14-15 December 2024, La Maya to Guantanamo, 49.56km at 10.3kph average
Hostel Carreras $17 (R310)

The run from La Maya to Guantanamo was done largely under a cloudy sky with a cooling breeze helping mitigate the heat. We were particularly pleased about this as we are currently headed east, travelling into the rising sun.

Again, we on occasion travelled the secondary autopiste “highway”, but also a long section on the considerably wider auto nacional “motorway”, both roads pleasingly quiet. At one rest stop, we were thrilled to supplement the homemade peanut brittle bought at La Maya’s fair, our padkos (road-food), with a tasty corn bread bought fresh at a small shop adjacent a rural bus stop. Our route was mainly through a green scene, some natural bush, some small-scale farming: bananas, corn, sugar. At an earlier stop, advertising coffee, the young woman behind the counter managed to squeeze out ONE tiny cup of coffee for me, all that remained in a flask. I drank this beside a sizeable stack of alcohol, seemingly never in short supply.

We have discovered that Cuba seems to follow the same greeting protocol as West Africa: He who is walking greets he who is sitting… In other words, the stranger or foreigner greets the local. When we do so with a cheery “ola” or “buon dia”, we receive a cheery response past white smiles in faces coloured white chocolate through milk through delicious dark.
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After a good lunch of chicken, rice and salad at Snack Bar Utria, we tracked down our Guantanamo casa particular on the corner of Josė Martí and Jesus del Sol, placed a sarong over our clean sheets, and napped for two hours in all our dirt. Last night we slept an additional almost-12 hours! Guess we’re a little tired. We have not cycled any real distances since January, of course, making the last two days feel long, but I assume the several-days travel to reach Santiago, the (lack of) altitude, and the heat-humidity combo are playing a taxing role.
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Our hosts not only offered to do a load of washing for us included in our overnight fee, later delivering it folded and fresh to our door, but also assisted with cashing Euros when asked. They made a phone call, confirmed we were happy with the proposed rate (330 Peso to the Euro, our best yet), and minutes later a dude pitched up on a scooter, and counted out the cash onto the dining table at which I was sitting. How cool is that?
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DID YOU KNOW that Cuba lies 150km south of Key West, United States and 210km east of Cancun, Mexico? 4,195 islands and islets make up the country. The main island stretches 1,200 kms from west to east, and is 100 kms wide in most places. At a little over 110,000 square kms, Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea, and the 17th largest island in the world. Cuba has over 5,700km of coastline and 28.5km of land border, this latter being the border around the US-leased Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.
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At Downtown, recommended by our Guantanamo hosts, José and Alba, a giant and delicious white cheese burger, served with banana crisps, will set you back just R37. Not bad for a place so popular, you have to stand in line outside until a table empties. A nice mix of families and young lovers and groups of friends all dressed up for a night out... We dined here on both nights in town...