A Week in a Caibarien Casa Particular

Caibarien will be known to folks who have sent some time at one of the Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Las Brujas resorts as the last town before the causeway out to the islands.

We were long-time Cayo Santa Maria and Cayo Coco fans.  We started heading to Cayo Coco in 1993, a little overwhelmed by the way Verdero was being developed (when we first started going there were kids camps and people had homes on the beach and you could walk it for an hour without running into anyone).  When the Sol CSM opened we were on the first flight from Toronto and there were years when we managed to fit in three trips there or to the Melia CSM or to the Melia Las Dunas.  We generally alternated between a 'lie down and read and drink for two weeks, then get up and go home' resort trips and a trip somewhere in Canada or to the USA, Europe or Asia for a more active holiday.

We have occasionally stayed at casa particulars elsewhere in Cuba (note on our memorable such are HERE) but we tended to think of Cuba as a place to go for a rest and a read in the sun.

But when I (Derek) retired two and a half years ago my interest in lying around reading in the sun for two weeks faded quickly.  Geri was already a bit tired of resort holidays. 

In short, we were on the verge of skipping our usual trip to Cuba to warm up our winters entirely.

But we 'owed' a visit to a longtime friend who had worked at the Sol CSM and the Melia before 'retiring' to Caibarien to open a casa particular (a Cuban bed and breakfast) a couple of years ago.  We had visited for a tour several years ago and had promised we would stay with Noemi and Roberto.  So last year we combined resort time with a few days at Hostal La Nena.  Details of that trip HERE.

Which went so well we thought we would try a week at Noemi's and see how it would go.

Plus it was the 30th anniversary of our first trip to Cuba as a couple, so of course we had to fit in just one more trip.  :-)

It went really, really well.  We are rejuvenated!  :-)  So much so that instead of saying goodbye to our annual trips to Cuba we're looking forward to a longer stay with Noemi and Roberto next year.

They are just amazing hosts.  It may not even matter that we have known Noemi for almost 20 years as a German couple of a bike tour who wandered in one day looking for a room got the same treatment we did.  The rooms are great (this may say more about me than Noemi and Roberto, but the rooms are the only ones in Cuba or Europe we have stayed in that had facecloths! :-).   Though I don't think we turned on the TV in ours even once.  Breakfast was SPECTACULAR. 

And rather touchingly, we were invited to a couple of family parties with some amazing food (finally!  Lobster stew right off the stove!).  Roberto's mother lives across the street and she came over for a meal and seemed to enjoy the cigar I offered her from my stash.  Noemi's father zips in most days on his motorcycle.  He's a hoot too.  The rest of family was around as well, including their daughter who now lives in Florida.  Some worries about her ability to visit in future given how the US has reversed itself and started tightening the screws again.

Noemi, Roberto and their Hostal La Nena get a rave review from us all.

So does the coffee shop across the street run by a lovely elderly couple from their front room, using a window as a counter.  Regulars (I think I almost became one) have to stop for a while as there are of course no disposable cups and the coffee is strong enough to require some time.  People chat, fix bikes, consult on various problems, then turn in their glasses and head to work.  I think Roberto was at first a little worried about me going over there for a coffee but eventually believed me when I said that I found it fun, it was no reflection on his coffee or the time of the (early) morning when he made it.  He even gave me some 'national currency' to use instead of CUC.  Which I sent off to some young friends who collect currency while using CUC to pay for my morning caffeine supercharging.

So, rather oddly, it looks now as though our pattern may be a month in a villa in Portugal 'resting' from the labours of retirement, alternating with a few weeks in Cuba having a more active holiday.  A reversal of our usual pattern.

The week was lovely, the weather about perfect.  We did spend one day in Remedios as a kind of stopover on the way to the airport and to see the casa particular a friend, Darlene, who had been with us for the week at Noemi's, had booked as she continued her trip.

