impressed.... with your ability to navigate through Cuba :) sounds like a great trip! looking forward to hearing more stories when you guys return!
xo
alicia
Barracoa Hi Alison- hope you guys are having a blast. We did. Some nutty times in Santiago (psycho cab drivers at the bus station, illegal casa with sketchzilla for a host, a cat fighting a rooster outside our window...cold deepfried hotdogs for breaky... funny in retrospect but not at the time), but Holguin was fun and I absolutely loved Barracoa. We ended up staying there for 8 days. After Santiago it was perfect as there is absolutely zero hustle going on in Barracoa and it was relentless in Santiago. The odd person trying to sell handicrafts or baking on the beach, but that's about it.
The hiking around Barracoa is great. El Yunque was pretty challenging, kind of like doing the grouse grind twice but in 35 degree heat. Its the only one that is very hard, though and the views from the top are stunning. The rest of them are fun but not hard. Tons of birds and flowers in Humbolt park. We didn't see any manatees unfortunately, but the bay they graze in was worth a visit. Lots of pristine freshwater swimming options as well as the ocean. Personally I prefer the ocean and the beach was great, empty but great. The baby beach pigs are about the cutest things I've ever seen.
There are a ton of casas in Barracoa, the one we were at was great but we talked to other people who were pretty much staying in caves. Ours was called Casa Reubin and Yindra. Its a couple blocks off the Malecon and about 4 from both the Viazul station and the Casa de Trova for music. There is a huge balcony with ocean and mountain views, the room was great, airy and really clean, always hot water in the shower, the food was amazing, chocolate with breakfast even - that said, its pretty easy to self cater in Barracoa, its a tiny town and the markets are easy to find and well stocked, if you can't find anything in town head out the road to Moa. The town is small enough that we walked everywhere.
Reubin and Yindra are at:
Coliseo #31 alto
between Marti and Maceo
phone (53)(21) 64-3364
it was 20 a night, 3 for breakfast and 8 for dinner. Breakfast was the ususal juice, coffee, fruit, eggs and this delicious hot chocolate. Dinner is pretty much whatever you want, we ate alot of fish, but I suspect Yindra would be fine with veggie dishes if thats what you wanted.
They don't speak English, but are very patient and super nice.
Viva Cuba Libre!
Tim
yay for travels! hi berm and allisson,
looks like a blast :) my friend was just in cuba and took the same shot of her with that random stiff looking friend you found, berm. :)
great shots!! love the flamenco capture :)
safe journeys,
krista
yahoooo! love the pic of berm getting smooched by and elephant. you guys are having such an amazing trip! enjoy your final days there and i looking forward to hearing more stories when you get home.
p.s. ahhhhh, the fun of teaching teenagers :)
Elephant birth?? Love reading your words and seeing the latest images! Sigh...
Can't WAIT to hear and see the ElephantNaturePark's new arrival! Assuming he/she will be born while you are there! Incredible.
Take care and see you upon your return.
xoxo
Hola de la Finca
hola Alison and Berm
One year later I found your blog on the net...
It has been more than a year. It always nice to read comments like yours.
Thank you and hope all is well is your lives.
And so you know, Ali, the horse you rode Cleopatra has now a three month old colt name Helio, Berm, Lucero is 20 this year and still the best.
Carlos Castejon
Finca El Cisne
I lived in Honduras for 10 months! You guys cracked me up. I was a misisonary to Honduras for 10 months! Your stories brought back a lot of memories. I used to live in Tela.
That looks like a fun adventure ....the picture of you on the wood planks needs a little thought bubble along these lines...
'Ah. This is obviously some strange meaning of the word "safe" that I wasn't previously aware of.'
Jealous So jealous.
Could you do me a favor and describe mosquitos and sunburn and foodbourne illnesses a little so that I don't sell everything and take off?
did u send this to ma? hope not.
just kidding, it is very funny, BE CAREFUL bum the wum! i don't want you to get baby vomit on you!!!
love Sie
ps i miss U
Amazing photos Hi again,
That is a pretty amazing photo. We never saw any coffins except for a proper funeral procession in Granada so you are very lucky there :)
Sounds like you´re having a great time and surviving the bus journeys well. You should be nice and relaxed by the time you get back to work.
Neil
Glad all is well!!! Hi, Sounds like you had the horses that we didn´t want to take. We have only ridden horses twice in our lives so we went for the placid ones. It was still good fun and managed to get the horses to gallop a bit before they tired of our weight!!!
Anyway, hopefully hear more from you soon.
Neil
Too funny ;) Your description made me laugh out loud! It sounds really wild on those roads. all manner of things going on ... I guess you are happy you are not driving. After reading your descriptiion ..Priceless...for everything else there's Mastercard. . .
Bonanza you guys look gracefull up there on your stallions, how is the saddle sores? or is all the fresh air giving saddle sores of a different kind..hehhehe
stay safe
Thanks for this great glimpse... Looks so amazing but I haven't heard anything more than this first offering. There may be more and you must be thoroughly aclimitized by now and enjoying it more and more. Here it is warming up but no parrots on the horizon thus far. Blossoming, though, everywhere, so that you can almost hear it and when you get out of the wind the sun has real impact. Time for seed catalogues and those dry little packets to be shaken like gourds or marimbas for shaping sounds like a sudden downpour sweeping through the rainforest.
That's what it's like here, honest. Just letting you know so there'll be less culture shock on your return...
Your site is so professional Hi,
This is so cool. I'm sure everyone is doing this but I might give this a go when I've got a few minutes. Probably not worth it though for the two weeks we have left..... maybe our next trip.
Hope all is well.
Neil and Becky
Berm and I are about to embark on our first overseas adventure together - we have a month to discover all the highlights of travelling in Honduras. Stay tuned for Mayan ruins, colonial villages, diving adventures, and rainforests. We've learned all the Spanish we could in 8 weeks, so now we're off to test it out!... full info
christine
non-member comment
Good Pics
Thanks Berm; Your trip and photos look fabulous. I will read more of your Blog later. So glad you had fun ! Lots of love, Christine