The day has arrived to venture south to Cuba. The first hop is to Miami where we will stay  overnight and then fly to Cuba in the morning on a charter jet. No US based airlines are allowed to fly to Cuba.

Tonight we are staying right at the airport. VERY convenient!Since we got up at 4:00am to catch our flight it was time for a little lunchy and then a nap.Just what we needed! Awakening we threw open the shutters to get ‘A great view of the Miami skyline?’ . . . not so much! Time for a few more winks!

emJay has been drinking water like a camel and eating all the salad she can find. No drinking the water in Cuba unless you want to take a chance getting ‘tourista’. Not a good way to spend 3-4 days of one’s trip. No water means no ice either, no veggies that have been washed in water and eaten raw (salad), no brushing your teeth except with bottled water. Sounds like lots of beer drinking on the journey ahead!!!

As our sister city host, Ricardo from Madison said, “Cuba is only 90 miles from the US coast . . .  but a world away”.

Before we head over though, time for one last dinner in the US. Barb and Tom had been in Miami since Friday, had done some scouting, and their friend Neil suggested BasilCo Restaurante.Although some of the single guys decided to see what else Miami had to offer and took the ‘shuttle’!!!!

But, eight of us ‘married types’ piled in two cabs and headed over for a wonderful evening of cuisine, vino and friendship.GREAT appetizer of fresh mozzarella and prosciutto.  Followed by breast of chicken rolades stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, garlic, basil and cheese. YUM!!!!!!!!!It is going to be a GREAT trip!

Everyone slept like babies after our BIG Italian dinner at BasilCo.

We woke wondering if the magic of the night before had changes our view of the airport . . .

. . .  from our room . . .

not so much! Although it was a ‘little more attractive’ basked by the light rose color of the rising sun. Hopefully the morning views through our shutters in Cuba will be an improvement.

Time to enjoy one last “American breakfast” before we make the jump to Cuba. Not sure what breakfast there will be like.

 We all assembled at Gate G for what was to be a several hour process of checking in at Swift Airlines, our flight provider to Cuba.Our happy group waiting . . .waiting . . .waitingLots of Cubans ahead of us waiting to fly to Cuba too. They all have been busy shopping. Lots of big screen TV’s heading for the island . . . also a bubble wrapped electric bike this gent is returning with to theisland. Karen was very interested in it because Michael and her both have electrics!The process actually went very smooth. Jon collected all of our passport, tickets and the goodies and we were processed as a group . . . Then it was on to the luggage . . . . . . where Barb and Tom got the prize for the ‘Lightest Load of Luggage for a Two Week Trip’. Tom says he may not even use everything in his backpack!!!!! . . .   the number of bags were counted . . . . . . and collectively weighed. We were all under the individual 44 pound bag limit, including ones carry-on.

We had two hours to kill until our 2:30pm departure so we had a group beer fest at Chili’s and were ready to go at 1:30pm.Unfortunately, the plane was not. Pushed back until 4:00pm! Time for more beer!!!!

Now 4:45pm and the waiting is starting to take it’s toll . . . Karen was the first succumb!

Our flight was finally reannounced for 4:30pm. The original plane had a ‘mechanical problem’ and needed to be replaced. Then a new crew had to be found.
Our new ‘wheels and wings’.

We were finally in the air for the short 1 hour flight to Cuba and flew over this lake . . .

. . . on our way to Camaguey

The jet had an exit through the tail of the plane and since Cindy, Greg and I were seated near the back of the plane we headed out through the tail. Cindy and Greg were of first of our group to hit the ‘terre firma’ of Cuba  . . .

… followed by Mike and Carol.

We all change our dollars and Euros at the airport currency exchange for the tourist version of the Cuban peso, the Cuban Convertible Peso or CUC. One CUC equals about $1US. We met our first ‘private entrepreneur’, Raul, at the gate of the terminal selling beer for 2.5CUC. It was our first investment in helping the economy of Cuba!

We met our guide Eliseo and bus driver Alberto who would be accompanying us for our entire stay in Cuba. The plan had been to go to the hotel first and then out for our arrival dinner but because of our delay in transit we went directly to dinner. A good move because we were all starving! Vino, beer and soda . . . no ice please!

On the walk to the hotel Bobbie discovered on of the better maintained bicycles we saw on the trip. Just as all the automobiles seem to be of 1950 ere so do the bicycles!

We had no more checked in when Barb and Tom met Peter at the bar in the hotel. A happy go lucky chap, We would run into Peter and his group from the UK several times during the coming weeks. Here they enjoy the first of many, many Havana Club 7-year aged rums we would enjoy during the week served ‘neat’. (no ice!)

