Viva la Cuba! Cuba is amazing!

The Rum! The Food! The Casas! The beaches! The Nature! The Rum! The Cigars! The Monuments! The Cars! The chicas! The Rivers! The Lakes! The Sea! The Rum! The Mountains! The Valleys! The Locals! The Tourists! The Rum! The Music!!! Oh the Music! Please Cuba, do the world a favor and stay exactly the way you are! I don`t know where to start or where to end with writing. You can`t possibly give a description that comes even close to this heaven on earth. Everything you experience is so unique, so fascinating, so magical that there is no way to capture it with words or pictures. Go to Cuba, life the Cuban life… and better do it soon! I wanna take you with me for one day, this one even more incredible than the rest of my stay. You are asleep, not dreaming, no time for dreaming in Cuba! The call of the rooster catches your mind and you drift to being awake. It`s warm. There is air-condition but you don`t put it on. You sleep on the second floor of a beautiful orange house. You have a terrace on both sides of your room. The doors are open! A slight wind is tugging on your sheet. Your body wants to sleep more. There is the rooster again. You realize you are on this incredible island named Cuba. You awake. Get up. Your casa Mama is already preparing your breakfast. Fresh bread, cheese, ham. Homemade coffee. Grown, roasted and milled by a local farmer living just 10 minutes away. The juice! Always incredible juice. Mango juice, guava juice, melon juice. Every morning is a surprise! There are always eggs. Sometimes from the chickens in the backyard. Once you get an omelet, next day you gonna have it hard-boiled. You can ask for any way. But I like the little surprises in the morning. And the smile from the casa mama is always rewarding when you ask her to prepare breakfast as she would like it. After breakfast it’s time to get out. Explore, see, hear, smell… just feel. Meet the locals. Everybody wants to meet you, some want to sell you stuff but most are just curious. Where are you from. How long are you staying. Where you go next.

Riding the bike. Fresh wind and great views

Wander around. Get lost. It`s still early, warm but not hot. See the kids go to school wearing their uniforms. See the farmer with his oxen wagon bring in the fresh fruits and vegetables. Everybody is smiling. From some houses you hear televisions, but mostly music. Music is everywhere. It gets warmer. You get offered to rent a bike. The beach is not far. Just 4 kilometers from this heaven called Trinidad. You give the woman 3 CUC, make a quick stop at home, fetch your swimming trunks. Stop at the next corner. Buy some bread and an avocado. Ride the bike out of the city. Immediately the small colorful houses disappear and fields open up on both sides. The road is flat, the wind plays in your hair. It’s hard to concentrate on the road. A farmer is sitting by the road and smoking a cigar. He pauses to shout a greeting in your direction, waves a hand in the air and smiles. Everybody is always smiling. He passes. You pass trough a small village. More people are greeting you, smiling. Somebody plays guitar. Around the next corner you see the beach. Palm trees, white sand.

Cristal clear water, white sand and lot`s of sun.

At the first house a local is preparing some food. You buy a cool coke, leave the bike with him. He will look after it. Don`t worry. Change into the swimming trunks, quick. It’s warm. You start sprinting to the water. Locals are drifting in there. Kids playing ball with an old coconut. Teenagers giggling and flirting. You splash into the water. Nice and cold. Just drift, enjoy. A local offers you some of his rum. Come on, it’s already close to 12. It’s Cuba. It’s vacation. You take a plastic cup from him. He smiles, asks where you are from. ALEMANIA!!! FOOOOTBALL! Even if you don`t speak Spanish everybody tries to make conversation with you. You spend one more hour. Then your skin and head got enough sun. Take a quick stop for some banana chips with the local who looked after your bike. He also offers you rum. The local one. You try it. It’s good. But you have to get back to the city. So much to experience. You drop off your bike. Get home to your casa. The neighbors are sitting in the garden roasting a pig. 2 guys play the guitar. You greet. You get invited to more rum. They wanna show off. You have to turn the pork for a while. The 2 guitars play a new song. Everybody seems to know it. 2 guys start to sing. The next neighbor comes over, brings a new instrument. A dried pumpkin that he plays with a stick. Another guy is playing along with a spoon on the rum bottle. Everybody is singing now… then the pig is ready. Naturally you get a plate… yes you are invited… get some more rum with the pork… they insist… this day can’t get any better. But get going. You heard about a horse tour to a small waterfall. Sounds too good to miss. Only  10 CUC. So go. You ride through an incredible valley, green fields, blue rivers and in the background always the majestic green mountains. Some goats bleat as your horse is forcing them of the small path. This must be heaven. It can’t get any better.

