Trekking day today took us into the valley we did the horse trekking in yesterday, but our route was very different. We went through a cave that was situated about 50m up the side of a mogota (camel back mountain) to reach the other side it. It was just light enough to navigate through, however Victoria was getting a bit freaked out with the darkness and sound of bats half way through. Some blood sucking bats carry deadly diseases and I think she gets a bit paranoid about that. I always say “fear is the mind killer”. For those who have watched dune, you’ll know where I got that expression from.
The target of the trek was the historical family who lived on a mountain side called Los Aquaticos. Along the way we spoke to many locals to find the find. Most said that it was quote… “Very difficult”. We tried various routes that the locals recommended, however some paths led to stream crossings that were not passable without getting extremely wet and muddy. We turned around a few times to walk back and try different routes. Some locals had a chuckle when we passed them again. I had the feeling that they pointed us in the wrong direction on purpose or perhaps they didn’t know any other route, but after persistence and encouraging Victoria not give up in the blazing heat, we eventually reached a crossing that looked like an old drainage pipe laid across the stream.
It was critical that we made a crossing at some point as this would be the old way to reach the other side of the valley. After walking over fields, following barely used paths, strategically stepping through muddy swamps and asking many helpful locals we made it to the main route that we should have initially took. Seemed we went off the beaten track a litte bit, but it made it all a bit more adventurous I think. We climbed the steep route halfway up the mountain until we reached the destination, Los Aquaticos.
We were welcomed by an older man and woman who were sitting outside the porch in rocking chairs, enjoying the beautiful view and the pleasant breeze. We engaged in conversation and the lady of the house invited us for freshly pressed mango juice and a locally picked and dried coffee.
Shortly after, a mad young dog came to greet us. He was only three months old and was still very playful and he loved testing his teeth. After many attempts of him trying to playfully sink his teeth into my shoes, trousers, legs, arms and chasing me around the garden he got a bit tired and so did I for that fact. I wasn’t sure at times whether he really did want to sink them in or not! I didn’t know if this mad dog had rabies or not and I didn’t want to find out either, but thankfully no blood was drawn. Phew! After taking our shoes off for a bit and taking the mad dog for a run, the man of the house offered that we go further up into the mountains where one of the caves are where we could swim in crystal clear water. We said yes, of course!
It is worth mentioning that this water is claimed by the two families living on this mountainside for many generations that it has healing properties. It seemed plausible after I found out that the nearly 80 year old dude who guided us up the mountain was strong enough to put me up a rock face with one arm! I would say he was fitter, if not fitter than I was. Exercise I’m sure he gets plenty of, but maybe there is some other factor that contributes to his health!?
Together we climbed further up the mountain destination fresh and healing water. I’m not sure if we would have made it without the dude we had. There were several possibilities that we could have taken if we walked by ourselves, but the dude guaranteed we would arrive straight at the source. Once we got there it wasn’t long before we lost our clothes and got into the very clear but cold water. We were both expecting something a bit bigger, however size is not everything. It was big enough for a few people. A bit of a larger, jagged bath tub one could say. In the water we found lots of small fresh water shrimps! A sign of quality water indeed, but my question was, how the heck did they get there or a more general question… how did they evolve in such a remote, inland location while being such a close cousin to the sea water shrimp we all know too well!?
We climbed back back down the mountain and made our way back home after a very refreshing dip. The sun was about an hour away from setting and we knew that when that happens, the mosquitoes go on a rampage, so we said goodbye to our hosts and gave them some dinero (money) for their services. As the sun was setting the valley changed colour given the position of the sun over the horizon. An amazing view in all 360 degrees.
During our entire trip we realised that every remote house that we went past in the valley had a solar installation. We wondered to ourselves, how is this possible? Most Cubans cannot afford this kind of technology, so there must have been some help. After talking to a couple of people about it we found out that the government in cooperation with France had made it possible to supply clean energy inside the national park and UNESCO world heritage site to all the homes outside of town. We later found out that the solar panels are actually manufactured nearby in Pinar del Rio. This panels are supposedly “not for sale”. Government run and with contributions by the french.
I must say I was very impressed with the contrast of nature and technology. One of the main reasons for installing these panels is because, traditional power lines destroy the natural beauty of the area and I assumed that it may even cost more to install power lines to such remote and spread out housing.
Trekking further we made it to our last destination. It is a huge painting on the side of the mountain that took five years and fifteen men to complete. It was by order of Fidel Castro that this site was transformed into an attraction to increase tourism in the area. We only managed to take a picture from afar, but from our point of view it wasn’t worth getting any closer. It seemed a bit overrated in the guides but we had to have a look. Right next door was a campiso that we had a look at while visiting the shop to get a well deserved pineapple juice in a can and water for the journey home.
We started walking on the road home when, out of the blue, a car pulled over that Victoria had flagged down. It was a tourist rental car for sure as only the tourists can afford them. We asked if they were heading in direction Viñales and they also happened to be staying there, so we saved a good hour walk back into town. The Italian couple even offered to tag along to the south-western tip of Cuba to an supposedly amazing snorkeling and beach spot. We did want to in our initial plans, however time and money was not on our side as we had a casa booked in Havana on the day they wanted to go and the money situation was dry as we couldn’t withdraw an cash with out cards in the bank. More on this in a future blog!