We checked into the rooms to find them pretty basic, sort of frozen in time from the early 1970’s Holiday Inn era. But always very clean!

Then it was time to head down to the outside courtyard bar for several more rums and assorted drinks. A representative of ICAP, the Cuban Friendship organization joined us for a drink.

Alberto and Laurie enjoy a daiquiri . . .

. . . while we enjoyed several rums!

Yes . . . air conditioning made all the difference in getting a good nights sleep. Window units, a little loud but with ear plugs securely in place . . . .zzzzzzzzzzzz.

We stayed in government owned hotels during the trip and there was always a continental breakfast included. Really ‘full course’, though, with a wide variety of meats, salads, breads and omelettes made to order!

The courtyard served as our ‘al fresco’ breakfast area . . .

. . . a hearty breakfast provided a days worth of energy for our daily schedule of activities. We were usually on the bus by 8:30am and on the road until usually 6:00pm!

. . . most of the hotels had porters but an independent group like ours usually hauled our own gear. Many times the bus could not get down the streets of the historic districts where most of our hotels were located. Here our guide, Eliseo rounds up the gang to point us in the right direction.

During our stay we say many forms of transportation to move people and commodities around the countryside. The most prevalent was one’s own two feet. We saw people walking EVERYWHERE. The vast majority do not own cars. Gasoline is about $4US/gallon and with the average monthly wage at about $20US, owning a car is a dream no one will ever attain. Many people pushed cars such as the one above with their wares.

There is a train system . . .

. . . but this was the most common form of transportation we saw. Two wheeled, usually rubber tired, carts pulled by horses, donkeys or oxen. This one had a big pig in the back!

. . .some where pulled by goats!!

A very common way of getting around town, and out in the country, was by bicycle. Usually VERY old bicycles. Never saw a TREK!!!

Horses for transportation were also very common.

Today we were busing to Santiago de Cuba with a lunch stop in Bayamo. We stopped about 1.5 hours into the 3 hour ride for a little rest stop and cafe!

Art for sale in Bayamo . . .

. . .and the kids returning to school from an outing. In Cuba, all primary, middle and secondary students wear uniforms to school.

Great use of color in this restored village.

Eliseo points our a historical marker during our walk around town.

First of many, many old US produced cars we would see during our tour of Cuba. A Studebaker, we thought. Most were in average shape with some looking like they just rolled off the show room floor. Some on the other end of the scale looked like they had been painted several times with a brush!

Lunch at the Bodega was very nice, eating on the veranda overlooking a valley with a river. We watched the herons and egrets come and feed as we did too. mmmmmmmmmm . . . I wonder about that homemade mayo.

Greg tries the ‘specialty coffee of the house’ that came with it’s own little trailer and honey pot!

After lunch we walk around town a bit more and head over to the House of Culture where there was a special concert performance for us. There would be music nearly everywhere and around every corner we turned. Most groups had CD’s for sale. Standard price 10 CUC’s.

These guys were REALLY good and soon had our group up on the floor dancing! Of course emJay bought a CD!

Soon we were back on the bus heading to the Basilica del Cobre recently visited by Pope Benedict. It is the largest basilica in Cuba and a special tribute to the Virgin Mary.

The church was in beautiful condition.

The story goes that two fisherman found a plank floating in the ocean with a statue of the Virgin Mary affixed to it. A church was initially construct to house the statue and eventually the Basilica was constructed.

Here is the golden statue of the virgin. In the red box is the a gold rose the pontiff brought during his visit. If one prays to the Virgin her for a request and it is granted, most return to give thanks with a donation or sign of thei gratidtude. After Ernest Hemingway won his Pulitzer prize, he brought the medal and left it at the feet of the Virgin’s statue. Someone recently stole the gold medal. Not knowing it’s significance they eventually returned it.

Crutches and appliances left by believers who have prayed to the Vrgin Mary for help and were healed of their malady.

Many baseball players have come to request help and have returned and left jersey, trophies and other clutter as a way of saying thanks!

Soon we were on the bus and heading to our home for the next two nights, Santiago de Cuba.

But not before a stop at Revolution Square where Antonio Maceo, a national hero who led the final charge against Spain for Cuba’s independence is memorialized. His popularity is national and will never be shadowed by modern leaders like Fidel or Raul.

An art piece depicting the machetes of the revolution.

We finally rive at our hotel for the next two nights, The Hotel CasaGranda located right on the town square.

Nice digs!

Many of the hotels we staed at had roof top gardens and bars. Here we had a good view of the church restoration going on next door . . .

. . .and a great view of the square. The hotels usually have a large buffet at night and the Hotel CasaGranda was no exception. With a full tummy and a few rum at the rooftop bar it was soon time for bed!

