Good day, family. Welcome to another video in our Cienfuegos series. Today
I will show you where the Cuban family goes when summer approaches.
We are in Rancho Luna, the most popular beach in Cienfuegos and with the most influx of people
during the summer. At 9 in the morning the beach is already quite crowded. Almost all
places where there is shade are occupied; unlike other beaches where
umbrellas have to be rented, here it is free. Accessing this place is quite easy
and the food is not expensive. Later I will be telling you how far away it is,
how much the taxi costs to get here, where and how to get it cheaper, and I will also try
to get to a place in the Escambray, a semi-virgin paradise called El Nicho, and that is Really expensive.
One detail is that on Cuban beaches there are no bathrooms to
change, or showers to wash off the salt water.
Bringing snacks and drinks is never a bad idea considering
that beer costs more than 200 pesos. Looking around, I remember that some subscribers from
Cienfuegos told me that the beach was not clean, but when the
heat arrives, which by the way is quite strong, the most important thing for the Cuban family is the dip.
Well, the truth is that Rancho Luna is the main beach in Cienfuegos. The water is
crystal clear, really. I didn't come with the camera accessories, unfortunately it was left at
home, but the water is completely crystal clear so far. I suppose that later, when
more people start to arrive, it will start to get a little more cloudy. The only negative thing I see
is all the sargassum and the weeds that you just saw in the sand. It seems to me that they should have given
maintenance to that, have collected everything because today is Sunday, the day I am recording this video.
There is a restaurant over there (Reestaurante Villa Rancho Luna) that told me when I arrived that they offered shrimp at fairly reasonable prices,
I suppose the quantity is also small. If we have time we will take a look at
that restaurant. From here I plan to go to the Niche. Let's see if the jeepney comes
to pick me up or not. And speaking of taxis, I am going to tell you how to get here and how much it costs.
In the morning...
Rancho Luna is located about 15 km from the city, maybe a little more. To get there you can
take a bus that goes to Pasacaballos and stay in Rancho
Luna. These groups cost 100 pesos per person (equivalent to 1 USD). In our case, we rent the
entire taxi for 400 (4 USD). I advise you to always talk to your host to organize these
trips, for security reasons, but if you prefer to get your own taxi, you can
get it on the street, just make sure that the taxi has a license to move foreigners.
Although the presentation is not the best, the food
is very well prepared, the price is less than 200 pesos for this dish.
The food was good, for that price, it is good, it seems to me a fair price. Now to the Niche.
The guide says that the next route now has more
curves than a girl. In 30 km it has around 120 curves, in 30 - 35 km.
There to the center of that mountain is where we go.
Well, I remember that on the road to Viñales there is a part of 7 kilometers that is all curves.
- No, no, it has nothing to do with that. - It is worse? - No, here Viñales has some tight curves, but I cut the stretch, like 10 km or less.
And a slope of more or less 45 degrees. Here it is straight, which has one curve after another. That's why they make the comparison with the curves of a woman.
This makes me dizzy. It's not just the curves, it's also the state of the road.
On the way to the Nicho we found a guarapera.
Let me know in the comments if you've ever had guarapo.
For those who do not know the guarapo, let's see how it is made and give a slight explanation.
Guarapo is the juice of sugar cane, a drink that is said to be an aphrodisiac because it
increases passion. The juice of the cane is extracted by grinding it in this machinery,
in a mill, and it is ground and ground and ground until all the juice is released.
El Nicho is located across the Sierra del Escambray, about 50 km from Cienfuegos. It has a natural landscape
with several waterfalls and natural ponds that were once very
popular with tourists. From my personal experience, not all taxi drivers want to come here.
In the mountains there is no need to use the brakes. Look how it goes down. Now I put the air conditioning.
When I was in Trinidad, finding a taxi driver who wanted to come here was
difficult. In fact, I couldn't come, now it was unforeseen. The price is 25 euros per person.
It remains for you to evaluate, with what you will see later, if it is worth coming or not.
To my surprise, the price of admission, both for Cubans and foreigners,
is the same, 240 pesos. If we take into account the exchange rate for both the dollar and
the euro, for a foreigner it is quite cheap, but not for the salary of a Cuban.
Well family, the worst thing about the trip was the curves, definitely, but
we're here, we're making progress. We
are getting closer and closer. Let's see how the Niche is, the waterfalls of the niche.
Well, feel the humidity. As you can see, the whole floor is wet. Look at that.
Well family, welcome to the Niche.
The beauty of the place is impressive and the water seems lukewarm, but don't be fooled. (Cold, cold, cold)
Well family, what could be better than ending this video
today here, with the waterfall behind. Nothing, if you liked the video, please like, comment, share with friends and family, as I always ask you, and, if
you haven't done so yet, subscribe to a button down there, so that our family continues to grow. See you next week in another video.