Learning the Cuban Slaves' Past at a Sugar Mill Ruin, Trinidad, Cuba

We are vacationing in central Cuba!

We joined a one day guided excursion to Trinidad, Cuba.

Cobble stone street in Trinidad, Cuba

In the morning, we strolled on the cobbled streets of the main streets of Trinidad, a UNESCO heritage and culture site.

Our visit included the Church of Trinity, sampling a popular local drink at a popular cafe bar and a few other places around the Main Square area.

We had a lunch stop at the Plaza Mayor restaurant.

We enjoyed a buffet lunch at  a restaurant at Plaza Mayor

We welcome this rest break in an outdoor buffet lunch outdoors with Barbara and Roger, a couple from our group.















While enjoying lunch, we were serenaded by a musical group of three. This happens a lot in Cuba when we dine in restaurants.
Cuban music is lively!















We enjoyed our Cuban lunch. However, with only 10 minutes to browse around at the market place right by the restaurant after lunch, we did not see many of the stalls..

I wish we had more time there shopping for some souvenirs.

However, our schedule was tight and we needed to continue touring other sites.

We visited San Isidro, Museo de Sitio where the ruins of the sugar mill and factory are located.

The bell would sound when a slave escaped from the plantation.

The first building we saw was the bell tower that sounded the alarm whenever a slave tried to escape on this sugar plantation.

Site of the sugar mill factory, Trinidad, Cuba

We learned about the old machine used to extract the cane juice from sugar canes.

The machine was so poorly made that the slaves operating the machine lost their hands and arms easily. Later on when a new machine was used, this problem was resolved.














We visited the sugar mill owner's manor, in close proximity of  the
bell tower.

The plantation owner's manor

The owner's place was a spacious palatial manor served by numerous house slaves on the plantation.

















It was a stark contrast between the owner's manor comparing to the very crammed quarter where his slaves lived. It was a cubicle measured at 4m x 4m and the entire slave family lived there.

A map of the old sugar mills in the area

The sugar production industry was not without competition. In fact the sugar beets and other sugar mills competition gradually became too strong and the sugar plantation was no longer profitable with keeping all the slaves needed for the work.

Therefore, salves were set free in 1865. ( The reason for freeing the slaves in Cuba was not due to human rights or political reason, but an economic one instead.)

The tour guide explaining the history of the sugar mill to us.

But not having jobs and with nowhere to go, many slaves continued to stay and work at their sugar plantations.

However, since the sugar could only be harvested during a certain period of time in the year, the former slaves could only stay at their plantations during these work periods.

Instead of having free room and board when they were slaves,  the former slaves were charged for rent by the plantation owners during these months.

With no money to pay for their room and board, many former slaves owed debts to their former owners and ended up working the rest of the time paying them off!














I was not familiar with the numerous slaves brought over to Cuba to work in the sugar plantations.

I had a good history lesson about the European influence and the contributions made by African slaves in the island countries.








After visiting the sugar mill ruins. the bus took us to a lookout point.

We went up to a look out point after visiting the sugar mill ruins

We had some refreshments at the cafe overlooking the sugar mill valley.

We had an excellent view overlooking the sugar mills valley.

Our last stop was the El Alfarero pottery house.

The master potter demonstrated his craft

The master potter came out to welcome us and  demonstrated his craft in front of us with ease and proficiency.

Within a few minutes, he produced a miniature hat and a small clay pot!

The El Alfarero pottery house, Trinidad, Cuba

This pottery house has been around for a long time.

Pottery workers craving designs on the pots before the firing process.

Many pots, lamps and housewares have been produced in this house for years. I bought a beautiful blue candle holder for my room. I was surprised to find that the price I paid for this candle holder was the same back at the shop at our resort!

Main Square, Trinidad, Cuba

It was a full day of activities and the tour was worth it as we got to see many places in Trinidad!

We were so tired at the end of the day that we fell shortly asleep after dinner and missed the evening entertainment.


R.T.
A Day Tour in Trinidad
Cuba

Visiting Main Square Area & Church of Trinity in Trinidad, Cuba

Day 3

We signed up for the trip for Trinidad, the second day after we arrived at our Cuban resort in Trinidad. We waited at the lobby at 8:45a.m. and were on our way on our first excursion for this trip.

The bus ride to Trinidad was not too long.

We visited Trinidad, Cuba recently

After about thirty minutes, we arrived at the city of Trinidad, Cuba.

Trinidad, Cuba is a UNESCO Heritage Cultural  Site

One of the first villages found by the Spanish in the 16th century, Trinidad is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site.

We exchanged money in Trinidad

Trinidad is the closest city to our resort and we went to exchange money there.

Cubans lining up for their rations outside the shop in Trinidad, Cuba

Right beside where we were lining up to exchange our money, I saw another line where Cubans were lining up for something.  I asked our tour guide about it.

Cubans buying their rations at their store

Our guide told us that each Cuban was to be allotted a certain ration for their necessities which they could buy each month at fixed low prices at the store.

However, if they wanted to buy more than their rationed amount, Cubans could buy these mechanizes but at higher prices. The Cubans I saw were lining up to purchase their monthly rations

Main Square, Trinidad, Cuba

Our next stop was the Main Square.

