Trinidad, Cuba: Tropical Buildings and Beaches

Trinidad, Cuba is a small colonial city on the south coast of the island, about a four hour drive from Havana.  Nestled on a hillside overlooking the Caribbean, Trinidad offers pristine examples of colonial architecture.  The buildings were painted in all different bright colors and the streets where cobblestone.  This was our favorite city for live music as you could literally hear three or four bands from any spot you stood at in the touristic area.

Plaza Mayor

Our second day in Trinidad, Cuba we rented bikes from our casa particular (15 CUC for two mountain bikes for the day) and set off on another adventure.  We were headed to Playa Ancón located about 15km from the city.  It was an easy, flat ride so in no time we rolled through the small fishing village of La Boca and along the coast towards the beaches.  We passed trees of tamarind and swarms of dragonflies and the weather was perfect.  The asphalt road was potholed and sandy the whole way, so bikes were perfect for the journey.  Playa Ancón is the most idyllic beach on Cuba’s southern shore, though it’s popularity pales in comparison to the northern Veradero-area beaches. The beach had beautiful white sand and the water was the exact postcard-perfect blue that we all idealize.  This was our only beach day of the trip because well, we live at the beach in San Diego, California.

Fishing beach at the Rio Guarabo river mouth in La Boca

Playa Ancón

Our last day in Trinidad, Cuba we hiked up behind our Casa Particular for the sunset.  We went us a street with lots of begging children then passed the Disco Ayala (Club in a Cave) which was famous for shady people and jineteras (hookers).  From here the path was nicer and took us up the hill behind town.  There were super cool tunnels here, think Iwo Jima.   I went into the caves a few times, building up more and more courage to go deeper.  They led to ladders up to what I assume were gun torrents.  At one time I almost got lost and I’m not sure my heart has ever pumped so hard.  I had amazing adrenaline rushing through me as I got out, and not I’m excited to do more cave exploration in the future!  At the top of the hill there was a guy charging to get to the lookout point over the back of the mountain.  We said we didn’t have any money and walked away.  The guy then yelled for us to just go in anyhow.  There was a ladder to a rooftop and some more Gingos up there (ha they probably paid, suckers).  We hung out for a bit enjoying the view of the valley then headed back down for our sunset pictures.  I had to resist the urge to go in the caves again as I’m super addicted to adrenaline.