One of the starred, always-suggested and most widely offered tours to the surroundings of Trinidad, is the day tour to Topes de Collantes. This natural park, part of the even bigger Natural Reserve called “Sierra del Escumbray”, includes hundreds of hectares of virgin tropical rainforest in a setting relatively free from human-activity. The great biodiversity, including many species of non-/endemic plants and fauna (mostly birds), is widespread all around the reserve giving the visitor a chance to witness its beauty at any point. The area of Topes de Collantes is especially famous for a beautiful water system featuring rivers, waterfalls, natural pools and much more; most of the paths involve easy treks, varying from 30min to 1h, that pass through the forest and eventually lead to natural pools and a waterfall. The hardest, yet more rewarding, path is the one leading to the Salto del Caburni, a huge zig-zag waterfall located inside a small canyon in the heart of the forest. Needless to say that once there, you wanna get the most of it, hence we choose to do the latter.
Back in Trinidad is where everything starts. Thanks to our casa owners, we’re aware that of the several excursions to Topes, the most amazing one is “casually” the hardest. “No wonder”, we think ! And so off we go to the modern quarter of Trinidad hunting for other tourists willing to share the “35-40CUC its ok” taxi fare Oscar & Ana Martha mentioned us before. Hunt: failed, no young couples can be seen around or at least nobody not wearing a bikini ready for Playa Ancón ! Luckily, after some talking and bargaining a taxi driver offers us the tour for just 30 CUC !!!
Here we are, cramped in the back of an old 60s green-yellow taxi rattling up the steepest road of the country to reach Topes. As the city starts to disappear behind, a lush green rainforest slowly takes over; houses turns into huts, cars into cows & goats and postcards into real amazing landscapes. A couple of minutes before arriving, the driver stops at a “Mirador” where people are left to enjoy the already-unique view over the whole province. What a spectacle ! From the top of that tiny hill (you’re required to walk up a steep but short & free path) we can see everything surrounding us: Trinidad city, forest, sea, mountains.
The sky is getting cloudy with a chance of rain. The taxi drop us off at the beginning of the trail for the Salto del Caburni and here we go again with the monsoon season: rain starts. The temperature now is definitely lower (lucky us) and arrived at a small entrance-bar where the admission ticket (10CUC pp) has to be paid, Marta is even a bit cold but we decide anyway to start the excursion. Without going much into details, this trail is HARDCORE; although the walk down (40min ca.) is kinda of fun and easy, on the way back the story is different. The narrow “camino” (path) winds down the side of a small canyon, inside which, we later find out, there is the famous waterfall together with some natural pools. Crazy beautiful ! The waterfall is simply a huge zig-zag of water that further on creates two small beautiful natural pools. Refresh, have a snack break, take some pics or a swim (for the brave ones) and soon we’re back on our way to the top.
Trekking in a jungle, humidity 101%, long pants due to mosquitoes… the struggle is real. The hour and 30min needed to go back is probably one the most tiring treks we’ve ever done; in addition, occasional rainstorms are making the path way more slippery than what it should be ! Very politically, we agree on taking two short breaks, one just after the really steep part and one at the elephant(-looking) rock. Smart choice !
The sky is now clearing up as we walk up the last 50m of the path. You can feel the difference in temperature; our cloudy sky was definitely a blessing for the walk upwards, no idea of how people could do it when the sun is shining bright. We quickly grab some soft drinks at the tiny “bar” at the entrance of the path (very cheap drinks, same as a supermarket) and carry on walking toward our taxi. Yes, it is worth every second. Finding yourself surrounded by nature in not-so-walked paths, it’s always a positive experience. Tired, happy and drowsy, we take off toward the casa leaving the forest for the city-jungle; hopefully we’ll be back one day.
PLANNING A TRIP TO CUBA? CHECK MORE POSTS BELOW!
[pt_view id=”f12e95aw5h”]