Great sleeping last night . . . the rum may have helped too!

Nice walk to breakfast . . . the silence broken by a speech being given by Fidel?????????

No just our own TommyH practicing!

Quiet around the swim up bar in the morning . . .

Omelets made to order  . . . provided energy for our first stop today with or guide Alexis, from the Baracoa historical center.

A memorial to the landing of Antonio Maceo, the military general who organized an expedition and gave the first orders for the fight to repel Spanish aggression.

Second stop was the home of a local entrepreneur who makes and sells cucuruchos, a tropical almond brittle made with raw local chocolate wrapped up brown palm leave . . .

. . . as you can see from the pile on the other side of the fence, they go through quite a number of coconuts!

Their simple but tidy and very clean kitchen . . .

their cistern . . .

. . . and shower area.

The local kids made out like bandits as our group loaded them up with small presents we brought to hand out.

Our hostess explains the process of making the candy . . .

. . . while her daughters hull and split the almonds used in preparation.

Local crafts made by the family. The purse was made out of foil gum wrappers and the gold and green ‘Packer’ ornament was made out of soda can pop tops. Very resourceful!

emJay talking to the patriarch of the family who was 92 years old! Eliseo, who had not been to the Baracoa area for 8 years, told us on the bus ride the gent had climbed a coconut tree 8 years ago and retrieved coconuts. He wasn’t sure if he was still alive. He is still VERY much alive and climbed the tree for us!!!! Note the curvature of the inside of his foot, caused, we believe, from climbing coconut trees for 85+ years!!!!

The palm leaf gadget he uses to climb the tree.

Ready . . .set . . go

See him in action in this video!!

emJay and Barb sample the coconut milk from coconuts that were, three minutes before, hanging on the tree. Can’t get any fresher than that!

The families ‘back yard’, nice view . . . .

Chickens like coconut too . . .

. . . but the kids like the chocolate candybar Karen shared.

Next stop was lunch, where they had white tiled bathrooms, WITH toilet paper!!

This was the first of several pig roasts we enjoyed at lunch during the week . . . YUMMY!!!!!!

It wasn’t quite done yet, so there was enough time for a guided tour up the river.

Just off shore there was an island where three families lived without electricity or running water. Their children went to boarding school on the mainland and came home on weekends.

Here is one of their ‘piggies’ fattening up’!

Our guides were very knowledgeable about the fauna and flora, pointing out birds it took us some time to spot . . . great humorists too as they tried to convince us of the crocodiles up ahead!!!!

emJay shares a hat with our guide . . .

. . . while some of the others bellied up to the bar . . .

. . . and some went shopping. Mike couldn’t decide if the baseball/revolution hat would fit in back home in MSN.

Four course lunch starting with a yummy pork soup served in pieces of split bamboo!

Great music during lunch. I was late on the draw with this song but got a sample of what we heard.

The pig is ceremonially delivered from the pit . . .

. . .and carefully dissected by our chef.

Pork and chicken are staples in the Cuban diet. This one lived to see another day!

Delicious lunch was had by all . . . including seconds

Jeff makes a new friends.

We sipped our beer and rum, listened to the music and watched the world go by.

On the way back to the bus we did some shopping . . .

. . . and so did Eric. Not sure where he will display that!

We returned to the hotel and found Mable, our maid, had left us a nice welcome home sculpture!

Back in Baracoa we walked the pedestrian mall . . .

. . . and ventured around the city until we landed at a great local artist’s shop and gallery.

. . .  several of our group bought paintings . . .

. . . while emJay made friends with these two little girls who were out with their grandmother. While they chatted in Spanish, the older girl made emJay the flowered necklace she is wearing.

. . . one of the many reminders.

However, private entrepreneurship is really taking off in Cuba primaily in the restaurant and lodging areas. Here is a restaurant that tried to lure us in but we walked down the street to another three story establishment where Brenda and I ascended the steep stairway to check out the dining options.

. . . while the rest of the group waited below.

Thumbs up was the report, 5 star bathroom and 5 star menu. We made a reservation!

We continued our walking tour of the city, stopping at a statue of Hatuey who was persecuted by Christians. His statue is right across from, and facing, the Catholic Church!!!

The American flag design never looked so good!!!!!!!

Jeff had a touch of the ‘tourista’ but was still his happy go lucky self, as he ate some oatmeal he had brought from home just for that purpose. He would pass on dinner tonight . . .

. . . as we headed downtown to the restaurant.

. . . and what a meal it was in this privately owned establishment.

