Cienfuegos and Trinidad, Cuba

Places to Visit in Cienfuegos

We enjoyed our breakfast on the upstairs terrace as we looked on the horse drawn taxis. From our balcony view, the large City of Cienfuegos with a population of 110,000, still seemed like a quiet ghost town. Our breakfast was much of the same…egg, papaya, pineapple, bread, juice and coffee. Here the pineapples were larger and not as good as the tiny ones in Viñales. We enjoyed our time at Eliza y Miguel Angel’s house, but it was time to pack up and keep touring.

EXPLORE!

Korimakao Cultural Project and the Bay of Pigs Invasion

Road Trip Across Cuba

Our evening ended early, and we planned to awake at 6:30 for breakfast and our 8am departure. The loud diesel trucks were the first alarm, and the barking dogs and rooster were the second. Page’s phone alarm was the third. Our bus drove us back toward Havana past fog covered farm land to our next stops: a break at rest stop, lunch at a paladar, a cultural visit to an arts project, a swim in a sink hole, and history lesson at a museum about the Bay of Pigs. Continue reading “Korimakao Cultural Project and the Bay of Pigs Invasion” →

Cuban Farms…How to Roll a Habano!

Things to Do in Viñales

Mirta prepared our breakfast for 7am. It included a variety of fruits, eggs made to order, coffee and homemade juice. We didn’t have to leave until 9am today, so I took advantage of the late start and went for a run. I aimed to go off the beaten path and succeeded. I climbed up the small hill as I left town toward the northeast. The concrete roads turned to a combination of crumbled asphalt and dirt. I got to the highest point I could for a nice view before I dropped down just slightly to run on a dirt road past small horse farms before I ended up on a busy road as children walked to school in their red uniforms. At this point, I didn’t know where I was and was surprised to feel lost in a three road town! Continue reading “Cuban Farms…How to Roll a Habano!” →

Las Terrazas and Viñales…A Treat for Nature Lovers

Places to Visit at Las Terrazas

We ate our final breakfast at Casa Obrapía before loading on the bus to drive west for 1.5 hours to Las Terrazas, a very interesting community. A reforestation project was designed around the community which provided countless jobs and government housing to many. The hills, once full of trees were left almost barren after timber logging by the Spanish and Cubans, and coffee planting by the French. Only 14% of the forest remained in 1957. A 12,000 acre reserve was created in the Sierra del Rosario Mountains where trees were replanted and in 1984 it was named a biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. Continue reading “Las Terrazas and Viñales…A Treat for Nature Lovers” →

LOVED the Streets of Habana Vieja and Fusterlandia

A Walking Tour of the Streets of Havana

Our morning began at 7:15 when we walked over to the main house, which had much more charm than our apartment, for breakfast.  The owners served us a variety of fruit; bananas, papaya, passion fruit and pine apple along with eggs, tea and coffee.  The breakfast area on the roof top was quite nice, and we enjoyed a leisurely meal before Valeri our guide and Michael our bus driver picked us up at 8 to begin our exploration of La Habana Vieja. Continue reading “LOVED the Streets of Habana Vieja and Fusterlandia” →

classic Car tour in Havana

An American in Cuba!

Traveling to Cuba

Cuba…a place I’ve wanted to go probably because it has been off limits to Americans, and from what I have seen on TV, the culture seems interesting.  As such, I googled a variety of trips…cruises, dive trips and others.  I was somewhat interested in a photography trip, but I didn’t find one and instead stumbled across a vacation offered by Intrepid Travel.

While I had never heard of this travel company, I really liked the activities offered on their “people-to-people” exchange, one of the restricted ways Americans are able to visit Cuba.  It was one of the few itineraries I found that didn’t require us to go to the University to listen to a lecture.  In addition, the trip included home stays which intrigued me.

EXPLORE!

Ya Mon…Negril, Jamaica!

Traveling to Jamaica

What a relaxing trip to Jamaica!

The travel started out a bit rough, having to arrive at the airport at 4:30am only to be helped by a grouchy Southwest Airlines ticket agent. This was a bit disappointing to me, as generally the customer service is quite spectacular which is a big reason why I use the company. Not to mention I worked there years ago in Revenue Management and Pricing.

After a weak “hello”, the older woman asked me in a condescending tone, “Do you have your passport?” It was almost like she thought I wouldn’t! Then after I received the boarding pass, I asked if she could reprint it with TSA precheck since I have global entry. Continue reading “Ya Mon…Negril, Jamaica!” →

SCUBA Diving in Turks and Caicos

Getting to Turks and Caicos

The travel day to Turks and Caicos was one to forget, but the island is one to remember. Well, I guess the travel wasn’t that bad…only significantly long. We left the house at 2:45am, took our first flight at 5am after waiting in the long, non-TSA precheck line because it didn’t open until 4am. At 4am, we got in the TSA precheck line only to follow a bunch of people who didn’t want to wait in the other line and got turned away. Then three people pretended not to speak English and cut in front of us as we were waiting to put our bags through X-ray. Next the train on either side decided it didn’t want to accept passengers. But, the flight was on time! As was the next one out of Dallas…so that was a plus!! Continue reading “SCUBA Diving in Turks and Caicos” →

Christoffel Park and Willemstad, Curaçao

Sightseeing in Curacao

Christoffel Park (Mountain Side)

We had to schedule a day on land after diving so we could off gas before flying. As such we planned on spending our morning at another national park called Christoffel and our afternoon in Willemstad, the larger town near the airport.

We thought it would be best to hike and enjoy nature before it got too hot. It’s a good thing we did, the park doesn’t even allow visitors to hike up the “mountain” after 11am for this very reason. Originally, we thought we would hike the orchid trail. The online information suggested this would be a two hour hike and not too strenuous. Continue reading “Christoffel Park and Willemstad, Curaçao” →

SCUBA in Westpunt, Curaçao

SCUBA Diving

Another day…another day on the boat diving! Two tanks with yet another dive master and a trainee. The trainee was one of our divemasters the first day and not from the area. She had only arrived two weeks ago. I still wouldn’t say our divemasters were good, but we had some enjoyable dives at Mushroom Forest and Lagun. The highlights were probably the eels again. We found two next to each other which is somewhat rare, plus we spotted another one free swimming. Continue reading “SCUBA in Westpunt, Curaçao” →