Bayamo pedestrian boulevard
We set off at the civilised time of 9am, waving goodbye to our lovely hosts at Girasol.
Church in Bayamo – one of the few buildings that escaped the fires
Bayamo is about two hours’ drive from Santiago, but only half of it is on the ‘highway’ that was started by the government with dual carriageway and well-sealed asphalt. Where the money ran out the road is full of ruts and potholes, and we had to slow to a crawl to navigate some areas. We saw lots of people waiting for the infrequent (like 2/day) buses or hitching lifts – all of this made us feel as if we’ve been taking easy transportation very much for granted!
Bayamo pedestrian boulevard
Bayamo itself is a small centre, with some historical buildings and statues. Its claim to fame seems to be that its citizens set fire to it rather than letting it go back into the hands of the Spanish, so all except two buildings were pretty much flattened.
We stopped into a telco building to buy some internet cards. Here you access the net by connecting to the WiFi either at your casa or at a park – which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t – then you have to connect to the internet via timed cards that you need to get from the official telco, by finding one that is open and waiting in a queue for a while. The first casa in Havana organised some for us, but we’d been scrounging ever since, and almost resorted to buying some at a markup from a person on the street (who may or may not provide us with legit cards.)
Anyway, after waiting in the Internet room (and finding out more than we wanted to about some people’s browsing habits) we were able to show our passports and buy some cards. But not too many, in case we were selling them to tourists on the street.
From there, we took a wander down the promenade, past some interesting art installations and then back to the historical centre via a western union to change some cash. We passed a few restaurants with big queues: apparently chicken isn’t always available in smaller towns, so when there is, there’s a rush!
R with warrior style coffee
B told us there was a local coffee made in the style of the warriors – ‘mambi’ style which seems to be black with honey, served in a cup made from a gourd. R wanted to try it, so we popped into a cafe specialising in it. Apparently good, but you need the honey to counteract the slightly burnt flavour of the coffee.
A great place for lunch
We stopped for lunch at a little place near the main square, with lots of local style food. Yum!
Camaguey is very colour-coordinated
After lunch we hit the road to head to Camaguey, our next night’s stop. A big thunderstorm hit as we arrived, so we decided to delay our walking tour of the old town until the next day. Instead we walked to a little restaurant, The Patio, around the corner and down the boulevard. Cheap and cheerful, it had great food, like plantain fritters with a prawn and aioli filling. So delicious!
Beautiful window/door railings
As we were eating, the thunderstorm hit properly, with an amazing lightning display and huge cracks of thunder. And a downpour. We waited and had dessert (flan! – creme caramel) while we waited for it to abate to a drizzle. The sky show while walking back to Hostal O’Reilly was spectacular.
With Martha Jimenez’s art
In the morning we had a walk around the Camaguey historical centre, ending up at the gallery of Cuban artist Martha Jimenez, who paints and sculpts from the perspective of the difficulties of being a woman in today’s culture. Her figures are rounded and lovely, and her recent collection has a carnivalesque atmosphere. Interestingly she often uses the image of a sewing machine in her art, since it is a symbol of female work.
Martha Jimenez’s art – this is a sculpture of the guy sitting next to it – he’s a journalist and always sat there to read the paper
We bought a couple of prints but her sculptures are even more evocative. There are a couple of life-sized bronzes outside in the square which were fabulous!
Martha Jimenez’s art
Next stop: Trinidad.
Two Weeks Away 