Bluebay Cayo Coco

... of a pedalo or a canoe to explore the crystal clear picture postcard waters. Snorkelling was also a habitual practice along with drinking rum punch, speaking Spanish to the hotel staff and eating the amazing food. The real Cuba would come in a week's time.<br>

... entered.<br><br>For a Sunday, in a Catholic country, the square was going off. We walked straight through it and took some photos of the city first. It was kind of similar to Trinidad, but smaller and not hilly. There was also a mega posh hotel, so Lucy used the facilities. The people inside didn't seem to mind, we seemed to be the only tourists in town !!! She did report back that they were exceptionally clean, had soap and even the toilet paper was ...

First time off the North American continent, in the 1970s. Loved the palm trees and the Caribbean white sand and clear blue ocean. No big hotels on the beach in the 70s: now it's a major tourist destination, so I'm glad we enjoyed it before the Americans snuck in!

... had some pina coladas and admired the view of the valley, river, and Sierra del Escambray Mountains. We headed into Topes de Collantes National Park, where we attempted to find the start of a walking trail. We found three different tracks but they all petered out not very far in, and by the time we discovered the correct one we didn't have time to do the walk. Still, we saw some coffee plants and other vegetation and it was nice to be wandering around in the forest.

Marking a map "day at sea" is hard, so we choose Cayo Coco, Cuba to give you an idea of where we were heading; we could see the mountains of Cuba, but never docked anywhere in or near Cuba. Another relaxing day at sea, get up late, eat late, go the the 'debarkation talk', read more in our books. I did spend a little time at the casino, spent a couple up and down hours on the quarter slots ...

... crowd and find a relatively quiet place to reflect, say hooroo and have a beer for the old Beggar-Whoop.<br> <br>On getting back in the car and finding a more commercial area, the crowds were even bigger. We mingled amongst them and the many food vendors, buying snacks and ice-cream. Earlier in Trinidad Derek had got some pork carved directly from a whole roasted pig, and we found another one here too which I was only too happy to sample. Eating strips of ...

... school in Canada) took part in a production of the musical in the fall. We'd finally gotten all the music out of our heads on this trip, but the stupid turtle puts the whole soundtrack on high rotation. For the rest of the Remedios stay I catch myself whistling it, singing it. "I'll never stop saying Maria!" I walk around Remedios alone a few times, getting offered a good time at one door, hearing Cuban polka music (!?) drifting out of a window further down the ...

... t lack. Maybe that's what irritated me sometimes. But whether what rubbed me was his conviction or the result of his actions...? Thoughts for another time, maybe. The mariposa finch in the courtyard is calling. I can hear the baby waking. Lucy is singing her high-pitched squeals to the new day. Another elusive attempt at writing closes. My apologies to the dead, to Cuba, for how little I can say that is true about you.

... beautiful tiled floors and ceilings that stretch over 20 feet above us. As the Lonely Planet says, this is a new casa run by "nice young hosts" Frank and Arelys. We share an inner courtyard with their family and their birds and turtle. Cubans seem slightly pet obsessed. We don't enter a single home during our stay that doesn`t have fish, birds, turtles or some other animal roaming about. The worst ...

... that made the situation funny was the 4 or 5 hours of listening to the girls trying to kill them in the car. What wasn't funny was the 20 000 blood spat marks on the car interior in the morning. Our long awaited sleep was interupted at 2am by a creepy shadowy figure on the side of the tent. The figure circled the tent twice before a police siran sounded. Out in the feeding ground, black with mosquitos, we had to search for our passports in the car, undoing the girls last 4 hours ...