Rick became sick during the night, from maybe the mayo served at lunch?  We had to change rooms at 1:45am when the toilet stopped working!!

He was down for the day.

The rest headed out in 7 jeeps for a rugged day of adventure.

Signs of timber cutting noted along the way to our first stop a botanical garden. Where of course there were local entrepreneurs selling their wares.

emJay helped the local economy by buying a red necklace and bracelet. Only 1 CUC!

The main entrance.

Our guide for the day who works for Ecotur, the Cuban outdoor touring company. All the jeep drivers were from Ecotur.

View looking south toward the Caribbean coast of Cuba. We were in the Baconao Unesco Bioreserve.

Jeff and Tom made buddies with the pups everywhere we went . . .

. . . this one was a little too shy.

The prized bloom of the ave de paraiso, bird of paradise.

Eliseo also added information along the way.

Ruins of an old home add interest to the gardens.

There was an area with many different orchids.

We enjoyed seeing the green emerald hummingbird here.

Hey – looks like our common daylily!!

The national flower of Cuba which has a wonderful scent!

Sample a fruit (perhaps at your own risk if you are being really careful about what goes in your mouth…)

One sees message boards like this all over Cuba.

Revolution  . . .  under construction?

Then we began our hike up to the Gran Piedra, a 63,000 ton boulder that sits perched high above the Caribbean.

Nearing the top of the climb . . . Tommy and Jon made a dash to the top . . .

. . . which is actually a ‘HUGE’ rock geologists can’t explain how it got there!

Fog started to blow in from the SW but we could see the hills to the NE.

And of course there were vendors on the top of the rock! Tom takes home a copy of the Santa Maria. Only 8 CUC’s!

Next stop was a family producing coffee the old tradidtional way. Beans roasted over an open fire . . .

Then cooled a bit prior to grinding . . .

Spreading out the beans after they have been roasted to perfections . . .

And ground in a wooden mortar and pestel.

It’s the rrrrichest kind . . . many of us brought a pound back to the states.

We next went to a Unesco World Heritage site, Cafetel la Isabella. It is the first coffee plantation in SE Cuba, built by a Frenchman and named in honor of his favorite concubine.

Alberto, our driver and strong conservationist Joel, Laurie and emJay say goodbye after a great day.

We stopped to visit a war monument complete with grazing cows!

Happy travelers, including our wonderful bus driver Alberto in tie on left.

After lunch at a local café, it was on to tour Morro Castle built by Spain, about 1700. It was later used as a prison . . .

A lonnnnnnng hike to the top from the sea.  Discouraged invasions!!!

. . . complete with a moat.

Walls made up of limestone with lots of marine fossils.

We used a reconstructed drawbridge to enter the castle.

Lot’s of info about pirates . . .

. . . great views from the top. You could see the enemy coming from a long distance away. Time to develop a plan!

Ready for attack from any side . . .

Local guide!!

We drove through Santiago’s area of (previously) fancy homes and wealthy folks. Now many of the houses are offices or government buildings.

Some people were living quite nicely . . .

. . . while most are not.

We finally arrived back at Hotel CasaGranda  . . .

. . . and were greeted by this beauty

. . . and a band concert by the Cameguey city band. Music everywhere, all hours of the day!!!

 

After an hour or so of listening to the band and having a few rums at our roof top bar is was time for dinner for a few of us at Restaurant Matamoros, a government run restaurant. The food was tasty and we had a live band to entertain us.

It was quite a night for me . . . trips to the bathroom, toilet not working, changing rooms are 1:45am, trying to sleep, etc. etc. etc. Luckily we had Doctor mike and Emergency Room Nurse Karen who supplied several remedies. Between the Imodium, Cipro to kill everything in my gut, yogurt for creating new friendly cultures in my gut, Sprite to keep my electrolyte levels up, and even some Dr Shen’s Stomach cure that Laurie had. It was a real East meets West battle going on to combat whatever bad ju-ju I had got. Several others would need to use various versions of this regime before the trip would be over.

Be boarded the bus after breakfast for our tour of the city.

As we pulled away from the hotel Eliseo pointed out, across the square from our hotel, a famous government administrative building . . .

. . .where, from the balcony, Fidel Castro gave his first public speech after his successful revolution.

We arrived at the famous Santiago cemetery where the most famous hero and patriarch of Cuba, Jose Marti is buried.

Here is the Cuban version of the tomb of the unknown soldier. Each crypt holds the ramains of an unidentified soldier from the final war between Cuba and Spain for their independence.

Along the way Eliseo pointed out the black and red flag by many graves. These are freedom fighters who fought during the revolution led by Fidel Castro.

