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Saved: September 6th 2022
By the pool
People at the hotel were very friendly.
ENTRY 57 —
May 1st 2011 Cuba Canadians enjoy the liberty of being allowed to travel anywhere in the world . . . and we take full advantage of living in a free country. For many of us, Cuba is our home away from home. It is a great place to avoid the Canadian winter. The main thing that Canada has in common with Cuba is that we are America's closest neighbors and are two of only a handful of nations who have been able to stand up to this mighty Superpower.
For Canada, 1812 was the year we were put to the test. Normally, President Madison would never have dared to declare war on the British Empire. However, because the British were tied up with Napoleon in Europe, the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada were "ripe for the picking".
For Cuba, 1961 was the year they were tested. On April 15 at about 06:00 Cuba local time, eight Douglas B-26B Invader bombers simultaneously attacked Cuban airfields at San Antonio de Los Baños, at Ciudad Libertad, and the Antonio Maceo International Airport at Santiago de Cuba. The purpose
Big Bug
Bryan is surprised to find a very large grasshopper on his shoulder. (Winter 2009 FotoetimePhoto CR) was to destroy all of the armed aircraft of Cuba in preparation for the main invasion.
Cuba was in serious trouble. However, anticipating the invasion, Che Guevara stressed the importance of an armed civilian populace, stating, "all the Cuban people must become a guerrilla army, each and every Cuban must learn to handle and if necessary use firearms in defense of the nation." Cubans of all walks of life came together and stopped the invasion cold.
This year marked the 50th Anniversary of the Bay of Pigs and there were celebrations throughout the island.
Varadero
From the airport we traveled to Varadero. Catching a bus was easier than we imagined, and after a pleasant ride we were soon arriving at the
Hotetur (Hotel) Sunbeach, a three star resort just a short walk away from the inviting white-sand
beach of Varadero. We were housed in one of two towers, our room overlooking the swimming pool and its environs.
The hotel turned out to be clean and well run with good food and excellent wine (imported from Spain). I never trusted Cuban elevators, so we learned to enjoy our hike up to and down from the third floor. (After
Swimming pals
Our friends from the hotel greet us on the beach. all the food we were eating and drinks we were imbibing we needed the exercise!)
Most of the hotels in Varadero are all-inclusive (as was ours), and we were required to wear a wrist-band — we soon discovered that we could not "hang out" in other hotels along the beach as we had done in many other resorts. At first this was a disappointment, but we soon realized that this was a security measure for us in our own hotel, and "the riffraff" would not have a chance to get anywhere near our room or us. Nor would we be pestered by hucksters or scam artists. There was lots to see, ranging from Pirate caves
(filled with bats) to the home of Al Capone. The more time we spent in Cuba the more we grew to love it. However, we also learned that one must always be prepared for the unexpected.
Thanks to the all-inclusive nature of the Hotel Sunbeach, it was not unusual to see people sipping Cristal Light (a low alcohol beer) at noontime by the luxurious pool. One day I noticed something strange: everyone around the pool seemed intoxicated. I walked over to a young man. Clearly upset,
Hotel Sunbeach, Varadero, Cuba
Miranda enjoying her evening swim. he explained that he was angry at his wife. She had gotten drunk very early, ruining their plans for the day. This, did not make any sense, as I knew his wife was a light drinker.
Heading over to the bar, I began a conversation with the bartender. Politely I asked him if there was anything different about the beer. "Yes," he said, smiling. "We have run out of Cristal and are pouring Bucanero."
"But you have left the tap sign as Cristal ... ?"
They had run out of
Cristal and replaced it with
Bucanero, (a fortified beer). The tourists never knew what hit them.
Mariachi Bands
In our travels over the years, Mariachi Bands have been the bane of our existence. As we sat in the dining hall of our hotel Miranda saw the Cuban version of such a band across the room.
"Avoid eye contact," I said.
No good — as if guided by a cruise missile or some sort of demonic force they arrived at our table.
"Can we play a song for the lovely senorita?" they asked, looking at Miranda. "You can pay whatever you want."
Miranda
had heard that line too many times before. "Get rid of them," she hissed.
Anyone who has ever been pursued by a Mariachi Band knows the impossible nature of that request. "No problem," I whispered to my wife. Then I turned to the band leader and said clearly, "We would like to hear the theme song of George W. Bush."
Immediately the band's smiling eyes were replaced by cold, angry stares. The outraged leader shouted indignantly at me: "You want to hear the theme song of El Presidente George W. Bush!"
With that, the whole dining room fell silent. Everyone was staring at me in disbelief. I am sure some people may have actually thought I was ... American.
Miranda glared at me too. "Smooth move, Yankee Doodle."