Alberto passes the plate of lobster as we passed around the family style served meal . . .

. ..  of lobster, beef, shrimp and fish. What a meal . . . followed by a great dessert and

. . . a wonderful discussion with the restaurants owner’s son who explained to us the opportunities and challenges  of working in the private sector.

This was interesting. All the food is prepared on the second floor and sent up to the open air roof using this dumb waiter. They cook on the second floor so they can serve on the upper and lower levels. The lower level is used to provide the non-stair access necessary for a special Trip Advisor rating!!

Eric says goodbye to his new friends . . .

. . . before he heads home in a beecee (bicycle) taxi. The rest of us were going to walk through a few more galleries and head over to the Cultural Center for a special Afro-Cuban dance show.

. . . some Cuban artists have a great sense of humor.

The show was FANTASTIC and Karen and Barb could not help but get up during a few of the numbers. The Cuban dance part was the best. The African part was a little intense with the voodoo fire eating and the guy who put the point of  machete behind his eyeball!!!

The girl and the two guys dancing towards the end of this vidoe were UNBELIEVABLE!!! VERY high energy!

Today would be spent out in the bush on a nature hike. Might be some rain. The Baracoa area receives three times the normal rainfall of Cuba because of it’s location in the mountains. Very tropical!

This is Anvil Mointain named, because of it’s flat top,  by Christopher Columbus on his first trip to Cuba.

These little piggies would soon be on the way to market. Only a couple of days old now.

We are joined by our guide for the day, Jorge, who is the site manager for El Yunque, the bio reserve we would be touring today. He works for the Cuban version of the National Park system. Most of the parks do not displace the local people but allow them to live sustainably within the park boundaries. They take great pride in the property and serve as ‘eyes and ears’ for any poaching or evil doing that might be going on in the hood.

We parked near a banana buying cooperative and the rolling stock was just staring to arrive. Sort of like our grain coops.

Heading out for a new load.

Health care and education is provided to all Cubans. Their medical system starts with a local clinic like this in every neighborhood. More urgent needs and you would go to a regional ‘immediate care’ type facility. Eventually, if serious enough to the hospital. Each of these clinics serves about 1,000 local people. The doctor lives upstairs and the clinic is downstairs. A doctor makes about $20US/month.

Local traffic in the preserve . . . this guy had a mind of his own as he came charging down the hill in front of his owner . . .

. . . then stopped in the middle of the road waiting for him to catch up. We gave the cart a wide berth.

Bananas waiting to be harvested.

Los Tunas, the cactus, is used in many places as a living fence using its thorns to keep the critters in and predators out.

As we walked through the park we camp to a camping area where one can rent a little house, shown in the background, located on the river. No need for lawn mowing with donkeys and burros around!

Heading out for a days work in the field . . .

. . . while these two ‘lawnmowers’ had the day off!

As the rain continued on and off . . .

. . . we began to carry more and more clay with us. All that weight meant it was time for a break . . . and a beer!

Eliseo checks with the owner of a ‘roadside bar’ to see if she is open for business.

Time for a beverage . . . ice cold too!

emJay pulled out some Oscar Mayer wiener whistles we had brought along for kids and they were a big hit. The boy on the right figured it out first and the one on the left is still thinking about it.

The mother seemed excited about them too . . . I wonder how long that lasted! emJay gave her some nail polish and lipstick as a gift. When we left she was still smiling!

Dad was busy working on the interior of the house, hauling hand mixed concrete in pails.

The kids actually got pretty good with the whistles and were soon playing harmony. Here the appreciative audience had front row seats!

Soon it was time to head back down the road and to the first of many stream crossing.

A local farmers house . . .

. . . who had just bought the pig from the fellow on the left. The back legs of the pig were tied loosely together so it could not run away. He was trying . . . might have been nervous of that big machette, and may have been served on the table that night!!!

Up the river we went . . .

. . .where this fellow showed us how the locals cross the river.

Great speciman of the Cuban National Flower.

We stopped many times so Jorge could explain the operations of the reserve . . .

. . . soon it was time for a swim . . .

. . . and exploration of the river.

We turned to head back and soon this exotic woman appeared right out of the bush with a bird. Not sure it that was her hair, a wig or a hat she was wearing.

Pretty bird . . .

. . .and fancy nails!!!

emJay gave her some nail polish to add to her collection.

Just like dogs all over the world, here Fido was keeping a watch on it’s, seeing who was walking by and waiting for their owner to return!

This interesting contraption we learned was to catch and hold rain water in the piece of tire. Health care workers would come around at regular intervals to collect the water. Back in the lab they would test the water for the amount and types of mosquito larvae.

