From Trinidad to the Salto del Caburní Waterfall (Topes de Collantes)
At sunrise I was out in the streets of Trinidad again, enjoying the beautiful light in the colourful lanes. After breakfast we drove back into Topes de Collantes National Park.
Through coffee plantations to the waterfall
Our first stop was a small, not particularly remarkable coffee plantation near Escambray. Then on to the nearby Salto del Caburní waterfall; the starting point was the Hotel Escambray with its abandoned apartment blocks. A long, steep hike led down the mountain, past beautiful limestone rocks, to the waterfall – a landscape that was well worth it.
Sunset at the Mirador
To round off the day, the sunset from the Mirador, a viewpoint with a wonderful view of Trinidad and Cuba's south coast. Trinidad and the nearby Valle de los Ingenios, the Valley of the Sugar Mills, are a joint UNESCO World Heritage Site – reminders of the colonial wealth of the sugar era.
Sunrise in Trinidad: colourful lanes, cobblestones, the street lamp still burning.The bell tower of the San Francisco convent in the first light.A black door between white columns and a pale diamond on turquoise.White louvred doors with a flourish between yellow walls.One man carries long poles, another a wooden frame across the cobbles.A green window, paint flaking, wire mesh in front.The tail fin of a red Bel Air and a Chevrolet grille.El Pimiento: a pink house with a painted pepper and fruit on the wall.Pepper, pineapple, bananas and mangoes – painted on pink plaster.A yellow façade with a green balcony and painted flower vases.A man sweeps the church steps while the dogs doze.Bunting, a painted bell tower and the Productos Normados board.Morning sweep: cobblestones between tall palms.Green ridges down to the sea – back in Topes de Collantes National Park.Wooded ridges stretching to the distant plain.A narrow concrete road through tall, dense forest.Maps of the Ruta del café at the coffee plantation.The abandoned apartment blocks by the Hotel Escambray, open and windowless.Trees growing on the roof, green benches on the lawn in front.An earth path between the concrete pillars beneath the block.From the empty block onto mountains and colourful houses on the slope.Wooded ranges in the haze, one valley after another.A wooden house with a tiled roof in a clearing.Fan palms and a narrow footbridge over the stream – the long, steep path down.A thick trunk and dense branches in the dark forest.Crooked trees above reddish leaves.The earth path through the dense forest, a fallen trunk on the left.A pale trunk with long aerial roots in the dark.A slender palm in front of the layered limestone.The Salto del Caburní tumbles in steps through the narrow rocky gorge.A path between palms and a trail beneath overhanging limestone.Looking up at the overhanging limestone – a landscape well worth the hike.Lush green hills under clouds, a few houses on the slope.Houses with tin roofs in the green valley.A pale blue wooden stall with a tiled roof right by the road.A long lake winds through the mountain valley.Silhouetted palms and heavy clouds over the mountains.Tall palms before wooded ridges, the sky clearing.The road disappears into the dark forest.A knoll against the light, sunlit ridges beside it.Evening light from the Mirador: Trinidad and the south coast beyond the mountains.A pink cloud and the sun behind the ridge.The sun just above the hill, dark clouds in the orange sky.
