Cuba: The Queen's Gardens…. Cayo Largo…
Mardi 7 March – Cabo Cruz
Departure from Santiago in the late morning, direction Cabo Cruz, to 120 miles west. We arrive early the next morning and go around the coral reef to anchor in a rough sea with a wind at “Untangling the oxen”. We may not stay long, because the conditions are not ideal for swimming or catching lobsters…. 2 young Cubans swim to the boat (which is quite surprising because the village is quite far away). They discreetly board while staying on the aft deck, for fear of being seen by the coast guards..
Cubans are not allowed to board foreign boats. They offer us tomatoes and peppers without asking us for anything in exchange ….but a small glass of rum “Bottoms up” for “Drink”, seems to be the tradition…Finally 1 small glass then 2….what a descent!! We discuss, they ask us a lot of questions about the way we live in France… They tell us on the nautical guide, Anchorages well protected, and explain to us what they do… Fishing is their life!!! But if they want to fish for themselves They have to buy a license valid only on weekends… what they catch is controlled… sometimes they board larger boats to Santiago, stay at sea for a few days, which gives them a semblance of freedom from their daily lives. It's almost 6 p.m, They have to swim back, impossible to accompany them in the dinghy, Coast guards could see them, They might have problems, so do we by the way!!!!
The next day we go ashore and find a passage in the mangrove where we leave the dinghy. We take a few steps and immediately we are greeted by the coast guard who ask us to turn back… Foreigners are forbidden to set foot here… good! We obey… further, A young man calls out to us at the corner of a door to offer us eggs… I signal to him that yes… and makes us understand that he finds us in the mangrove… He's coming, he is uncomfortable, He does not stop scanning in the direction of the village, see if the authorities don't see him talking to us.. we ask him “how much for eggs”? he doesn't know…. shrugs his shoulders, he has no idea… his gaze falls on Philippe's flip-flops and we understand that he would like them., hers are in a pitiful state… ok without hesitation Philippe gives them to her with a few pesos more…. He leaves with a smile on his face.. We know that in isolated villages like this , People lack a lot of things… clothing, Masks, flippers, shoes, coffee…etc….
On the way back to the boat, We each sort out unnecessary clothes in our “Dressing” of 25m2… and there are plenty of them!!!
The next day the family of the Papuan boat arrives…Time to drink a coffee together and we weigh anchor in the direction of an anchorage with calmer waters…
Thursday 9 March – Niquiero
We are in the bay of Niquiero which seems to be a starting point to visit the Gramma National Park (where Fidel and 81 rebels landed in 1956 from Mexico)… We jump into the dinghy and arrive at the pontoon where the officials are waiting for us… We make ourselves “repulse”kindly once again. Philippe insists because we have come especially to visit this magnificent historical park… nothing to do and in addition we are forbidden to anchor in the bay “for our safety”… the officials are actually afraid that Cubans will escape and get on our boat… We are forced to leave and anchor a few miles away in the mangrove swamp… It is almost 6 p.m, The sky is cloudy, Night will soon fall, It's not going to be easy to see the funds, But we have no choice. Finally, the front sonar guides us, Everything's fine.
Friday 10 March to Saturday 18 March – The gardens of the Queen
We walk from anchorage to anchorage… Quatro Reals – Pasa Cachiboca – Cayo Anclitas – Cayo Alcatracito – Cayo Macho de Fuera… while remaining on the south coast of the string of islands (Sea side).
We explore the depths, a little murky at times… Meeting with fishermen who grill us freshly caught lobsters… they leave us some 6 other than that will be eaten in 3 days… After a while, the lobster for lunch and dinner is “Too much”!!!!
We are a little disappointed with the Queen's gardens, which are described in the guides as heavenly places… There are a lot of mangroves, mosquitoes sometimes, The waters are not always very clear. Finally, in Cayo Alcatracito, the seabed is superb....
Sunday 19 March – Trinidad
The channel to access the village of Casilda is well marked and according to our guide the formalities are done here… We go to the pontoon in a dinghy… An official greets us to tell us that it is forbidden to anchor here, that you have to go to the marina opposite… OK… We're used to it now…We turn back.
The pass to access the marina is shallow, barely 1m8o indicates the sonar… we will not pass, we have 1m8o draught…We anchor near the last beacon and go in a dinghy to the marina. Officials are apparently used to escorting sailboats… A local charter captain offers to board and manoeuvre… no problem he tells us… the bottoms are nothing but mud, if you hit no risk the keel will leave a nice muddy furrow… We trust him… It is at high speed that it heads towards the marina, We scrape the funds, There is no water under the keel but it passes!!!
Trinidad is a 15-minute taxi ride from the marina. It is a pretty, lively colonial town with striking contrasts. It is a “mixture” Beautiful restored colourful facades and completely dilapidated buildings marked by the’ history. We take the opportunity to buy some fresh products at the market, which has only a few meagre displays… Our reserves being at their lowest, we are satisfied with them! Catherine joins us to spend about ten days with us. After his first meal of lobsters and a drunken evening in the city, we head to Cayo Largo.
