Day 6 - More of the Private Island - Boredom is setting in

---

All our meals at this all-inclusive resort were buffets. We could handle that for three days. What we didn’t realize is that it was going to be the same exact thing each time. Not just the same type of food, but the actual food from the previous meals (leftovers). Breakfast was eggs made to order. So we had omelets with ham and cheese every day. The fresh fruit was awesome: pineapple, mango and bananas went fast. There were many things we just couldn’t bring ourselves to try. The meat sat out unrefrigerated by the grill and the following meal it was cooked and the third meal it was cut into smaller pieces. The bread would get more stale with every meal. The challenge became finding the 1 or 2 foods items that were new to that meal. The Cuban definition of all-inclusive is a bit different. The shrimp was extra, the lobster was extra, if you wanted a ham and cheese sandwich instead of lunch buffet, that was extra.



Breakfast was always an adventure for Riley. We would sit outside as the inside of the restaurant was hot as balls. If you have seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie the Birds, you would know Riley’s pain. However, it was only a few birds that would bother the eaters. Riley would scream every time they would land on a different table or come near. The birds could smell fear though, and one brazen black bird flew right up to Riley’s plate and stole a piece of stale bread. The minors screamed, the majors laughed along with the other people in the restaurant. Fortunately, the only thing that spilled was some water. Kirsten and Riley had to change seats so she could finish her meal.



Since the receptionist said that maybe the next day, the activities would be going, we checked with her to see what we could do today. All activities were closed except we could go diving or snorkeling at 11:30. That was the only thing we could do. Kirsten didn’t trust the dive shop and despite having brochures everywhere that side they did discover scuba dives so Riley and Megan could go. They did not. So we all snorkeled. It was small, slow boat that took us out to the reef. Here’s another first for Megan, snorkeling! The water was nice, the reef was full of fish, it helps when the captains throw bread out before you jump off the boat. We had 45 minutes to check it out. After getting Riley’s and Megan’s masks adjusted we were swimming away from the boat along the coral reef. It was fun and at least it was something to do. But like many things in Cuba, it lacked many things. Like a safety briefing, life jackets, instructions on how to snorkel. They tied off to a buoy and said be back in 45 min. Many of the guests never got more than 5 feet from the boat.



Back to the island, back to our ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch and back to the beach and sand. The minors were getting bored and wanted to do something on an island that offered nothing. The resort had two tattered and torn volley ball nets. The minors built up the courage to ask someone for a volleyball. They returned with “Wilson”, a deflated and tore up Wilson volleyball. At least we had a ball to play. We played a few games, it doesn’t matter if the minors won and the majors lost. At least it was something. The rain came in again, but instead of retreating to our bungalows we just went to our cabanas where we napped or read on the beach. It was serene and relaxing.



We went back to our rooms to shower for dinner. As Chester was in the shower, Kirsten checked to see what awful show might be on. Holy cow, it was a sign, The Castaway was on and Tom Hanks was screaming his apology to “Wilson” as it floated away. "AWWWWW Wilson, I’m sorry Wilson!" It’s the little things that amuse us.



Dinner was again the same routine, leftovers from lunch. We had chicken tonight along with the fruit, bread, and strawberry ice cream. The bugs at night are pretty bad so we didn’t really hang around for much afterwards. After a slow walk to the room it was down for an early night, mainly because there was nothing else to do.

---