Author: Maggie Page 17 of 34

Last night we were given our brief for today. We shall be travelling inland to another UNESCO World Heritage Site –  Valle de Los Ingenios. Sugar cane was processed and transported from here and it relied upon a large slave population. The journey will be by wooden train pulled by a steam locomotive and we shall be shooting in monochrome. My assignment is to take a series of photos for a magazine article featuring the valley near Trinidad as a destination when in Cuba.

We walk down to the station in Trinidad to catch the train. It is 08.30 and already scorchingly hot. The sky is azure blue and cloudless. It would be easy to have walked past the platform and ticket office. The track was largely overgrown and barely visible through the lush growth of grass.

We had a while before the train departed and this was an excellent spot to people watch and capture the mood of the place.

Eventually the engine was attached to the wooden carriage, we climbed aboard.

The whistle blew and we were on our way for the 90 minute journey. This was a wonderful way to see the countryside. The train travelled slowly. Children waved at us and we watched the locals going about their daily routine, which I suspect has remained unchanged through most of the last century. The only real clue to the present day were the occasional motor bikes or cars. Mules, push-bikes and foot seem to be the main mode of transport.

Passengers were allowed to sit in the engine compartment if they wanted – this of course involved generous tipping and also stepping over a large gap between carriages. I decided not to venture up there but enjoyed some time standing on the rear platform and looking back down the track. Every so often the the train travelled over wooden bridges. These seemed decidedly unsafe: the ancient structures creaked and swayed as the train chugged across them. I felt like I had travelled back in time. This really was an exceptional experience and a must do if you are ever in Trinidad.

On arrival in Valle de Los Ingenios, I tried to take some shots of the train that did not include any modern day trappings but that proved impossible. I was disappointed as my aim had been to try and depict Los Ingenios as it had been a hundred years ago. Even in such a remote place some element of modernity creeps in. I therefore change my mind and decide to represent the town as it is today..

…but making sure that each shot reflects the past and the town’s sugar industry and lace-making history.

I set off up the Main Street. Lace is hung out along the road and ladies vie for business. This is the first place I have been that people are more aggressive in their sales technique. Clearly the lack of tourism has made life very hard for these people and, if you stop to look at the wares you are thronged. I decide to buy something on my way back but for the present walk determinedly and swiftly to the main square.  A tall tower stands over the town. There is a man there with a peregrine falcon which he has raised from an egg. He is very enterprising and before I have a chance to say no, the bird is on my hand. It’s actually rather cool to be so close to such a beautiful creature and I give him some pesetas before paying the small entrance fee to climb the tower.

From the ground the tower does not look that tall. I start my ascent which initially is easy, but each level is narrower with less headroom.

In places the wood is rotten, the handrails wobble and are not secure and I seriously question my sanity. Every time I finish one flight and stand on the intermediate platform I wonder whether to turn back. I decide to persevere and the views from the top are terrific.

What is not so great is the way the whole tower is definitely moving with the wind. I do not linger and am glad to make it safely back to terra firma.

I wander around looking for inspiration. Matt joins me and makes some location suggestions and helps with composition. We sit and have an ice-cold homemade lemonade. Suitably refreshed I continue with my assignment.

I finish my shoot at the old slave quarters where graffiti depicting slavery has been painted on the walls lest we should forget those dark days.

Taxis take us back to our hotel. The views along the way are magnificent.

We have the afternoon to go through our photographs and pick our best six to display to the group before dinner. We have a discussion about where to have dinner. Apparently there will be a power-cut in town tonight but the hotel will have light. Good as last night’s meal was, nobody can face another bill fiasco. We opt for dinner in town at Le Giroud. It has a generator so we just need to walk there and back in the dark. We are getting quite good at that now. I have a calzone pizza which is quite excellent, washed down by a few caipirinhas, which are also spot-on.

 

Today we have a well earned day off. I think everybody is suffering from a degree of burn out. It has been a very full on first week and a day of R&R is much needed. There are various options for trips. Caroline and I opt for a catamaran trip and snorkelling. There is a very helpful concierge at the hotel and he arranges the taxi and catamaran for us and accompanies us to the beach. We think the trip is exceedingly good value at $40 taxi and $20 boat for both of us. There may be a small mis-understanding with the boat….