Wednesday 22 March – Cayo Largo
It is one of the main tourist sites in Cuba, it's east of the isla de la Juventud… There are large sandy beaches, palm trees, Catamarans “abundantly” who walk tourists said to be” Playmobiles” Well lined up in orange suits ( Life jackets) and a marina where you can do the entry formalities… We opt for a little peace and quiet and we drop anchor further, Facing the reefs in turquoise water…
Thursday 23 March to Wednesday 4 April – We travel from east to west all possible anchorages….Cayo de los Balletanos – Cayo del Rosario – Cayo Cantiles – Canal del Rosario – Cayo Campos – Cayo Matias – Caleta Puerto Frances… all these anchorages are magnificent… The water is a deep blue, There are as many varieties of corals as there are fish… it's teeming with lobsters… It's paradise!!! Cayo Campos is a protected area where many monkeys live… they let themselves be approached when they are given a few treats, We experience this with the guards who monitor the site. Puerto Frances is a privileged place for diving… There are a few buoys reserved for tourist boats that only stay for the day….. but it's not crowded at this time of year, which makes anchoring pleasant.
Our camera was stolen in Mexico before loading the last photos of Cuba on the computer... so no more pictures...
We continue our journey, to the west of the island of Juventud. We look forward to visiting the “Isla de la Junentud”, Old “Treasure Island” which is described in the guidebooks as one of the most welcoming areas of the archipelago… with its hills covered with fruit trees… and in particular grapefruit trees…. It is also an opportunity to accompany Catherine back to Havana. We land in Siguanea where the “Marina”… a problem arises when you arrive… There is not enough water to access the port where there are only a few dive boats… leave the boat 3 to 4 unattended days at anchor in the middle of the bay offers no security… A gust of wind, A sudden heavy swell could cause the boat to skid… so we won't be visiting Havana!
You should know that in the south of Cuba there are very few marinas with real facilities… where the boat can be left safely… very often Cubans call Marinas, Pontoons in a pitiful state, with no supervision, no sanitary facilities or restaurants etc…
We go by bus to Nueva Gerona, The main town of the island located on the north coast. The road crosses vast uncultivated semi-desert or wasteland where the remains of trees are smothered by dense tropical vines… We are surprised by the landscape which has nothing to do with what was described in the guidebooks… Maybe we're not in the right place! It's a day of celebration and the small town “quiet” is in turmoil. Stalls line the streets, eardrum-piercing music, floats passing by and families in their Sunday bests walking around. A friendly atmosphere. We help Catherine find a “Casa Particular” for the night to organize his return to Havana… simple in theory but in practice very complicated and time-consuming, she could testify to this…
The return to the boat is by taxi and we take the opportunity to question the driver of the wreck on wheels in which we are traveling… It is then that we learn that for many years there have been no fruit trees on the island. They were attacked by pests and because the government of Cuba could not afford the necessary insecticides… All the trees are dead!
Thursday 5 April to Thursday 12 April – As we have time, We retrace our steps to laze at some anchorages that have more, such as Cayo Matias and Puerto Frances….
Friday 13 April to Sunday 15 April – The fridge is empty (There are only lobsters in the fridge) and staples are starting to run out… it's time to head to the western tip of Cuba (Cabo San Antonio) in order to make our exit from Cuba.
First stop in Cayo San Felipe where we take the opportunity to take long walks along the deserted beaches, Harvest coconuts and grab some lobsters along the way.
Then it's off to Maria La Gorda, which is at the western tip of Cuba and is renowned for its dive sites in crystal clear waters… Arriving, we call the coast guard by VHF… It's 5 p.m.! We are asked to anchor on the first reef towards the pontoon, Opposite the dive center and hotel… weird to tell us to anchor in the middle of corals… in addition to a site that is supposed to be protected! We don't follow his instructions and approach the beach to find a sandy area, At least we don't damage the coral heads about ten meters below us and we can see very clearly because the water is so transparent!
The official is waiting for us at the edge of the beach, The formalities are done quickly… buffer, A few scribbles on our papers and the deal is in the bag!!!
Except that you have to pay… The Marina… we don't understand!!! We are in front of a beach, without pontoon, a desert diving center, a hotel with 2 pilgrims and no sanitary facilities… It's almost a racketeering, We decide to leave again… The official hurries to give us the exit, for in 10 minutes he has to take the last bus… just enough time to return to the boat, and one of the officials calls us to order by VHF insisting that we must weigh anchor now!! We think about what to do… arriving at Los Morros by night, where we have to leave the country does not seem prudent to us. The night approach is dangerous because navigation is done in 3 or 5m of water and you have to go around reefs far offshore, which are not all mapped… The choice is quickly made, we anchor a little further in the bay, opposite the beach, and it's free!!!
Monday 17 April to Tuesday 18 April – Los Morros
Los Morros marks the end of our trip to Cuba. The arrival in Los Morros is quite hectic, the wind and the swell are there when we go around Cabo San Antonio.
We have passed nearly 7 weeks exploring the south of the island which is much less touristy than the northwest coast. We met very few sailboats, most of them sail inland from Les Cayes, which are certainly better protected, but more frequented with very murky seabeds because there are no more mangroves. We were lucky enough to discover undeveloped places where tourists don't go, then exchange with Cubans of surprising kindness, who live with what they have and very often not much, while they are ready to give without asking for anything in exchange, this is only valid in small remote towns and not in tourist sites.
It was noon when we weighed anchor to head for Mexico, which was only a hundred miles away…