miscellanea
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Isabela De Sagua to Playa el Salto y Ganuza<< Caibarien to Isabela De Sagua | Cuba2003 | Playa el Salto y Ganuza to Varadero >>  4 May. I left early on a fine morning, refreshed with coffee and stocked with lunch, staying mostly a mile or two off a low, featureless coast of mangroves. Along here the air chart was very useful for reckoning position, as it marked the high smokestacks and the occasional conical hill that were my only points of reference. Half way across the large Bahia de Carahatas I decided to take the northern passage between a small cayo and Cayo Las Picuas, as it looked interesting and abounded in flamingo. It was almost too interesting as I found myself towards the end twisting, reversing and feeling my way through channels inches deep, but after many attempts and different routes, and stubborn refusal to turn back until I’d tried them all, I eventually emerged on deeper water. The folding boat, that looks so fragile, stood up remarkably well to such mistreatment, albeit that worse was to come. As the far western end of Bahia de Carahatas I had the usual problem of heading towards a channel marked on the map, wondering whether it existed and if so whether it was choked with new mangrove growth. If it and the other channel were blocked, it would mean a huge backtrack to work around Cayo Las Picuas, so as I approached I hoped for that perfect channel sign, an emerging boat, but this was Cuba and there was not another boat in sight. As I got close I could see the channel but not how to reach it, as I was on the wrong side of a sunken fence line. I managed to sneak the kayak through a gap, negotiated another shallow mangrove maize, squeeze through another fence, and I was in the wide muddy channel. I followed it for a mile as it opened out into submerged fields cross-crossed with fences. After the second narrow miss of boat fabric against sunken post, and binocular searches failing to see any way through, I resigned myself to the long haul back, and extracted myself. As I headed north the real channel opened out, invisible until right alongside, so I turned in sheepish but relieved, and in no time emerged in the next Bahia, the huge Bahia de Santa Clara. The afternoon northeasters strengthened by the sea breezes were running strong, and I headed further offshore into them so that I could enjoy a downwind surf into the next town of Playa La Panchita. Playa Planchita consisted mainly of a street running the length of the seafront, houses only on the landward side, and another street running inland, houses both sides. We moved the boats onto the grass and under the shade of the ubiquitous beach umbrellas. A jovial family arrived crammed into a superb Cadillac, and positioned themselves around the neighbouring umbrella, sipping rum and relaxing in the afternoon sun. The one empty cafe had no food, but a freezer full of soft drinks. Later that evening we were entertained by boy racers, not in cars but in single horse-drawn buggies, racing each other up and down the street. That night we heard rustling and I poked my head out of the tent. Bison! The herd moved through, fortunately without trampling on us, or the boats. Pigs one night, bison the next. << Caibarien to Isabela De Sagua | Cuba2003 | Playa el Salto y Ganuza to Varadero >> |