Once back at the bus it was a short drive to visit a working cocao farm . . .

that grew three types of pods including this hybrid.

Once harvested, the beans were sorted and dried before processing.

We usually gave each of our tour guides a tip and Jon put a different person in charge at each stop to collect a few pesos from our group and give them to the guide. After our tasting of hot chocolate, emJay presented the tip and made a new friend!

Time for lunch and another pig roast . . .

. . . looks like one happy pig!

This chef used a boning knife rather than a cleaver like the chef the day before did. Not quite as dramatic in the carving show!!!

After our late 2:00pm lunch, is was time for our bus ride back to the hotel. A few more discussion points with Jorge and we presented him with a WDNR Wildlife management shirt and had all of the ex-DNR folks pose for a photo . . .

. . . emJay presented him with a TNC hat that I positioned in such a way to hide the WDNR patch on his new shirt!!!

Mabel our maid had been to clean the room and left us another towel origami sculpture. The day before is had been a big heart. Nice touch!

After a few rums, it was time to head to another privately owned  restaurant located in downtown Baracoa.

Some sat inside . . .

. . . and some sat outside. This is the second restaurant we have overwhelmed with our request for wine. One of the staff vanished down the street and came back from somewhere with 4 bottles. Great meals were had by all!

. . . and the staff were VERY proud of their Trip Advisor rating. They deserved it!

Home to the hotel, a few more rums by the pool and then under the covers! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .

Woke to very cloudy looking skies this morning.  Today was another nature adventure and we all made sure to take out umbrellas.

We said goodbye to our room at Porto Santo . . .

. . . and left a few gifts for our maid, Mabel.

Surprise . . . Alexis was waiting outside our door to help with our luggage. My boots had disintegrated during our first jungle hike and I was going throw them out but he was happy to take them and repair them with lots of a glue. I commented they might be too big for him but he thought they would fit just perfect (maybe with several pair of extra socks!)

We asked him if Mabel was around and soon she appeared to say goodbye too. Nice to meet her since she had provided such nice service during our stay.

Other groups were leaving too . . . always important to make sure your luggage gets on the right bus!!!

Our guide for the day, Porfilio, accompanied on the bus ride to our first stop.  Along the way we passed 11 of these unique little bays, located right of the ocean. What a place to retire!

Porfilio pointed out the small grove of palms along the way that are only found in Cuba, and only in this small area. VERY tall trunks with very little top.

He suddenly asked Alberto to stop and back the bus up 50 feet . . . to where, as we were motoring along at 40 mph, he had spotted this snail on the tree.

It is an example of the endangered species being harvested by the natives to sell to tourists.

We stopped along the way for a bathroom break at a small camp where children would come for environmental studies . . . we wondered if it looked anything like the ‘all inclusive resort’ we were traveling to at the end of the day.

The bathrooms . . .

. . . were of the rustic variety, this being the men’s. The woman’s looked very similar to this one, other than the log on the right side just up from the trashcan. It was a PERFECT place for the small notebook emJay had so busily scribbling notes in all week long to dislodge from her back pocket and slide down. NEVER to be retrieved!!

Porfilio explaining the soil structure of the the Humboldt National Forest we were touring.

We would make a 2 hour loop tour partially up, partially down, along a river, through a river . . . sort of like a three hour tour!!

The rain added to the slickness of the clay type soil and several of our adventures went down!

A hermit crab we found along the way taking up residence in a snail shell . . .

. . . great SMALL, teensy flowers along the way.

As we hiked along the riverbank . . . soon of course it was time to head up to high ground . . .

. . . and it was quite a hike up. Hand over hand!

After our ascent, out of the blue, around a corner, we came to this ‘rest stop’ right in the middle of the jungle . . .

. . . as soon as we all assembled our ‘hosts’ appeared to make sure we were all well refreshed . . .

. . . including newly prepared coconut drinks complete with a bamboo straw souvenir!

Eliseo had told us the world’s smallest frog lived in the forest and we might see one. We did  not along the way, but here at the rest stop they had one to show off . .

. . . it certainly was a small critter!

When walking in the jungle one needs to keep both a macro and mirco view so as not to miss too much. Here was delicate little flower one might walk right over . . .

. . .but getting a little closer. . .

. . . a whole new little world opens up!

One of seven river crossings we made during our trek. Of course, for some the objective was not to get their feet wet . . .

. . . and Eliseo was going to show us how to pick a route to stay dry . . .

mmmm . . . maybe next time, as he almost took a header!