Then you arrive, tie the horse to a tree. Your guide is leading you for a 10 minutes walk to the waterfall. There is a small hut where they mix you a mojito. Then you jump into the water. Nice and cold. Cristal clear. There is little cliff next to it. Nice for dipping in. The local who mixed your mojito is watching you, asks if you would like to jump from higher…. Sure why not. He takes you up to the other cliff. 12 meters, he is saying. It looks much higher. A rock sticks out half way down, you can barely see where to jump. He says it’s easy. Does his show for the other tourists. A little prayer… closing his eyes…. jumping…. doing a flip, and splashing in the water. No way to climb down again, so you have to jump. Also do the little prayer, but just for you – not for the tourists. Jump… fly…. see the water coming closer… perfect spot…. splash… heaven, this is definitely heaven!! Back with the horse…. into the city. Perfect moment for the sunset. You sit on your roof terrace. You light your cigar, pour your rum and just enjoy for a few moments.

Wandering again. Your body is done digesting the pig. A waiter of a restaurant stops you. They have a special offer today. Lobster with a cocktail only 7 CUC. You can’t believe it. It’s amazing, it’s delicious. 2 guys are playing guitar and singing. More friends of theirs join. You join the neighbor table, chat, share your love for the country. The music is incredible good. It’s 7 guys already. The waitress is singing. There are just 6 people eating here but 8 people play the music. They smile. They enjoy it. They switch the instruments. The front man played guitar, then the bongos, then another guitar with 12 strings all while he is singing, dancing, smiling… and of course drinking rum. You also drink rum. Sometimes pure, sometimes in a cocktail. Rum is cheap, rum is good. You start to get tipsy… Suddenly you got 2 rattles in your hands…. He is pulling you from your chair. You have to join. The girls from your table have to dance… nobody is sitting now. There is more rum, there is more singing, there is more dancing… suddenly you play the bongos… you suck, but they teach you, they smile, they celebrate, you celebrate… more rum…

It’s midnight.. the bar is closing soon. Only 4 guys from the “band” left. They say there is club near by. Sure you join! Loud music, lots of drunken tourists. Crazy place… but it closes soon. Who cares, it was too warm anyway. Back out on the street. We are already a group of 7 people. Another local joins with a bottle of rum.. oh yeah there is always rum. You sit on the street, chat with the local who brought the rum. He is 25. Going to art school. Showing you some of his pictures on his phone. They are good. His biggest dream is to get to Madrid to study art there. Your musician from the first bar, who turned into the guide of the whole group says we should move. To a park. Our street dogs follow. They love us. Somebody fetched a guitar. More people joined us. Already 12 people. 5 tourists and 7. Somebody fetches more rum. No need for coke any more. It’s again the cheap local one… who cares. Drink, chat… find out about the people. A componist…. he sings one of his songs…. the guy with guitar seems to know the song… improvises… plays along. The refrain is catchy. More rum… now everybody is singing… Am I talking Spanish or English or German. Nobody cares. More rum. Chat with the dogs… pet the girls… or the other way round? More rum. It gets foggy. It gets late… or early.. people are starting to leave… there is still rum… it seems to appear magically… You join the other tourists, go to their casa… sit on the roof top, chat, listen to more music…. the sky is already getting a bit lighter… You switch numbers… they are going to a place you like… you make plans to join… more rum…. birds are starting their song… Time to get home… Rest… smile… sleep… no dreams… You are in paradise… no need for dreams!