Sunday Oct 14-18 – Travel to Bogota, Colombia We flew with Virgin Airlines to LAX then with Avianca Airlines to Bogota, staying at the Cranky Croc Hotel in the middle of the city old town (Centro Historico). Leaving Brisbane at 9.30pm after saying goodbye to Kerrie and after Adam dropped us off, and after making some last minute phone calls and email. We had 2 ½ hours in LAX and we needed all of that. The flight to Bogota was around 7 hours, arriving at 7.45am on 15/10. We flew through the night from Brisbane-LAX and also from LAX to Bogota with the time-zone changes. We had organised a hotel shuttle, but we didn’t see anyone holding up our name so caught a taxi, no problems. Straight away we saw how cheap things were in Bogota. ... read more

Flight from Baracoa to Havana Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 July Day 12 & 13 We were to fly back to the other end of the island, back to Havana. The flight itself took about 2 hours. However there are often delays and flight departure times do vary. Initially we were to get to the airport at 12md. Tom and I had gone for a walk to the very eastern tip of Baracoa and then back into the city centre for some wifi. Tom decided to go back to our accommodation before me. Luckily, he did because our guide Camilo was there to tell us that we had to go to the airport immediately - at 11.00am. They took all by bags to the car and then Tom raced down to get me while they drove ... read more

Santiago de Cuba Frid-Sat 13-14 July Day 8,9 I was still trying to change our flights from LAX to Brisbane but still with no luck due to the restricted technology. Immediately after breakfast I went into the nearby Plaza to hook up to the wifi. The only advantage was that I spoke to Kerrie and Gemma who were in the middle of Gemma’s performance in Creative Generation. It was so good to talk to her which was the 1st time since Poppie died. She had also sent us photos of Gemma performing. That was also so good. I also received texts from Sheryl and sister-in-law Kerry who was in Vietnam. So not all was lost. We left Camaguey around 9.00 am and we did not get to Santiago de Cuba until 5.00pm stopping a couple of ... read more

Sun-Mon-Tues 8, 9 & 10 July Day 3-5: Trinidad We had 2 ½ days to enjoy this beautiful colonial UNESCO city of Trinidad which is home to numerous churches and many colonial buildings. Nearby are the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of Sugarmills) which we visited on the way out of Trinidad and Playa Ancón, where we enjoyed long stretches of white sand beaches. Nowadays, Trinidad's main industry is tobacco processing. The older parts of town are well preserved, as the Cuban tourism industry sees benefit from tour groups. In contrast, some parts of town outside the tourist areas are very run down and in disrepair, especially in the centre. Tourism from Western nations is major source of income in the city. The Plaza Mayor of Trinidad is a plaza and an open-air museum of Spanish ... read more

Tuesday 3 July Day 5: Havana We left Vinales about 9.00am after more failed attempts to access money but we were (almost) convinced that all would be OK with the ATMs back in Havana. We return to Havana driving through to beautiful western Cuban mountainous countryside before driving over the plains. We got to Havana at about 1.00pm where we did an hour walking tour with our guide Dany. We visited Plaza San Fransisco, Vieja and de Armas as well as Cathedral Square. For several of plazas, it was our second visit, but it was better hearing the history of the Plazas. We even saw a food-ration outlet where people still go to get their basic requirements at a very low price. This ensures everyone receives the essential food requirements. During the Old Town walking tour, ... read more