There wasn’t really anymore to do in Trinidad so it was time to move on again. At breakfast, an unusually early one as the only bus to Camaguay leaves a 8am, one of the family again checked if we had accommodation and as the answer was ‘no’, a phone call was made and everything arranged on our behalf. I felt compelled to argue the bill of this casa as the 2 cuc for a can of beer and 1 cuc for a small bottle of water I felt was not only overcharging but actually taking the pee. Oddly, he backed down quiet quickly and refunded 5 cuc. I have an idea that he could get into a lot of trouble if we complain officially and would guess that most ‘guests’ probably wouldn’t make any fuss; but by now we are both getting a little tired of the Cubans overcharging. We appreciate that to them we are very rich but I still don’t like to be ripped off; and if we were that rich we would be staying in far superior accommodation!
Camaguey is Cuba’s fourth largest city and is the capital of Camaguey Province. Originally situated on the north coast and known as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe around 1515; but due to almost continuous pirate attack, the city was relocated to the centre in 1528. Built to confuse enemies, it has winding alleys (some blind), forked roads and squares of differing sizes and was made a World Heritage Sity by UNESCO in July 2008.
True to form, we were met at the bus station with taxi waiting and off we went to our next home. Delfin and Elena have a house in the centre of Camaguey with only a few minutes walk to get to anywhere. Sadly, the room was not brilliant but satisfactory; and when the people are so welcoming it is hard to say ‘no I’m not staying in this dump!’ In fact it wasn’t really that bad, just not that good either, especially after the casa at Trinidad. On arrival we had to do the usual paperwork and Elena even gave us a cup of coffee – espresso with a lot of sugar. It was then that we realised that it was Saturday as we had been convinced that it was Friday. We had a bit of a panic because the guide book had warned that we should make sure we had all the money we needed by Friday afternoon, but we needn’t have worried. After the initial stress of finding a cash machine, we were again solvent.
It was while we were looking for the ATM that Ernesto offered his help and showed us the way; he then tried to persuade us to take the bicycle tour of the town. He used to chauffeur his own bicitaxi but his knees are now ‘shot away’ and so he earns a bit of commission every time he talks a tourist into taking a tour of the town and his English is outstanding. We declined his invitation but bumped into him several times during our two days there. Another Cuban who attached himself to us was Louis (I think), but he was a little strange. His mother cooks at a paladar and he marched us off to look at it, even though we were not ready to eat. We did promise that we would indeed go back later
but he seemed to just ‘cling’ to us after that. It was shortly after that that, and back in the Plaza Ignacio Agramonte, the square that we ran into Louis, it started to rain and we took cover in, guess what, a bar. We really liked the atmosphere and stayed for a couple of drinks and feeling guilty offered to buy Louis a beer. He chose a rum and coke, but we both tasted his drink and are convinced that although charged for a rum and coke he just got the coke so once again feeling disillusioned with the Cubans we moved on.Baseball is quiet a passion with many Cubans, one can hear loud (passionate) discussions when a group of Cubans gather, but it was the Rough Guide that we were using that suggested the topic was Cuban baseball. When we found out that there was to be a match between Camaguey and Havana, in Camaguay, on the Sunday, we decided to go; as much to see the locals as the game. We arrived at about 12.30 believing the game to be starting at 1pm. It was while we walking around the stadium to find the
entrance when the Havana players coach pulled up, a photo opportunity that I simply couldn’t miss. As I took aim with the lens some of the players noticed and kindly obliged by posing. When we finally found the entrance we discovered that the game didn’t start until 1.30. The concrete seating was not the most comfortable, but it was entertaining watching the stadium start to fill and the players start to warm up. Interestingly, there were no Havana fans present; we guessed it would just cost them too much money to get there and it would take around seven hours to travel there and another seven back again. To be honest we both found the game a bit repetitive and frustrating. After four rounds of no scoring, Havana scored a home run and on their fifth round of batting managed to get another player all the way around, in 
stages. Camaguey did get one player around on their sixth round, but it was the 9th and last round that was really exciting for the home team. Havana had batted first and so Camaguey were on their last go at batting. With one player on each base and only one player out, that left the last two players; had they managed anything at all there would have been a tie; and if one of those last players had managed a home run Camaguey could have won by 5:2; alas they didn’t manage that final effort and ending the game by losing 2:1.
No comments:
Post a Comment