Blogs from Este, Cuba, Central America Caribbean

3.5.2012 We arrived Santiago de Cuba, no problems, flight was about one and half hours, though the plane wasn't great got here safely. It is quite hot here 3-4 degrees hotter than Havana and a bit more humid, countryside quite hilly around Santiago de Cuba. Hotel is very clean and comfortable, all built I reckon in the 50's then JUST maintained from there, all hotels are state run and most of the restaurants are too! Very hard to find decent restaurants down here. Spent arvo visiting museums etc all very interesting. After dinner watched a baseball game with our guide JJ, a few rums later retired for the night. 4.5.2012 Went to visit very museum to do with revolution, also had a tour of a cigar factory, no bags, cameras etc allowed in the factory. Santiago ... read more

My wife and I have been to this resort a few times. We renewed our wedding vows there in 2006. Its a fabulous, friendly and romantic destination. Below is a review from our most recent visit......... Yet another great holiday at the Paradisus Rio De Oro. Some of you may know it was the third visit for my wife Karen and I and as usual it didn’t disappoint. Although there were a few changes and problems which I will mention later, that didn’t ruin our trip but has left me wondering if we will ever return?? I won’t bore you with all the flight details etc, other than to say it was the first time we had upgraded to Premium Cabin and at around £130 each I think it was well worth it. From the lady ... read more

Santiago De Cuba Monday 4th April I’m trying to squeeze a tour of the rest of Cuba into two weeks. I would really liked to have spent more than two nights in Santiago De Cuba. Santiago is Cuba’s second city and was once the capital of the island so there’s probably a lot more to see than I could squeeze in to my brief stay. url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whereissteve/6046417326/" title="Moncada Barracks and Bullet Holes by WhereIsSteve, on Flickr"img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6207/6046417326_db07ff769c.jpg" width="450" height="284" alt="Moncada Barracks and Bullet Holes" align = right Our first stopping off point is the Moncada Barracks. This was the scene of Fidel’s first unsuccessful attempt to start a revolution in Cuba when Fidel and a number of students attacked the barracks. The bullet ... read more

Fidel’s Place The Sierra Maestra Mountains The Sierra Maestra Mountains are Cuba’s highest mountains, on the East of the island. We are stopping off here on the way to Santiago De Cuba which will give me the chance to visit Fidel Castro’s headquarters in the mountains from where he launched the Revolution. Our tour bus takes us as far into the mountains as it can. From here we are to transfer to a “fleet” of 4WD taxis to take us up to our overnight hotel. There seems to be only four suitable taxis working this area so most of the group head off to the hotel while myself, Graham and Ernesto wait an hour for one of the taxis to return for a second trip. While we are waiting a strong thunderstorm breaks. We take shelter ... read more

this morning at 2:30am we arrived to santiago de cuba, the last 100 miles we had to motor because of no winds but the first 100 miles from cayo cuervo were beautifull ailing with max speed of 8.3 knots. now the sun is just rising and the little bay of punta gorda where the marina is and where we are anchored is beginning to wake up and we are waiting to get get a spot at the pier so we can dock and rceive the officials for clearance.... read more

Hello all, we komen aan in Santiago de Cuba, de 2de grootste stad van Cuba in het Oosten van het eiland. Hier zijn de jineteros (sjacheraars, eigenaars van casas, ...) echt wel enorm toegeweid! De mensen van het viazul busstation moeten letterlijk de deuren van het gebouw dichthouden zodat ze niet zouden binnenstormen. We volgen een taxi chauffeur (in oranje marcelleke) naar zn 51-chevy en onderweg krijgen we de meest fantastische aanbiedingen: een van de jineteros begint op 15 CUC voor een overnachting en daalt tot 1.5 CUC waarbij zelfs de taxi chauffeur en zn handlanger (die vaak meerijdt en halverwege uitstapt) in de lach schieten! en wij ook :) De taxi chauffeur zet ons zon 5 straten te ver af, want het is een eenrichtingsstraat en hij mag er langs hier niet in, schitterend! omrijden ... read more

Videos se trouvent sur un lien au milieu de photos. For videos use the link below with the next photos. Apres ces 4 premiers jours a la Habana nous sommes partis completement a l’est pour faire un trek dans la sierra maestra. Nous nous sommes arretes le 1er dans la petite ville de Bayamo tres charmante et tres calme apres avoir visite la Habana. La casa particular etait super aussi. On y a pas mange le soir car c’etait trop tard pour qu’ils puissent cuisiner. La seule chose le soir meme c’est que l’on a cru que l’on ne pouvait pas mange bien qu’il y avait quelques restos… Le premier a 8h n’avait plus de gaz, on trouve a 8h20 un hamburguesa qui ne servait plus et enfin a 8h30 un resto qui n’avait plus de ... read more