We arrive at a beautiful Caribbean beach and walk along the sand to a watersports hut. We can see a large catamaran on the waters edge and are looking forward to a nice cruise. The watersports guy asks us if we would like to leave any belongings in his hut. We say we’ll take everything with us as we have sun cream etc. He looks at us strangely but makes no further comment. We head off in the direction of the cat but he walks straight into the water and then we understand. The 50’ catamaran we can see is not our transport. We are going out on a 15’ hobie cat!

That explains the very reasonable price. We have bags with us so cram all our belongings into them and rest them on the trampoline. Fortunately the sea is very calm so I do not think they will come to any harm. We set sail and it is glorious. The island is beautiful and lush from the sea.

It’s a 20 minute sail to the reef where we will swim. We are handed a mask and snorkel and told we do not need fins. More to the point he did not have any to give us! We plopped into the water and set off. There was not too much current and the visibility was good. The coral and sea life was limited but it was just lovely to be swimming in the ocean and having a chilled day.

My snorkel had a split in the mouthpiece and kept leaking. We stopped for a chat and I made an unfortunate remark. It went along the lines of “This snorkel is useless. I have to put my tongue over the crack to stop it leaking”. Caroline exploded with laughter and said between guffaws and snorts “Do you realise what you just said?” Well, we were helpless with laughter. Its quite difficult to laugh and stay afloat – we were in deep water and not taking in mouthfuls of salt water was a challenge. It was absolutely hilarious.

We hadn’t taken into account how tricky it would be to get back on board. Our skipper was helpful taking a hand and hauling us onto the trampoline. It was very inelegant and my boobs popped out in the process! More laughter…

Once ashore we found a nice beach bar, ordered beers and looked at the menu for lunch options. Most things in Cuba come deep fried and we were looking for a more healthy choice. We opt for ‘Tostones Rellenos con Jamon y Queso’ which translates as ‘Banana stuffed with ham and cheese’. We couldn’t believe that is what it was and thought it must be like a torpedo roll. This is what turned up…..

Surprise! It was indeed deep-fried rolled bananas making sort of vol au vent cases. Hats off for ingenuity. The problem was they had zero taste. Fortunately chives had been sprinkled over them and you had to make sure you had a little sprinkle on each mouthful. That literally was the only flavour there was. We did not eat much, but took the leftovers back to our hotel for a guess the food competition in the evening.

We were told the driver would meet us by the beach bar. We waited and waited. No sign of him. We decided he must be waiting where he had dropped us off, which was a few hundred yards back along the beach. We strolled back over the scorching sand and he was indeed there waiting for us. He had a lovely red and white classic saloon in immaculate condition.

We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting by the pool and drinking Cuba libres. A thoroughly enjoyable day.

In the evening we ate in the hotel restaurant and I have to say the food was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. All went well until it came to paying the bill. It was a nightmare. Drinks we’d ordered at the table had to be taken off the bill and re-done by the bar as they have different till systems. Everybody had eaten different things and it was not a particularly cheap menu. We then had to work out what we all had and who owed what. The waitress was new and in tears as she could not reconcile the orders. It easily took an hour and we assured the waitress that we would make up any shortfall. We also gave her a huge tip. She hugged us and thanked us profusely.

Today is portrait day. My bete noir.

For clarity a portrait is defined as ‘A photograph of a person who is aware the photo is being taken’. I find this type of photography totally out of my comfort zone. For me it is very difficult to go up to strangers and ask them for photos. I find it particularly challenging when I do not speak the language. My apprehension is somewhat surprising as I am quite an outgoing person, so you would think I shouldn’t have an issue. I think my discomfort stems from my dislike of invading someone else’s personal space. In Cuba it may not be as hard for me, as the people are in need and very happy to pose, as long as you tip them afterwards, so maybe I am doing them a favour….

My first efforts are a group of men playing dominoes. We have just set off and the group is all present – 10 eager photographers. This presents problem number 1 – setting up the shot without someone else getting in the way. Guess what? The same two people who are always oblivious to the rest of the group keep photo-bombing. Anyway I take a couple of warm-up shots.

I then see two ladies, sitting on a tatty and dirty step, cuddling two sleeping children. They are clearly mother and daughter and the love for each other and the children shines through. They have taken care of their appearance and the children are immaculate which is in stark contrast to the clear poverty of their situation. I am pleased with the result.

I was hoping for a good portrait off the cute children below, but they were fast moving, cheeky and in danger of touching the lens. The first shot could have been great if I had time to adjust the depth of field. The second shot was in focus.