Plenty of time to stop and ‘smell the roses’!

Soon we were back to the bus and said goodbye to our geologist guide, Porfilio who became an adjunct member of the Nature Conservancy!

It was on to our all inclusive government resort we would be staying at for the night. We hoped to get there earlier in the afternoon to enjoy the beach but traffic was terrible delaying our arrival. Again, everything that moves must travel on the highway and progress can be quite slow. Here is an example of what happens when you continue to use 1950’s American vintage trucks. As parts in the engines; rings, valves, pistons, etc. continue to wear the gas begins to burn incompletely producing LOTS of exhaust. Interestingly though it is probably not a MAJOR source of air pollution on the island, as a whole, because there are so few vehicles. This was one of the local ‘busses’ that would hold as many as 50 people crammed in the back. Cheap transportation though for the locals.

Here is the type of ‘people mover’ they use in more populated areas known as the, ‘Cuban Camel””’!!!

We arrived at the all inclusive hotel after dark and were presented with the customary ‘welcome cocktail’ . . . some had more than one!!!

We didn’t have much time to explore the area in the dark . . . but checked in and watch a little  CNN news regarding the US elections. Our biggest room yet!

BIG buffet with something for everyone’s taste . . .

. . . including ‘made to order’ banana and papaya foster compete with a rum flambe!

Most of these all inclusive’s have a nightly show for the tourists. This one was sort of a Cuban version of a ’Cirque du Soleil’ . . .

. . . with very agile and and muscular performers. After a couple more rums some of the gang talked about getting on stage and showing what we could do . . .

. . . like maybe keeping a dozen hula-hoops going at once!

We said goodnight to the performers, (all the narration was done in English because of the mostly Canadian audience) had one more rum (liquor is included at the all inclusives) and headed off to our cabana  . . . dreaming of hiking in the jungle!

A great night sleep  . . . as we awakened to a beautiful morning. Time for a a little tour of the grounds . . .

. . .the main entrance to the resort

. . . registration on the left

. . . and to the right of registration . . . one of the many bars, well stocked and  open 24/7!!!

a ‘cabana’ with our room on the right . .

The all inclusive had the standard buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner along with snack bars serving hamburgers, and such, located several places around the grounds. The also have 5 restaurants; Italian, Mediterranean, Japanese, etc. where ala carte meals are prepared. One must have reservation’s though and they usually fill by 3:00pm in the afternoon. Since we had arrived at 6:00pm the night before, we had eaten at the buffet. This is the main buffet area in the process of be remodeled. The buffet was temporarily located poolside. Nice!

One of the many bars scattered around the ground (even at 8:00am it was too early for most visitors), although the lobby bar is open 24/7!

The grounds were very well maintained . . .

. . . as we walked by this beer and pretzel bat right outside of our cabana.

After breakfast it was time to head across the causeway to the beach.

Typical hues of the Caribbean . . . stunning.

Pull up a chair . . . and watch the action.

This is a view of the beach area. There are actually 4 resorts along this bay, all placed far enough from each other you didn’t see them except at the beach. One Canadian we talked to came down several times a year. This was considered the ‘off season’ and one week at the all inclusive, including airfare from Montreal, was $700CD or about $620US. Cheap vacation!!!

Wait . . . is that George Clooney strolling towards the camera on the right side of the photo above . . .

. . . no it’s TommyH!

Time to get in the water . . .

Or you could stay on the beach and be serenaded by strolling musicians. They lost interest in Greg, once Cindy went to the beach bar . . . !!

. . . but returned again, once she did!

We were leaving for Camaguey at 2:00pm, so . . . soon it was time to check out. Most of our group had worked for the State of WI in one capacity or another and were used to the inventory control system the state had for ‘movable equipment’

. . . I guess government’s are the same everywhere because everything in our room had an inventory sticker . . . some more obvious than others!!!!

Local Taxi . . . .

. . . we did have time for a nice lunch before we left, poolside . . .

. . . complete with a little dessert and espresso!

The four hour drive got us to Camaguey after dark and the bus had to park about a block from the hotel because the street had been turned into a nice pedestrian mall. The Grand Hotel, our home for two nights.

. . . back to the basics . . . but very clean.

Not wanting to push my tummy too much, emJay and I ate up in the fifth floor restaurant. Government Hotel ala carte menu = Uninspiring Government cuisine . . . but we did have our own singer and vino was only $2USD a glass!!!

Several rums in the main floor bar and it was time for bed!

