gate. It was only when Andy, Neha and I approached we realised one of the riders that was part of our group but not on our tour was sheepishly standing around with his horse no where to be seen.
Without any sign of apology or embarrassment he told the guides his hat had blown off and he’d got off his horse to retrieve it. in the process the horse had started walking and when he walked after it, it walked faster and he gave up. The guides maintained an unbelievable level of cool in the circumstances and went searching for their asset. A girl who I presume was the guys boyfriend was equally angry because his bag containing travel documents was attached to the horse. We were waiting well over 30 minutes when somewhat amazingly the horse was found to which all the guy really said was “I thought we were friends and I could trust it not to walk away”.
We continued up a steep slope where we were presented with a nice panoramic view. Caramel didn’t seem overly keen to go back down despite my soothing words and more desperate attempts. I was ironically next to the guy that lost his horse and his was also not moving. both horses were whipped as a result, but the cracker (end) of the whip got caught in his horses tail and therefore it took the whip out of the guides hands and down the slope. The guide cried out “stop” in vain but it was too late much to my amusement.
We quickly caught up with the others and like Lewis Hamilton starting at the back of the grid made our way up the field and I finally had Andy and Hendrix in my sights. As he tried to close of Celia and her horse Pad Thai. I overtook both. Hendrix wasn’t happy and then took Andy down a rather steep, rocky path and both horses met and Caramel was forced out of the way. We stopped for a very late lunch and were then treated to unappealing sandwiches, and slow service which meant a perceived quick stop took well over an hour.
Worse, I knew when we had paid the bill I’d have to climb back on to Caramel and my inner leg muscles had seized up. I wanted her to keep a steady pace near the middle but she kept slowing forcing the guide to whip her which caused me huge muscle pains. In fact any time she got in to any type of gallop I tried to slow her down and I was relieved when I realised we were back where we started.
The plan had been to spend the afternoon at the beach and to pick up Jayde. Much to my horror even though we were over 2 hours 30 minutes late Jayde had been collected from town as planned but spent the afternoon on the bus. For some reason no message had been sent to the driver to say we would be back late so he had neither gone back to town or taken her to the beach. To her credit Jayde handled it well as ultimately there was nothing she or the driver could do about the situation.
We did still go to the beach where we got to have a swim in the sea before the sunset. It was my first swim in the Caribbean and after a day on the horse it felt well earnt. Kian, Phillip, Dan and Guy spotted us and came over which meant the entire group, rather by chance had been reunited. The sunset was pretty and it got dark very quickly. We returned to Trinidad to freshen up before going for dinner in another town because all the restaurants were full.
I sat at the far end with Carston, Alex, Kian, Daisy and Dan. This was also the end closest to the band when they started and they picked out Dan and Daisy to play maracas whilst Kian was chosen to dance. Later in the night Bridie took the guitar and gave a good rendition of Stand by Me. We all ordered Sangria sunrises and I ordered vegetable soup followed by pulled pork. Later on I ordered a rum and lime based cocktail which came with a huge mini umbrella.
We boarded the coach and returned to Trinidad. Jayde and I had limited how much money we would take and therefore had to return to our room to get more. As I got halfway to our Casa I made a decision to stay in. Normally try not to miss out but I was alarmed at the way I was haemorrhaging money on food and drink and more importantly I knew deep down I needed some proper downtime.
In truth I hadn’t really recovered from my early start to Manchester a week before, which was exasperated by a late night packing before the flight and a long flight which had probably caused a degree of jet lag. I read my book for about 5 minutes after Jayde left before I crashed out. I had consciously left the main light on for Jayde and it only felt I’d been asleep for 5 minutes before I heard her return. I was surprised that two hours had actually passed and despite it being the middle of the night I felt I was ready to embrace the rest of the trip.
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