Lots to see and do around Caibarien.  We became regulars at a few spots.  But the balcony just steps from our room and the comfie rocking chairs on it held their attractions as well.  Especially around noon on a hot day or before leaving for dinner (Roberto and Noemi will do you a dinner at a reasonable price but as they had family with them all week we stuck to eating out).  The balcony is not only shaded and comfortable, but it provides a good view of street life and so can be more entertaining than you might imagine.  :-)

For those who don't know, Cuban resort food is in no way, shape or form representative of Cuban food and so we ate rather well.  Did some walking about town to compensate.  We had good meals at Coliseo and another Italian spot right on the town square whose name we can't recall.  The nearby Pocurull was a fine spot for a beer or two and some fries, despite the potato shortage (an annual event in January we think) but, sadly, our experience there last year for dinner means we cannot recommend it.  Resort food and by far the most expensive meal we had by a factor of four.

The worst we can say about the Coliseo is that the servings are too large.  Once Geri and I split a plate of paste and we were both stuffed.  And one night the three of us each ordered a pizza and left stuffed and with doggy bags in hand.

One day we walked off the previous evening's meal by heading up past the rail works to the cemetery at the south end of town.  Always fun no matter where you are, but Cuban cemeteries have more ornate tombs than most.   Which of course took us past the giant statue of a crab (the town symbol) which some folks who travelled to Cayo Santa Maria more than a decade ago with remember as the airport bus would go past it before the bypass was built.

The plaza was only a few minutes walk from La Nena.  Pretty.  A classic.  Even a band in the gazebo in the centre one day.  Some restored buildings around it plus an hotel is going into a colonial (I think) structure on the north side.  Sadly, construction was on hold while we were there as there had been a death on the worksite a week prior.

The plaza hops at night.  And there is a giant kids playground right there should you have a few in tow on your visit.

One way for us to get there was to walk down a boulevard with a median that has statues scattered along it.  Mostly local notables from the 20 and 30's who paid to have them put up and a few heroes of the War of Independence.

A long walk for me (but Geri and friend Darlene took a short cab ride there) was the beach.  Nice spot for a beer on a sunny day, the bar (there are others in the two hotels there) pleasantly wacky.  Nice cats and chickens wandering around the place.  Beach seems nice enough but I have to admit I didn't go for a swim.  Next time. 

A highlight of our walks was the town market day.  Hard to describe, so check out the photos.  The snacks, especially the sesame seed bars, are killer.  Geri found her bliss in a bag of pork crackling.

On a couple of days we had friends who work at the resorts drop by.  Once even brought dinner for us to enjoy at La Nena.  Others managed visits for a drink or two and some chat.  And our longtime bud Yeuset not only dropped by but met us a few days later in Remedios, gave us a tour of the really very lovely hotel on the plaza where he now works, then invited us to his mother-in-law's birthday party at his house.  Which has been added-to since we last saw it and is really a lovely home in a friendly neighbourhood.

Remedios was a day in the rain (the last day of our trip and the only day that didn't have perfect weather, so no tragedy) but we still had fun wandering around.  There is a bar we have been going to for almost twenty years that we had to stop in on.

The only downside to this kind of stay is that I got in only a few hours of tanning on the lovely rooftop terrace at La Nena.  Mornings up there with coffee as the sun came up and evenings with a beer (La Nena has an honour bar in the dining area) as it went down made up for it.

We made a drop of medical supplies at the hospital thanks to the wonderful folks at Not Just Tourists.  They provide a shoulder bag or suitcase, your choice, fill it with medical supplies and depending on where you are going them can even provide a connection to a medical facility at the other end for the hand-off.  As always the drop was a highlight of the trip, a chance to see things you hopefully wouldn't otherwise, like a hospital or polyclinic.

The only serious downer was the flights.  We'll skip Sunwings next time and go straight to Transat or AC, even if it costs more.  But on a positive travel days note, the special services folks at Abel Santamaria were amazingly helpful getting us through things on the way home, including the Sunwings rep who helped get us into the VIP lounge (which was great as always.  Fun to see all the staff and catch up on stuff). 

Hostal La Nena is on Facebook HERE.

Not Just Tourists can be found HERE.  They have chapters with pick-up points scattered across the country.

Our photos can be found HERE.

A note on costs: Airfare, room, food, booze, the odd cab including too and from the airport (organized by Noemi and Roberto) all came to a bit less than half what it would have cost us to stay at the Melia CSM for the same week.