I then wander around for an hour looking for inspiration. I take some great street photography but no portrait opportunities leap out at me.

Finally I find a lady embroidering a table cloth. I love the matching blues of her dress, the doors and her needle-point. I am sure that this will make a great portrait. Ummm.. and it might have done had it been in precise focus. I couldn’t work out why I was not taking sharp shots. Simples! I generally use back button focus and had set the the camera to continuous autofocus when filming the fast-moving children earlier. However, with a short depth off field, single focus was required or any hand movement would move the focal point. Note to self. You had time so check all the camera settings before taking the shot. Grrrr!

The focus on the photo below is good but just one problem. It is not a portrait. Does the lady know I am taking the picture?

It is now mid-day and exceedingly hot so we are making our way to a restaurant for lunch. I stop to watch some musicians and when I look up from my camera everyone has disappeared!

I look all around, go to the crossroads and walk in each direction but no sign of anyone. I end up walking for an hour or more in the searing heat until I can stand it no longer. I settle myself in a leafy square and order a lemonade and bottle of water. Musicians are playing some lively Cuban music and it is nice to be sitting down in the shade.

The lemonade appears and the waiter apologises profusely for having no bottles of water. I looked at my phone and saw I had a message from Matt asking where I was. They apparently were in a restaurant which turned out to be directly behind me when I was filming the musicians. I tried hard to be gracious when I made it back to the restaurant despite serious heat exhaustion!

We spent a little more time shooting after lunch. Again I have some good street photography but I can’t say I nail the brief.

If a portrait could be of an animal then this one is a cracker!

and then the heat won and we headed back to the hotel for some time by the pool.

Tonight we are going to have pizzas. This will make a welcome dietary change and we are told the restaurant we are visiting has a good wood-fired pizza oven. We take our tripods as after dinner we shall be doing a night shoot. We settle at our table and look for the pizza menu which is blanked out. Shock and horror! There are no pizzas tonight as the restaurant has no cheese! I make do with spaghetti bolognese which is quite excellent.

The night shoot is fun but I must invest in a decent travel tripod. The one I am using is decidedly wobbly. I was really getting into the groove when my battery went flat. I was surprised that it died so quickly but of course the shutter is being held open for a long time so much more processing time required. Anyway it is fine as I have a spare battery in my bag…..er no. I’ve left it in the charger by my bed.

Frustrating. I pack all my gear away and watch everyone else having fun. I cannot watch for long as suddenly all the lights go out. There is a power cut and it is pitch dark. Walking back to our hotel over the cobbles is going to be challenging.

Thank goodness for iPhones with torches. It provides just enough light to prevent anyone twisting their ankles. It also is capable of taking great night shots as demonstrated by the little, street-lit house below. Sometimes I wonder why I carry the big camera around with me.

Today we shall spend most of the day in a coach. We are heading south across the island to Trinidad – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We are told it has changed little in the last few centuries. I am looking forward to seeing it, but first we must endure the journey there – 5 hours of driving plus stop-offs. We drive to Cienfuegos for lunch and come across a bike rally on the outskirts. We park briefly to watch and are surprised by how hot and humid it is. Havana was hot but not like this as there was a strong sea breeze. Here the air is sultry and humid – it feels very tropical which Havana strangely did not.

We find a hotel in the centre of Cienfuegos and sit in the shade by the pool for lunch. The setting was very pleasant – lunch was unexceptional.

We stop off at Palacio de Valle which is on the outskirts of Cienfuegos. It is a beautiful old Moorish style palace. The brief is to capture unusual aspects of the building….

We arrive at our hotel in Trinidad – Mystique Trinidad La Popa at 16.30. The hotel is beautiful, as are the views and the rooms.

We walk down the cobbled steps from the hotel into the main square of Trinidad.

We are eating at a little restaurant called Sol Ananda which is just across the square. It is in a house which dates back to the mid-eighteenth century. The food was pretty good and in fact all meals so far have been reasonable. It was just the first night’s dinner that was terrible.

After the meal we head off to a salsa club and we all decide to not drink Cuba libres but to stick to beer and rest our livers. This is a great plan but the problem is that the bar has no beer and cola. We have no option but to drink mojitos and daiquiris. We are to discover that food, drink and electricity shortages are all very common in Trinidad.

The locals are friendly and one by one we are encouraged to join in the dancing and are patiently taught how to salsa. It should be simple but I don’t think the rum was aiding my cause. It seemed very straightforward in my bedroom the next morning!