Cienfuegos is a colonial city with French architectural influences built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2005. We stayed at a lovely casa particular with Mabe & her husband, José, who lived in the US for 30 years but has returned to Cuba because he likes his country better than San Francisco where he had been living. Every morning we had breakfast on the terrace while listening to the clip clop of horses hitched to wagons carrying people to their jobs or children to school and the loud call of the man who sells “pan” or bread to the neighborhood.
Mabe’s beautifully crafted omelette
We biked on our Bromptons to Laguna Guanaroca, an ecological reserve of brackish water where a colony of flamingos resides year around. As customary, you pay an entrance fee and get a guide. Boarding a small rowboat, we went across the lagoon to observe the flocks of flamingos, white herons, anhingas, avocets, and other species. Returning to dry land we walked through the forest observing a few crabs and many other species of birds.
Colony of Flamingoes
Cienfuegos is located on a large bay and the next day we rode to an area a little south called Punta Gordo which has mid-century modern architecture with low rise buildings. As in Havana, there is a Malécon, but shorter, where people like to stroll or watch the sunset. We had dinner at a restaurant on the point which juts into the bay and had a lovely breeze cool us off. The weather has been in the high 80’s with relentless sun.
If we had one more day in the city, we would have taken the slow passenger ferry to the opening of the bay to a large fort, the Castillo de Jagua, that was built by the Spaniards to defend the area from pirates. It was recently renovated in 2010 and would have been a great way to see Cienfuegos, from the water. But, we needed to leave to catch our bus to Trinidad in the mid morning.
Palacio de Valle on the Bahia de Jagua
Going With the Flow 