Saturno Cave and Matanzas (Cuba, part III)

We were going to cancel, but the driver had passed up other work to take us. We felt obligated, so to start our day we decided to go to Saturno Cave. Our drivers wife Larissa, who was the agent who arranged for the van in the first place and who was something like eight months pregnant, came along for the ride.

Saturno Cave is a great big hole in the ground which is about half full of water. When we arrived, we were the only ones there, which was nice. We had already been there once before, on our jeep tour, but there were so many people the most of us didn't get a chance to swim. We paid the entry fee and walked down into the cave, which I now wish I had more pictures of.

The water is crystal clear, and it is easy to see all the way to the bottom, which is perhaps 20 or 25 feet from the surface of the water. It made for great snorkeling, and I dove down to the bottom a few times. I swam as fast as I could, down then up. On the way down, the task of equalizing my ears and blowing air into my mask so that it wasn't pressed too tightly against my face proved to be too much, and I came up with a slight nose bleed.

There is plenty of day light in most parts of the cave, but there is a narrow passage behind a column of limestone where very little light reaches. It's short, but enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck a little. Cave SCUBA would be too much for me for sure!

A large gaggle of tourists descended into the cave, and between the crowds, the cold water, and the fact that we had seen all that we could without being cave divers, we decided it was time to do something else.

Our driver took us to Matanzas, where our first stop was the government organized farmers market. Here Larissa visited some vendors and bought groceries, and the rest of us wandered around looking at everything. This market was mostly food. It lacked the crafts and nicknacks that I've seen at the Millarville Farmers Market. The Millarville market has a certain tourist bent to it though, while the Matanzas market is organized by the government so that the locals can buy food.

The difference between what we ate at the hotel and what ordinary Cubans ate was made clear for us at the market. At the hotel, we were fed a variety of fairly bland meat and carb dishes, and very little in the way of vegetables. The market featured onions, garlic, and tomatoes quite heavily. Larissa told us that the ordinary Cubans diet was actually quite spicy.

Unfortunately for me, I did not bring along the digital camera for this trip, since I assumed that I would be snorkeling the whole time. I should have gone back to the room to get it after we changed our plans, but didn't. The market was a colourful and interesting place, and it would have been easy to fill a 512mb flash card. Cathy had here SLR along, and was kind enough to let me take a few pictures. Using an SLR again made me miss my old Pentax.

After the farmers market, we headed down to a more permanent market. Larissa and Oliwa treated us to oranges and bananas, but we passed on the deep fried stuff. Apparently the oil they use takes some getting used to, and nobody was willing to risk stomach rumbles. The entire time we were in Matanzas, the entire time we were off the beaten tourist path, I was only harassed for money once, which happened at this market. I was kind of surprised that we didn't get harassed more, but like anywhere, it's the professional beggars that will harass anybody. Everybody else had better things to do that hit tourists up for tips.

While we were in Havana, Rod bought Oliwa dinner at the buffet he had recommended. Oliwa and Larissa returned the favor by inviting us into their home and treating us to coffee. Larissa made the coffee using a moka pot, which is the same thing I use to make coffee at home. The coffee was heavily sweetened and presented in beautiful tiny china cups. A bit different from what I'm used to, but delicious nonetheless.

One of our original group of snorkelers bowed out when it was suggested that we tour Matanzas saying "Matanzas is a dump!" It's true, parts of Matanzas do resemble a landfill with houses on it. The way to Oliwa and Larissa's house consisted mostly of very rough dirt roads. This is in the suburbs; in the older "downtown" parts of town, there was pavement or cobblestones. There was considerable chunks of metal and plastic poking our of the ground all over the place. Garbage seemed to be everywhere, except right in the road and in people's yards.

Their house was fairly new, build in about 2002 I believe. The yard was very clean and very well tended. The yard was fenced by a wall about a foot thick and about five or six feet high, with wrought iron gates and heavy padlocks. Inside and out, the place was beautiful. Some of the electrical fixtures needed work, but that was probably more due to the lack of materials than anything.

It was a strange disparity; very clean and well kept house and yards, dirty and garbage strewn in general. People seem to take very good care of what is directly their responsibility, but common areas seem to fall into decline. Perhaps the regional governments don't have sufficient resources or motivation to do anything better.

After having coffee, Oliwa drove us back to our hotel. On the way, we stopped at Coral Beach, where we had intended on going snorkeling. The sea was rough indeed; Tamara got too close and spent to much time gazing up the coastline that she did not notice a large wave approaching until it has reached up and splashed her. After getting hit on her front and right side, she turned around to look at me and stood there in shock, and another wave came up and splashed her on the back.

It was a good day.

I had not intended on making a series out of this, but there will be at least one more entry about Cuba.