I must admit to being a little taken a back by the reaction, but tried not to let it show. Standing up, still smiling, I enunciated firmly, "Yes, I would like you to play the theme song of US president George W. Bush."
The band leader angrily responded that he did not know it.
I questioned, "You have never heard of La Cucaracha (The Cockroach)?"
The path to the ocean
Our first view of the ocean near the Hotel Sunbeach. It took a moment for the penny to drop.
"Oh . . . La Cucaracha," they said, laughing loudly. "Si, si, senor." Soon everyone joined in the music and the levity, singing the chorus lustily. Miranda turned to me, still chuckling, and said, "Well, Pancho Villa, you sure hit that out of the ball park. They didn't even charge us."
I said nothing. My hands were still shaking.
Matanzas
For our trip from Veradaro to Matanzas, we'd been told to meet our transportation outside the market at 10 AM. We arrived early and did some shopping. Suddenly I needed to use the facilities. Miranda assured me that I had plenty of time because we were in Cuba and nothing happened early, or even when it was supposed to, for that matter. I headed to the washroom. Amazingly, the driver of our mini van was ten minutes early and I could see by the look on her face that Miranda was truly surprised. I know she didn't mean to sound crass when she kept telling the driver that she had never known a Cuban bus to pick her up on time.
We followed the driver to his vehicle. He had another pick-up to make. There was only
Après-swim
Relaxing in the dining hall. one other passenger traveling with us...a Canadian writer from outside Toronto — Miranda and he carried on a lively discussion while I sat up front with the driver and enjoyed the view. The time flew as we moved toward
Matanzas, the driver telling me the name of some of the villages we could see from the road. He mentioned a resort area and pointed toward the ocean. On a white-capped stretch of water we could see a strand of white sand. I heard the other passenger telling Miranda that he had visited this resort and found it even nicer than Varadero.
The lush green bushes, trees and glimpses of water kept me captivated. We could see small houses along the side of the highway and passed a number of bus shelters with people waiting. At one point we picked up the driver's "cousin" and drove him a short distance. Travel is difficult when so few people can afford a car — those with cars and other vehicles are often commandeered into driving those who need a lift. The driver dropped us off in
Parque Libertad — one of the main squares of Matanzas. In the middle of the plaza stands
a statue of Jose Marti...in front of him a semi-clad female statue of Liberty with her arms upraised holding broken chains.
We'd read up on
Matanzas before our arrival and chose to spend some time in the Museo Farmaceutico (Pharmacy Museum), located in an antique pharmacy founded in 1882. Filled with bottles and medicinal equipment from a by-gone era, you could really imagine someone coming in to have their prescription filled in the late 1800s. After coming out of the Pharmacy Museum we tagged along with a tour group for a while and then headed to the library across the park. Housed in a former casino, it now had the flavor of the small library in Butterworth, South Africa. While I took in the atmosphere, Miranda searched for books in English.
On the third side of the park square we checked out the Palacio de Gobierno (c. 1853), a rather overwhelming building housing government offices. We entered the lobby for a photograph, but felt we would be shooed out at any moment.
Havana
Upon our arrival in
Havana, we checked into the
Hotel Ambos Mundos, well-known as a residence of author Ernest Hemingway while he penned a
Jay and Jacinthe with Bryan
These friends from BC and Quebec helped to make our holiday fun. number of books.
That afternoon we went for a stroll in our new neighborhood. We were sipping a mojito, one of Hemingway's favorite drinks, when we noticed two pretty, young, blond women with a Cuban man. Knowing of the many ways travelers can fall prey to scams, I politely introduced myself, saying that I was from Canada. They politely brushed me off. Miranda laughed, commenting I had read the situation wrong: the girls were having fun.
Just as we were about to leave, in a loud voice one of the girls asked, "What part of Canada are you from? Why don't you and your wife join us?"
(It seems the local man had shown these Norwegian travelers to a hotel for which they were grateful, but was now hitting them up for money and sex. The girls had already bought him a number of drinks, but he was becoming very aggressive, actually putting his arm around one of them.)
We moved to their table and began to talk about them, us and our respective trips. They were both very young and were quite new to traveling abroad. They planned to visit North America and South America
Hotel staff at the coffee bar
Cuban coffee is remarkably good ... world class, even, and the staff at the Hotel Sunbeach are extremely friendly. and had only just begun their lengthy trip. Soon the local man began to look bored as Miranda began to describe the
Hemingway museum in our hotel. We had not been to it yet, but were hoping to go there. Miranda suggested the girls come with us and we pay for their admission. We did not invite the hustler and he soon left. The girls now told us how thankful they were that we had come to their rescue.
As we were leaving the bar, I was hit upon by a very large, very well-endowed, female hustler. An incensed Miranda made short work of her, asking loudly, "Can't she see that you are already with a woman?"
