MikeCatty

There wasn’t meant to be a day 45 of our holiday but Aerolineas Argentinas ensured we got an extra - albeit unwanted - day. We had a buffet breakfast at 0730 and checked out, joining our fellow passengers in the hotel foyer to wait for the 0830 bus that AA had organised to transport us to the airport. It wasn’t altogether unexpected that nothing had shown by 0900. The hotel tried to help as best they could and we were eventually herded into a large van with broken rear doors and a female driver that had clearly never driven a van in her life. I spent the whole journey holding on to the rear doors to stop them from opening and distributing the contents of everyone’s bags across the motorway. Unbelievably, despite the fact that we ... read more

The day started badly and got progressively worse. Our taxi didn’t show up at 0830 and neither did Luis with our $5 key deposit. We kept the keys as a final souvenir and a concierge at a nearly hotel sorted us out with a taxi. Our driver spoke English and we talked about Panamanian life, in particular their festivals and the ever increasing Colombian drug problem that has spilled over the border into Panama. The queue wasn’t too long at the Copa Airlines desk but it still took well over an hour to check in for our flight and they couldn’t check our bags all the way through to Auckland. It seems that there is little difference between airport efficiency in South or Central America. We boarded our flight to Buenos Aires and it left on ... read more

You can’t come to Panama without a visit to the Panama Canal so the Miraflores Locks were first on the agenda. We caught a taxi for the half hour journey (US$15) and arrived about 0745 to be greeted with the news that the visitors centre opened at 0900. We couldn’t find a cafe for breakfast so we passed the time walking down the main road to the locks to try and find a vantage point to watch the three container ships queued up pass by. Whilst not the best view, we saw a large MSC vessel pass through as P&O and NYK vessels edged slowly forward. We were back at the front gate before 9 and were allowed through to the visitors centre soon after - just in time to see the Antwerpen Express pass through ... read more

Our taxi arrived at 0400 as arranged and we bid farewell to Gaspar and his wife who’d made the effort to get up and say goodbye. Our flight wasn’t until 0800 but we wanted to check in early so we had plenty of time to talk our way out of any issues we may have had with customs whilst trying to export paintings with no receipt and cigars of questionable origin. Plans were thrown out (again) as we were not allowed to check in until 0530. We bought a few drinks each and waited. By 0600 we’d reached the front of the line and almost checked in without trouble until the lady behind the counter told us that we needed to buy or Panamanian Tourist Cards in Havana. I argued that we’d get them in Panama ... read more

Lonely Planet said that the mirador at the top of the Jose Marti monument in Plaza de la Revolution opened at 0930 but we headed out about 0800 and walked to ensure we were the first ones up the tower. The walk was about 2km but it wasn’t too hot and we made short work of it arriving there in plenty of time to take photographs and see a wreath laying by a delegation of African politicians, complete with all the pomp and ceremony deserving of such an occasion. I was surprised at how close we were allowed to be to the event, I was able to snap plenty of photos and at one point one of the guards said “Boca Juniors” in reference to my shirt. We found that the ticket office opened at 0900 ... read more

Hurricane Paloma hit central and western Cuba overnight although not with the force that was expected. We woke to almost clear skies and a hot morning. Anneris prepared another top notch breakfast and we packed our bags before walking back to Parque Vidal to try and find internet access. Both of us were feeling a little under the weather as a result of our big night so a quiet morning was in order. We spent an hour answering emails - one from mum enquiring as to our mortality on the assumption that the hurricane had caught us. We also caught up on the result of the New Zealand election and were pleased to see that sanity had been restored after so long under a Labour government. One of the things I was really struggling with in ... read more

I woke at 0500 and started coughing - a cold had been brewing for a few days, the result I suspect of frequent rainfall and 30 degree plus temperatures. I managed a few patches of sleep until breakfast at 0800. Anneris cooked us a up an omelette with a pancake and fruit along with grapefruit juice and some great coffee. We only had one full day in Santa Clara so we headed out early to make the most of it. Parque Vidal is the centre of town but it lacked the charm of Trinidad’s two main squares but as it was Saturday there were alot of people walking around creating some atmosphere. We were approached by a guy on the street claiming to be the quality controller at the local cigar factory. His timing was not ... read more

Jo had a lousy night suffering from the heat and the bloke next door was snoring. I woke just before breakfast at 0800. Elizabet phoned ahead to Santa Clara for us to book with the person from Nicholas’ list for two nights and also showed us where we could buy a bag for our assorted market junk. We were nearing the end of our travels so carrying an extra bag was far less of a hassle. The bag cost CUC 11 and easily carried my humidor and cigars, our various trinkets and heavy clothes that the weather dictated were no longer required. It was already 1030 and we just had time for a 5 peso pizza (NZ0.20) each before we boarded the 1100 hop-on hop-off bus to Playa Ancon Beach 12km south of Trinidad on the ... read more