To day we would tour the city of Camaguey, population 350,000. First stop was the ‘Institute of Friendship’ where we met the Director and his staff . . .

. . . he and Jon exchanged gifts . . .

lots of smiling handshakes . . .

. . . and of course a sing along!

There were posters regarding the US Cuban relationship and  . . .

the results of a local painting contest . . .

whose message seemed pretty clear . . .

Soon we were back on the bus and as we motored along came a cross a new type of biking outfit . . .Yikes!

A lot of restoration is going on in the city but there is always room for more . . .

We unloaded outside the Camaguey Municipal Band’s practice area where they performed a special rehearsal just for us.

. . . a logo that was developed in the US for the group . . .

You will recognize this song . . .

. . . many of the musicians had pedaled to practice on their bikes carrying their instruments . . .

. . . including this beauty, which looks like may have been won in the Dutch National Postcode Lottery!! It is biggest charity lottery in the Netherlands founded in 1989. Fifty percent of the proceeds of this lottery are donated amongst 81 charities, which, in 2010 amounted to over 270 million euros.

All the touring made us hungry and we headed to lunch which was in sort of a Transportation/Amusement Park/Restaurant area. Planes and train cars were used and spotted among the restaurants . . . sort of lost in translation.

But . . . our lunch was EXCELLENT

Seated right on the bay . . .

. . . starting with a nice salad, although I had have adopted the ‘What Would Cindy Eat’ philosophy of NO RAW LETTUCE which probably would have been OK to eat here . . .

. . . followed by a lobster dinner for 21!!!!

Nice meal and garnishes . . .

Provided by the proud staff . . .

. . . the chef’s trained at a culinary school in Venezuela!

Back on the bus after this HUGE lunch we were on our way to meet with the City of Camaguey historic district planning restoration department . . .

. . . complete with powerpoint presentations . . .

A lively question and answer period and exchange of gifts . . .

. . . and we began our walk. First through one of hundreds of small square around the city, this one with . . .

. . . bronze statues of colorful local citizens!

Two new friends of Barb’s who received a few goodies . . .

Resourceful Cubans figure out an easy way to transport the kids around town with these wooden seats.

As we wound through the narrow street, many of which are not wide enough for auto traffic, the planning commissioner points out one the relics of the Soviet area . . .

. . . a historic block that had been razed to build the highest ‘condo’ in eastern Cuba!!

Luckily there was lots of local art and murals to add some color.

Here is their new convention center, with all the amenities, built to bring more meetings to Camaguey . . .

. . . which is right across from the Comndant Che hotel. Evidently, Che still keeps an eye on everything with the aid of a close circuit camera.

We finished off our walking tour by visiting the artist Orestes Larios’s gallery . . .

. . . which he has opened to a dozen local artists for producing art.

We wandered around, meeting the artists, looking at and buying art , for an hour when a special chamber orchestra concert that had been arranged for our group began setting up.

Very nice use of the space . . .

. . . with great acoustics. Really a nice time!

Jon, the delegator, had requested a group of 4 to serve as our final nights farewell dinner committee. Here the two treasurer’s assess the CUC’s collected for our guide and bus drivers tips.

. . . while over their shoulders in the hotel was this kiosk with literature reading everything that is Fidel/Raul and Che. Wonder if they would approve?

Tonight we were on our own for dinner and chose a well know local private restaurant, the 1811.

Nice setting . . . and we couldn’t help but wonder

. . . if this cow had been the last one shot in Cuba. After the fall of the Soviet Union, and their withdrawal of financial support to Cuba, the island faced many problems including famine. Cows began disappearing and appearing on people tables. The government became so concerned they implemented special rules. All cattle became property of the government and if you are found guilty of illegally killing a cow, you get 15 years’ in prison. Kill one of your fellow Cuban citizens and you get 10 years’!! As Eliseo told us, “Cows are sacred in Cuba”. Sort of like India!!!

The restaurant was known for its wine cellar . . .

. . . that included a chef’s tasting table.

However, when we orderd wine we were told there was none available!!! TommyH pushed the point and one of the staff left the building and soon came back with a bottle or two, from where, who knows! Here are Barb and Tom protecting their special order from the rest of us!

After our HUGE lunch many of us thought we would never to eat again . . . but soon the Special of the House appeared, sauteed fish with shrimp and coconut sauce . . .

. . . along with a HUGE serving of fried rice. It would have been enough for the whole table!!!

At least we had a nice walk back to our hotel to work off some of the calories . . . which were quickly replaced by several rums before turning in for the night!!!