Day 14: Santiago de Cuba to Chivirico

Plan B and A, Economic prosperity, goats everywhere and scenery waaaaayyy beyond the resorts. The road to Chivirico is beautiful!

Last night we contemplated a Plan B, considered bailing out of the ride to Chivirico and beyond due to relentless dehydrating heat, and the remote terrain that will become increasingly so for the next two days. But we determined that this is what we came for and we don’t want to miss the unspoiled spectacular scenery that supposedly awaits us along the southern most coastline of Cuba. There are fewer Casa’s to stay in so we will take our chances. Things always work out.

An English speaking friend of our Casa owner last night gave us some advice about a possible Plan B (basically, no plan B. He said we’d be missing the best part!). So back to plan A. He told us about a Casa in one of our places of interest, complete with instructions about reserving that Casa on an island he knew of. Apparently we show up, stand on the shore and yell “Carlos! Carlos!” toward the island and Carlos should hear us.

We woke up super early to leave. As we left behind the big puffy black fumes of Santiago de Cuba and headed down to the coast we were rewarded with amazing views of mountains to the right and the Caribbean to the left. We passed dozens of small unspoiled beaches. Beaches in the south shore are rocky while those along the northern coast are white powdery sand.

We noticed more economic prosperity as we moved along the coast. More houses being fixed up or newly built, and some lovely beachside communities. It was great to see beaches with Cubans swimming in the ocean rather than tourists. Very few tourists in these parts.

We found the best open air seaside restaurant that had only opened a few days ago. It was a Restaurant/Farm and about 50 ft from our table were pens with hogs in them (great big snorting ones), alongside an enclosure for ducks, chickens, turkeys and other birds. Lots to look at while we waited for Shrimp Alfredo (😃) to be served. The server so wanted us to enjoy our experience there. Randy and I wandered down to the shoreline to take a look and the server showed up there with an unexpected big plate of delicious fruit to enjoy before our meal.

Goats and sheep are a constant and regular thing on the roads. There are always a collection of them grazing, little ones baaa-ing and always more lazily crossing the roadway with a sense of entitlement. At one point a great big hog sauntered across followed by one little piglet.

So here we are in Chivirico. Chivirico we hear, is the end of the line for buses and taxis and most cars since the road beyond is supposedly unpassable in places. Yep! That’s where Randy and Anita shall venture tomorrow!