Blogs from Baracoa, Este, Cuba, Central America Caribbean

Baracoa Sun-Mon 15-16 July Day 10 & 11 We had 2 full days to explore Baracoa and it’s surrounds. On the way we had 2 stops. The first was after we drove through Guantanamo town, about 15 kms we went to a lookout and saw the American Guantanamo Bay prison and township through binoculars!!!! Next was a beautiful Alto de Codillo Lookout that had a 360 degree view of the Baracoa district. It was lush green in places, but we could see many sections of stripped trees resulting from the hurricane of 12 month ago. It was a steep climb but worth it. A very poor village of about 100 people live next to the lookout and try to sell fruit, sweets and souvenirs. There was a bar there also and the locals were well on ... read more

HATE. If I started off loving this country, it was beginning to test my patience now – literally, as our 12-hour, mosquito-infested bus to Santiago de Cuba stopped in Sancti Spiritus for an hour and a quarter, going back and forth between the city’s two bus terminals. Do you think they’d let the passengers know what was happening and apologise for the delay? Of course not, this is Cuba. And with only one bus ‘company’ you could take, who else were you going to go with? The lack of choice and options was beginning to frustrate me. Take shops selling snacks for example. In Cuba, these shops don’t seem to exist. Even in the cities you have to do some proper scouting to find them when even when you do, they probably don’t even have what ... read more

Oops I've made an error. If you've followed a link to my Africa blog expecting to see writing and photography from Cuba please go to: https://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Cuba/Este/Baracoa/blog-889407.html ... read more

April 6 Happy birthday to me! Carmen our host gave me a Cuba key ring and there was a card from the Beatons, after breakfast it was off to Baracoa, our last day in the bus with Ivan. We stopped at Guantanamo for coffee then it was a scenic drive to Baracoa over a big mountain range, 5 hours drive all up. After checking into our casa with Miriam and family about 2, we set off on an orientation tour by local van, which turned out to be a surprise birthday BBQ for me!! Wow! The van arrived at a lovely river, where there was a roast suckling pig on a spit and a small group of musicians singing happy birthday! Lunch was amazing, pork, black bean dish, rice, salad, plantain chips and bread, served in ... read more

Odd how one song can make up the soundtrack of your life? Soundgarden just happened to be playing as I peered down from the plane window to see the blackest sand beaches desperately trying to flee dense jungle. The song seemed weirdly appropriate. My seatmate asked, "There is going to be a runway some time soon, right?" We were only about two feet off the turquoise ocean when we suddenly hit pavement. Hola Baracoa. ....or should I say Holy Baracoa? Hurricane Ida came in right behind us, unleashing her torrential rain for days. Angry ocean blasted over the measly malecon seawall, and the Baracoanians went about their lives without batting an eyelash...they'd seen this all before. Me, a diehard Vancouverite*, for the first time in my life, was caught without an umbrella. *Vancouverite: proper noun (Vancouverites) ... read more