The Main Square was designed and built in the 16th century by Spanish settlers

It was designed and built in 16^th century.

It was beautiful!

We learned that many of the decorations for the square such as the vases were imported directly from Europe.

Church of Holy Trinity, Trinidad, Cuba

We visited the Church of Holy Trinity.

It is a Roman Catholic church located at the Main Square.

It is famous for the numerous sculptures above the fourteen altars. 

We visited an African Cuban worship house called Templo Yemalla.





















We learned how slaves from Africa brought their religious influence with them to Cuba.

The highlight of the morning tour was visiting the La Chanchacha cafe.

It is a popular bar/ cafe for locals and tourists.

We sampled a local drink called the Canchanchara served in a small clay pot.

The drink was made with honey, lime juice,
ice, water and some alcohol.

The Cuban revolutionary soldiers used to drink la Canchanchara every morning in order to give them energy and boost their morale.

 It was a refreshing beverage and we all enjoyed that drink a lot!

While sipping our drink, we enjoyed some Cuban music by a  group of entertainers.

A couple of our fellow tourists danced to the lively music.
















We also visited some shops in the area.

At the La Canchanchara, Trinidad, Cuba

It was a great visit and we enjoyed the local flavor a great deal!





R.T.
Trinidad, Cuba
Day 3

Day 2 - Exploring Our Cuban Resort at Trinidad Del Mar, Cuba

Day 2 – Cuba

We had a good night rest at our resort from our long travel to Cuba

We slept in until 930am and just made it to breakfast before it ended at 10am.

After breakfast we had a debriefing session with our travel agency’s representative who gave us information about what we needed to know and some itinerary for this trip.

We booked a few excursions on this trip with our representative.

The resort we are staying is a beautiful place!

We went around to explore the resort.

It is a beautiful place!
















A couple of fellow guests at the resort told us that this resort hotel is one of the most beautiful ones in Cuba.

A favourtie activity during our Cuban vacation - being on the beach!

We took a stroll and enjoyed the sandy beach of Cuba.









While strolling on the sandy beach, we came across three tourists from France who were playing  a  beach game with coconuts here.

A French beach game modified and played on a Cuban beach

I asked them about the game and they explained patiently to me that this game was called petanque, played often in southern France around the French Rivera area.

Petanque is a game similar to lawn bowling, the current form of the game originated in 1907 or 1910 in Provence, France. It is usually played with six metal balls with 2 -3 players.

Petanque is played with 6 metal balls but  the French players used 6 coconuts here

Instead of using metal balls to play this game on the Cuban beach,  these French guests modified the game and used 6 coconuts in its place.

How creative!

Interesting fruit we saw in Cuba

We also discovered other activities and lessons offered at this resort.

 We took part in these activities on our first day here and met a few couples at the resort.

.

I love walking on the smooth sand on a Cuban beach!

In the evening, there was entertainment and we enjoyed the singing and dancing after dinner.


We looked forward to our vacation in Cuba for the next little while!


R.T.
A resort at Trinidad Del Mar
Cuba

Sun Wing Taking Care of Customers During a Delayed Flight from Toronto to Cienfuegos, Cuba

We were supposed to fly out from the Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Due to a severe snow storm, our flight from Toronto to Cuba was cancelled in the late evening.

Our Sun Wing flight was delayed for hours due to inclement weather.

Apparently, the bad weather was not any airline's fault.

However, Sun Wing, following its customer Care Policy gave each passenger a dinner voucher for the evening as well as a breakfast voucher for the next morning.

It even gave passengers taxi vouchers should they choose to cancel their flight and decide to go home.

Like many other  passengers, we decided to stay at the airport overnight hoping to board a rescheduled flight the next morning at 6:30am.

Many planed needed to go through the de icing practice for aety reason.

Our plane eventually took off at around 8am after going through the de ice process.

Some passengers waiting for their flight slept overnight on the floor.

After spending a night and waiting at the Toronto International Airport, we finally boarded a Sun Wing flight and headed towards Cuba.

A blanket of snow covered the metro Toronto/

The flight to Cuba from Toronto was about 3 and ¾ hours.

Our plane stopped at Cayo Coco , Cuba where all the passengers were asked to deplane and went through the security screening, with all our luggage in tow.

From the Cayo Coco Airport , it was another 45 minutes flight time before our landing at Cienfuegos.

However, this was not our final destination yet.  A Sun Wing bus was waiting for us outside the airport.

It was another 1 ½ hour bus ride before we reached our resort.

By the time we arrived at our final destination, we had waited and travelled for almost 30 hours. Normally, our flight to Cuba from Toronto is only about 4-5 hours!

Sun Wing was good and recognized the hardship its passengers on this flight have endured. It gave each passenger on this flight a $150.00 voucher to be used in our future trip or excursion.

A team of six dancers were waiting at the resort entrance.

They welcome us with songs and dance upon our arrival.

The check in process was fast and efficient allowing us time for dinner and to catch the evening show at the resort!

R.T.
Cienfuegos
Cuba
Jan. 28, 2019