The four of us returned to the Hotel Ambos Mundos and took the fancy lift up to the Hemingway museum room. We had to wait until the guide inside the room was ready for us and then we were given a private tour. In a room in which Hemingway had spent a number of years, many of his books and souvenirs from other countries were displayed. They even had one of his typewriters. The girls noted that one of the books was translated into Norwegian.
Miranda stood next to several African spears while I took her photo and she grabbed on to one. (It was only after we left the room that I pointed out that perhaps she should not have been touching it.)
We then took the girls up to the roof to enjoy the view and take more photographs. They seemed to really get a kick out of the 360-degree view of Havana, and thanked us once again.
Money
Money is a major problem for everyone in Cuba. There are two sets of currencies. The first is the Cuban peso, which is virtually worthless. It can be used to pay government bills, taxes, etc., but that is about it. The second currency is the Convertible Peso, which can be converted into foreign exchange. It has real value and everyone wants to be paid with Convertibles. One must always be careful to check that your change has been returned to you in Convertible Pesos.
The second problem one will discover is that US dollars, American credit cards, debit cards, travelers checks, indeed anything linked to the Americans is useless in Cuba. All Cubans love Canadian dollars, and although Cuba is a
Bryan and Marya
We're about to go for a walkabout early in the morning and snapped a photo of Marya, who took great care of our room. safe country, it is not advisable to carry large amounts of cash. At the front desk we noted a sign that told us they accepted both Canadian Visa and MasterCard. We got a lovely room for a good price. After getting the key we were asked by the desk clerk to pay in advance.
"No problem," I answered, and handed the woman my credit card.
She said, "Sorry, our machine is not working this morning . . . you must pay in cash." Miranda and I knew this was not a good sign.
I smiled at the young lady and said, "No problem. We will pay when your machine is fixed," and we quickly headed off to our room. Maybe it was because I was wearing my clerical collar, or maybe it was because of shock, but she did not follow us.
The next morning I went down with credit card in hand and asked the desk clerk if the machine was working. Immediately, a tougher, older woman took her place -- not a good sign. She told me sternly that the machine was working: however, I had to pay in cash.
I smiled and
said I did not have enough cash and pointed to the sign which said that the hotel accepted VISA and MasterCard. Even more sternly she declared that the hotel only accepted credit cards for room service and telephone calls.
My reply was that the English on the sign was poorly written. We should add a "NO" before the words "credit cards accepted" then add "except for room service". I took out my pen and walked toward the sign. She looked so frazzled that I thought she was going to jump over the front desk.
"Just joking," I quickly told her. She did not laugh. (The other clients of the hotel, now lined up behind me at the front desk, were enjoying themselves.) How was she going to extract payment from a person without enough cash?
She had one last weapon in her arsenal. Looking at my clerical collar she said calmly that she was not worried. A priest would not cheat her and force a "poor clerk" to make up such a large loss. She then looked at the young clerk who had failed to get payment in advance.
As I walked away, I knew, and
she knew, that she had won.
Evening Stroll
After a very tasty dinner at the restaurant atop the Hotel Santa Isabel, Miranda and I wandered down to the waterfront for an evening stroll. Although a light misty rain was falling, we stood side by side gazing across the water toward the lights on the other side. I was in a world of my own when I heard "a splat" and a strange cry coming from my wife.
"What are you doing" she asked, shrilly?
I spun around and noticed that she was speaking to a strange man who was grinning at her and holding out his hands. The picture in front of me made no sense. It made even less sense when Miranda turned to me and said, "He slapped me with a dead fish!"
The fish had fallen into the water, but Miranda pointed to a wet spot on her arm. "Here, he slapped me here ... with a cold, dead fish!"
The strange little man continued to grin at us. In shock, the first thing that came to my mind was that I should hit him with my knobkerrie and defend my wife.
Varadero, Cuba
Miranda orders something cold on a hot day near the beach. When I mentioned this to Miranda she put her hand on my arm and said quietly, "I think he is 'not quite all there'... if you know what I mean. We should just back away slowly."
Although we would have liked to have continued our evening stroll along the waterfront, we decided to head back to our hotel. At the hotel I asked about any customs involving slapping people with dead fish then holding out your hand for money. There was not. I explained what had happened and the consensus was that the man was a few fish short of a school.
Links:
Photo Cuba's Che
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nestordoescuba
nestor reyes
bay of pigs in playa larga
You can visit Playa Larga and Playa Giron where invasion took place.. there is a nice spot called villa guama which is beautiful near the bay of pigs, playa larga hotel right there where invasion took place and Playa Giron hotel as well.. the road by the caribbean sea is just beautiful.. eat at cueva de los peces where a tectonic fault conforms a nice natural pool.. for hotels check http://www.CubaTravelHotels.com and click hotels above