Playa Larga to Playa Girón
“What’s in the bucket?”, asks Weezie. We are stopped by the side of the road asking two older gentlemen with heavily creased faces, straddling their rattletrap bicycles whether the road ahead is bike worthy. We both reckon that these guys would know, they and their bicycles looked like they had seen a lot of life and probably had a good lay of the land.
I was wholly focused on deciphering their Spanish and their gestures, which were adding up to, “Don’t go on this road, it is long, hot and terrible and you will get many flat tires—pinchadas.”, while Weezie was surveying the scene, like she always does.
The bucket in question was bungeed on to the back of one of the gentlemen’s bikes and when I looked, I saw that it was filled with of a huge, brown, spongy mass that was covered with bees.
“Abejas.”, responded the man and with a big smile he reached back and gently coaxed several off the hive on to his hand. “The bees in Cuba don’t sting-no pica.” he said with the penuche of a circus performer. They delicately crawled along his arm while he murmured to them with gentle affection before placing them back on their hive. I told him that I had hives of my own back in Maine, but that his bees seemed a lot nicer.
“Taste some honey.” he said and showed us where to stick our fingers into the oozy mess. We did and it was delicious; sweet and delicate, just like his bees.
Southern Cuba has a very different energy from what we have experienced so in the north and west. It is tranquil and it seems to be slightly less impoverished. Perhaps that is because the coastline here opens up onto the most beautiful beaches in the world, more than brochure worthy. It is everything you think of when you think of the Caribbean; warm turquoise waters, coral reefs, coconut palms, white sand beaches- the works. We spent the afternoon snorkeling today and saw beautiful tropical fish in protected atolls where we could loll about without a care.
Tourists come here from Canada and Europe fairly regularly and they bring their money, so the economy has some vitality. There is delicious fried fish to be had, rock lobster, yucca. Plenty to fill up a belly and tasty too boot. There are many places to stay and it is very safe and inexpensive. Weezie and I generally pay about 20-30 dollars for our accommodation and about five dollars for a meal. If you ever get a chance, you should come. It would be good for you, and for the people here.