Today we went to Boca de Yumurí at the mouth of Río Yumurí, which is the second river next to Baracoa. But first we had to get gas. I paid with a 50 CUC note which required me showing them my passport, them writing down the serial number of the note and getting my signature. I had seen some weird rumours on the internet about how difficult it is to use 50 CUC notes (it is, after all, more than 2 months wages in a single note) but all-in-all it wasn’t too bad. I wouldn’t want to try and use one to buy a bottle of water at a convenience store, but for getting petrol it was fine.
The river and the canyon were beautiful. After being dropped off inside the canyon by a little row boat we went on a quiet walk through the bush following trails along the side of the river. Rafael pointed out some different plants and animals and was always on the lookout for polymita, colourful snails endemic to Cuba, but never managed to find one. Eventually we heard a Tocororo, Cuba’s national bird, and after quietly creeping towards the noise managed to spot it up in the trees. Unfortunately it was just too high up and I couldn’t get a decent picture of it. Shortly after that we rested next to the river for a while and I ended up spending almost an hour trying out my new grey filter taking pictures of the rapids and capturing the flow of the water. It was good practice and I ended up with some good results.
In the evening before dinner Eliot went across the road to play some dominoes with Rafael, his dad and a friend. Of course they drank huge amounts of rum as well. I spent the time sitting on our terrace working with the pictures. The son-in-law of our Casa owner noticed my laptop and wanted to buy it off me – being part of a family who runs a Casa particulares he has enough money but he can’t get one in Baracoa. Just another reminder of the way the system works here, as Rafael put it „in Cuba, if you see something in the shop you think you might want, you buy it today because they might not have it tomorrow.“
At around 7:00 I went over to Rafael’s house to fetch Eliot for dinner. It’s crazy, we’ve only been here for two days, but already I just walk over to the house of friends in the neighbourhood like I would do back home. The doors are always open anyway so you just step in, talk a bit and feel like you belong here. Eliot managed to stumble back across the street for dinner, which was shrimps for me and chicken for him. Afterwards we both went back across the road to Rafael’s house where the guys played a little more dominoes and finished off the rum. Eliot did his best to pretend not to be too drunk, though I wasn’t particularly convinced.
Later in the evening I got to talk some more with Rafael’s dad. He is a very interesting and very friendly person. He spent some time working in Venezuela, which is where he was able to get the flat screen TV and two computers that they have. He also knows a little bit of the old east Germany. He always wanted to travel and work there, but was never allowed. He would really love to travel and I think that while besides being sad that his son will leave the country and live in Germany, he hopes that it might be his opportunity to see some of the world himself.