Adios to the April Sun in Cuba

---

April 10Met David for our old Havana (Havana Vieja) walking tour, we had saved the best part of Havana till last - lots of grand old buildings from the days when Cuba was wealthy, and amazing architecture. After the tour, we said farewell to Gabrielle :-( then the girls had liqueur coffee and cake at La Escorial cafe in the plaza,while the boys went to the Boutique Brewery opposite! (not Scarlett and Nathan of course!). Went up to the Camera Obscura, which gives a live 360 birds eye view of the city, complete with a hilarious commentary! Did a bit of souvenir shopping along the pedestrian mall, then wandered up to Parque Central for a snack. Rained heavily early evening, just when we were heading out for our final group dinner, it was a traditional Cuban meal, but unfortunately no vegetarian option for Sue! Cubans do not understand vegetarian at all! Sue got a large plate of green beans while we had traditional roast pork. All a bit over traditional Cuban food by now. Was funny, after dinner we were joined at the restaurant bar by an Irish Celtic jamming group believe it or not! Back to the casa to say sad farewells to our Cuban tour "family" Hopefully we will see the UK gang later in England. April 11Early start, packed an overnight bag, left our cases at the casa, and went to the bus terminal to get the 9am bus, but outside the terminal we were offered a taxi for only 6 CUC more than our bus fare, so took it. A very fast trip apart from a wee hiccup when the car lost power on a hill. But imagine going over 180 km in NZ for 30 US$ total! And in just under 2 hours! Vinales is a small town in a magnificent setting, in a valley of mogotes, which are round sandstone mountains covered in vegetation, plus tobacco and crops growing in red soil - wow! Our home stay was lovely, we had a big room with windows ( not boarded or shuttered, as they often are in Cuba) and a large front verandah with rocking chairs, like most houses in Vinales. In the afternoon, took a 2.5 hour walking tour of the valley of mogotes with a guide for 10 CUC each, saw lots of small farms and visited a tobacco farm, rather hot but no climbing. Floyd our guide was funny and informative. Just us and Floyd, our own personal tour. Back at our homestay we enjoyed a yummy dinner - the usual soup, lamb, flan, fruit.... heaps of food as usual! So nice to relax on the porch after dinner and watch street life in Vinales. It seemed like Coronation Street Cuban style, everyone in and out of each others homes, food going from one to another, everyone is "family". And watching all modes of transport pass down the street, horseback, horse and cart, bicycles carrying 2 or 3 people, ox carts......everything! April 12 Took the small Vinales hop on hop off bus around to the various points of interest, the Indian caves, viewpoints over the valley, and a tobacco farm where we watched a cigar or two being rolled. I bought one for 1 CUC as a souvenir! Back to town for pizza lunch and visited a botanic garden, then hopped back on bus for a ride to La Ermita hotel for a swim and a couple of Cuba libres. Views over the valley from here were stunning. Back to our casa for a lovely chicken dinner, Josefina, Jorge and family were great hosts, and it was so relaxing sitting on their verandah watching the world go by. Took a stroll down to the main street to listen to music at one of the cafes, nice evening. April 13Took a shared taxi back to Havana, door to door for $30. Back to Casa Oprapia, too early to check in, so took a walk and visited the Museum of the Revolution, very interesting seeing the Cuban take on everything! Popped into La Floridita, where author Ernest Hemingway wrote Old Man of the Sea and promoted the Daiquiri cocktail. It was so funny, several times people in Havana called out to Blu "Ernest Hemingway", there certainly is a resemblance! We sat at the bar there for a while, service was very slack and daiquiris were expensive so walked across to a hotel on Parque Central and had one for half the price there! Our last day in Havana, so treated ourselves to a cabaret show. Took a Coco taxi to the Hotel Nacional, had dinner at a restaurant nearby, huge slab of lamb and potato, but not much else! Meat meat meat! Went to the Parisian Cabaret at the Hotel which was just great, the costumes, singing and dancing all top class! (And a lot cheaper than the more famous Tropicana at 35 CUC). Walked back to Old Havana along the Malecon, there were literally thousands of people out enjoying the fine night along the waterfront, quite a sight! Felt quite safe, as we have done all through Cuba. April 14Packed up ready to go, set off for a last look around Old Havana and a 3 course lunch for 6 CUC, then off to the airport for our 2 hour flight to San Jose. TACA, the Costa Rican airline, was very good. Well, that was the end of our April sun in Cuba, we have had an unforgettable Cuban experience, now to Costa Rica...

---

Photos

Restoring Old Havana
could take a while!