Trinidad, Sancti Spiritus, Remedios and Cayo Santa Maria
Just outside shortly after you leave Trinidad, explore the Valle de los Ingenios, which unravels beautifully to the north-east. Dozens of sugar mills once dotted this landscape, and today, a few relics of the era survive. The Torre Manaca Iznaga is 44 metres or 144 feet and 244 steps high. Legend has it that the tower was the result of a feud between two brothers over the love of a woman. The reality is less romantic: at the start of the 19th century, a rebellion by slaves in neighbouring Haitii caused the sugar barons to flee. They moved to the heart of Cuba, and built watchtowers like this to spy on slaves. A Cuban historian described it as “the ultimate symbol of slavery in the sugar fields”.
Sancti Spiritus is a favourite as the unspoiled, good-looking and relaxed face of Cuba. The great statesman Winston Churchill came here in 1895 and described Sancti Spiritus as “Second rate” and “Unhealthy”. If only he could see the main square now - looking beautiful. And of course like everywhere in Cuba, it’s extremely healthy. La Iglesia Parroquia Mejor del Sancti Spiritus, the church of the holy spirit, is claimed to be the oldest surviving place of worship in Cuba. It feels wonderfully theatrical.
Remedios is a sleepy town in Cuba’s Midwest that will delight your inner photographer. The main sight in Remedios is the church of San Juan, where there are three photogenic points. The first is this elaborate altar. Then there’s the figure of the Virgin of the Good Journey, who some say should be Cuba’s patron saint. And the only sculpture of the Immaculate Conception where Mary is depicted as pregnant, in Latin America. But the main square and the surrounding sidestreets are great places to snap away.
If you do like to be beside the seaside, drive out across the Atlantic along el Pedraplen - an impressive causeway that extends out from the shore near Remedios to connect a string of isles and provide a platform for a new playground for holidaymakers.
The first development was on Cayo las Brujas - meaning “the witches” - where the beach is indeed bewitching. With an ocean breeze, the tropical sun settling in the west at the end of a glorious day, and the prospect of being lulled to sleep by the Atlantic, it is the perfect place to break a journey.