The tomb of  Jose Marti, the Cuban national her. There is a changing of the guard every half hour and we were present to witness one.

Must be hot in the morning sun. We ourselves were sweating like dogs and it was only 9:30am!

Here come the two replacements. Their ‘goosestep stride’ brought their legs up to a 90 degree angle. Very Russian looking!

Marti’s body lies in the bottom of the monument . . .

A famous author, he lived from 1853 to 1895 when he died in military action during the Battle of Dos Rios. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba’s bid for independence against Spain.

His request before his death was that his tomb be supplied with fresh flowers each day. His crypt is covered with a Cuban flag that faces east to the rising sun.

We make a ‘pit stop’ at a local five star hotel that is a joint venture between Cuba and Sol Melia, a Spanish hotel group that owns 350 hotels in 40 countries. Interesting that the first stall I went to in the bathroom had no toilet paper. We were warned by Jon to bring our own rolls of  Charmin to Cuba because in most public bathrooms there was none. This proved top be true to the point that even the bathrooms in our hotel lobbies also did not usually have any!!! Most toilets in the public sector did not have toilet seats or they were broken. We started doing a survey and those that had toilet seats usually the right hand bolt was loose or broke off. Once the left one broke I guess they just never replaced them!!!

These beauties were parked outside the hotel . . .

Many of the old cars are now taxis like this one. Holy shnikees, Batman!!!

Time for a nice lunch in a government owned hotel. Almost on que, the moment we were seated our lunch entertainment arrived. Great voice and great guitar player.

Typical of the government restaurant plated meals. The buffets were a different story which many more options. As Raul headed to the head of the table with his guitar ,our waitress suddenly broke into dance to which Brenda and Karen quickly joined in. Fun!!!!

From lunch we toured the Cuartel Moncoda, the famous Barracks and Garrison where the revolution was started when Fidel and his band of revolutionaries stormed the door. The Cuban soldiers were tipped off though. Although Castro and his group had procured Cuban military uniforms in en effort to create a surprise, they were still wearing civilian shoes!! An alert guard woke the troops who defended the garrison. Castro and his band of revolutionaries’ retreated to the mountains. In true Cuban entrepreneurial spirit, the museum was charge 5 CUC (about $5US) to take photos in or on the grounds. We, in true American style, voted with our pocketbook by saying NO!

After the garrison tour it was time to head down the coast through Guantanamo province towards Baracoa. We stopped at the ocean to wade and swim. Being on the Caribbean side of the island, the water was warmer than many of the showers we would take during the week!

and found this perfectly preserved mummy on the beach!

Our faithful stead awaits our ride over the mountains. Most of the busses one saw were imported from China. Not much leg room and REALLY underpowered . . .

. . .looking back at our route the bus lurched rolled back a few feet each time Alberto shifted the manual transmission. We weren’t sure we were going to make it over the top. The road was in the best shape of any we would travel on during the week and is considered on of the ‘7 Engineering Marvels’ of Cuba.

Lets stop for a break . . .

. . .time for a Brenda and John selfie . . .

At the pullout, Gary admires the stead one of the ‘salesman’ rode up to the look point. We climbed to over 1,800 feet and passed over 11 bridges.

Our driver buys some beautiful snails from a vendor . . .while emJay does some bartering in the background.

We were heading for Baracoa located on the spot where Christopher Columbus landed in Cuba on his first voyage. It is the first Spanish settlement in Cuba during the 1500’s and was only assessable by water until the 1960’s when Castro build the road we traveled to get there.

We finally arrived at our 3 star government hotel in Baracoa, Porto Santo, our home for the next three nights.

Swim up bar to the left, out of the picture . . . and also on the left the ‘outdoor showers’ Carol and Mike enjoyed!

As we checked into the hotel we noticed this poster regarding the snails the vendors were illegally selling at the pass. They are endangered and harvested by the locals for tourist souvenirs.  Who knew!

We had what became our customary ‘Welcome Cocktail’ usually provided by the hotels in their outside bars. Here was our ‘water only’ group enjoying a cold one . . . with no ice of course!

Nicely landscaped grounds. We were ‘right next to the airport’, like 100 feet, but never heard a plane take off or land. Evidently there is only one commercial flight a day!

Clean room . . . but the wall safe and light in the bathroom light over the sink didn’t work and although we requested several times during our stay they be repaired, they never were. Several of our gang did not have water and Carol and Mike’s shower never did work. They showered using the fresh water showers near the swim up pool.

After a quick shower (barely warm water again) it was time for a few rums at the bar and them time for a group dinner which was included in the price of our room. Service not so god . . .and menu was similar to our lunch menu. Then more rum . . . which was beginning to become a habit!