Along for the ride: Bay of Pigs & Cienfuegos Cuba

In the morning after breakfast, we pack up and board the bus bound for the Cuban countryside.

Leaving downtown Havana

Sunshine highlights old fortifications

After an evening of drinking and dancing to the Buena Vista Social Club, it's a pretty quiet morning on the bus. Strangely the broad highways leaving Havana are devoid of traffic. Later we learn the Russians helped Cuba build these highways to be used as landing strips in case of a large scale attack by the United States, which never came.

We are headed to Playa de Giron where the doomed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion occurred. CIA backed paramilitary US Cuban troops attempted to overthrow Castro under the lukewarm support of the Kennedy administration. Following the failed invasion and subsequent build up of Russian ballistic missiles, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to the brink of a nuclear World War III. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and worldwide disaster was adverted.

Too much fun the night before

Empty three lane highways

The first stop is at Fiesta Campesina, a tourist bus stop that highlights traditional Cuban farming. Just inside the grounds, Jon directs to the "only legalized gambling in Cuba." It's a round table table top with "Fifi" the guinea pig sitting in the middle surrounded by small huts. Bets are placed by putting coins on the hut you believe Fifi will run to. Needless to say, Fifi successfully avoids any huts we bet on. The owner then tells us in Fifi is really a male, not a female, and demonstrates by turning Fifi upside down. I gasp and blurt out in perfectly understandable Spanish "Hiy - que grandes cojonones!" (Wow - what big testicles!) The Cubans first stare at me totally astonished and then double laughing at a what the crazy gringa just said. Fortunately, none of the rest of our group speaks any Spanish (except Meylin who was also laughing hard). When asked what I said to get such a strong reaction, I just hang my head and murmur "Nothing really."

Entrance to Fiesta Campesina

Fifi surveys her/his domain

Sugar cane hand press for run drinks

Fiesta Campesina is set up like a small farm. As we wander around the grounds, we see a very tame brahma bull. As we're admiring this beautiful creature, a man approaches and wants to know if we'd like photos of ourselves on the bull for a CUC or two. Peter scrambles up and I capture the moment.

Braham bull

Peter with a Cuban bull by the horns

Traditional farm house

The sun is trying, with only moderate success, to peek through the clouds as we board the bus for Playa Giron and the Bay of Pigs.

Boarding our bus

Bay of Pigs

No traffic jams in Playa Giron

Public transportation

Water works

Utilities

With the notoriety of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Playa Giron does a brisk tourist trade and many of the local homes offer rooms for rent by displaying a sign with an upside down anchor (usually blue and white ).

Our lunch stop at Hostal Enrique

where lunch is served family style.

After lunch, I take advantage of a break in the rain to snap a few pictures of the neighborhood.

Chevy (?) pick-up modified as a group taxi

Local couch shells


1930's Coup

It's a short trip to the Museo Giron (Bay of Pigs Museum) with lots of old military equipment on display. Interestingly, after successfully defeating the invading forces, Castro then declares Cuba as a Socialist State.

Needless to say, the narratives accompanying photographs and exhibits aren't exactly complimentary to either the CIA or the United States.

Mortars

Delphine by Cuban plane

Cuban tanks in front of the museum

The bus then takes us on to Cienfuegos Cuba, where we'll be staying the night.

1956 Chevy Impala

Traditional Cuban farm with thatched roofs

Political billboard

Cienfuegos was originally laid out in a grid pattern with wide streets by French settlers from Bordeaux and Louisiana. It seems so spacious in comparison to the narrow winding streets of Havana. Here as many places in Cuba, motorcycles or bikes are commonly used for local transportation as gasoline is expensive - hence the name of a common gas station chain Oro Negro (black gold).

Sometimes you go

Oro Nego station

and sometimes you don't

We're staying at the 1950's modernist Hotel Jagua, which was built by the infamous Meyer Lansky, the "Mob's Account." He was largely responsible for the Mafia's development of gambling casinos and accompanying "businesses" throughout Cuba, Las Vegas, and the Bahamas. Hotel Jagua was originally intended to be another hotel/casino in the mob's chain; however, the Cuban Revolution cut short those plans.

Hotel Jagua

We walk through the lobby to our room

Wonderful landscaping

Ahhh... another room with a view

Adjacent to the hotel is Palacio de Valle, where Meyer Lansky's good buddy Fulgencio Batista, Cuba's dictator, used as one of his vacation homes. The Palacio is an amazing example of Spanish/Moorish art that was built starting in 1913 by a wealthy sugar baron Don Acisclo del Valle. Unfortunately, he was only able to live in and enjoy this amazing piece of architecture for a short five years. His life tragically ended with a sudden heart attack in response to the bottom falling out of the sugar market.

On our way walking over to see the Palacio, Peter strikes up a conversation with a peddle cab driver. Turns out he's a teacher who abandoned education because he makes more money peddling tourists around than teaching high school. Unfortunately, his story is common in Cuba. We've also met other highly trained professionals (doctors, university professors, etc.) driving taxis or otherwise engaged in the tourist trade.

Peddle cab

Palacio de Valle

Moorish turrets

Main entrance

Restaurant

Grand staircase

The roof top terrace offers spectacular views of Punta Gorda and the surrounding sea. In addition, an excellent local Cienfuego band, Groupo Perla del Sur, is playing on the terrace.

View from roof top terrace

Groupa Perla del Sur on break

Punta Gorda

As the evening turns to dusk, we get dressed for dinner and do a short walking tour of Cienfuegos. In the main square we hear a 12 yo boy practicing his English by repeating "Good Evening" using different inflections. He's with his younger brother (8 yo ?) and a friend (10 yo?). We congratulate him on his English pronunciation and chat with him as his younger brother tags along. His shy friend retreats across the street. Jon and some others steal off to the bus where they retrieve three baseballs to give the boys. As soon as the shy friend sees the baseballs, he comes running. All three are delighted with their unexpected new balls (baseball is widely played in Cuba). Seeing the smiles on those boys faces was a truly wonderful highlight of our trip to Cuba.