Mar 9, 2020 - Mar 12 - 20, 2020 Guardalavaca

As the weeks passed, and with several cold fronts coming in, we started to think maybe 6 weeks was too long. The village is small and you can only lay on the beach for just so long. I was able to communicate with the locals, but for Fero it was getting a little boring. And just as we were getting back into the 'only two weeks left' let's enjoy our time, the trip was cut short with the Covid-19 Pandemic spreading rapidly throughout the world. Initially we thought maybe we could just stay and isolate ourselves here as there hadn't been any...

Mar 8, 2020 - March 8 - 11, 2020 Guardalavaca

Life has been quiet here in Cuba. Another cold front has settled in and it has been fairly rainy and cloudy for the majority of the days. We fill the time checking the various stores/bars for bottled water and it seems to be getting quite dire. We can only find 500ml bottles which is such a waste of plastic. We keep hoping a shipment of the 5L bottles will come in but no luck yet. Sunday the 8th es el día internacional de la mujer and our apartment party tonight has been moved into Luisa’s place due to bad weather. During the afternoon...

Mar 7, 2020 - March 7, 2020 Guardalavaca

As the weather man promised, this morning was sunny and by noon the clouds & wind came in - another frente frío está aquí!! And today is Saturday and the feria (farmers market) is across our street. We are down by 7am buying our weeks supply of onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, papaya, pineapple & bananas. $13 CUC for everything and we estimate it would have cost us close to $100 in Vancouver! Here the produce is very organic and likely picked just yesterday for today’s market. The taste is unbelievable!! Following our coffee...

Mar 4, 2020 - March 4-6, 2020 Guardalavaca

As predicted in the weather network, the next 3 days are hot (29-30C) and sunny. Great days for hitting the beach. Our routine was to have our coffee at home and bike to the beach around 9 or 9:30am, get chairs & a palapa close to the water. It’s $1 per chair and we tip the fellow an additional $1 so that he holds the chairs for us each morning - worth it! One morning Fero went to put the towels on our chairs and the fellow there wouldn’t let him sit - he kept saying ‘it’s reserved, it’s reserved’. Finally the fellow that we made the...

Mar 3, 2020 - March 3 Guardalavaca to Playa Pesquero

The weather today is still windy and cloudy which is perfect for cycling. By 8:45am we were on our way to Playa Pesquero. I love the breeze first thing in the morning and the first several kilometres are relatively easy. Today the only challenging loma was up to the Playa Pesquero turnoff and it wasn’t even that bad. As the morning wore on, the sun peeked out and the temperature rose so we made a few stops. We made really good time and arrived at the ‘shopping’ plaza, having a cold drink by 10:15am!! We rode around most of the resorts...

Mar 2, 2020 - March 2 Guardalavaca

Another cloudy, windy and cool day. We went across to the TRD and purchased lentils and Fero busied himself making soup (which was fantastic!). I walked to the Arenas Caracol Liquor store looking for water, only small bottles. I then went to Flamboyanes and nothing there either. Decided to have a cappuccino and received hot chocolate! While on the internet I received a message from Lily so I meandered over to her stall at the market. Her father is a silver jewelry craftsman and they have gorgeous pieces!! I picked up a gift for Kimka’s...

Mar 1, 2020 - March 1st Guardalavaca to Playa Blanca

Ok, today we are going to be very ambitious and cycle 24km each way to Playa Blanca. It is cloudy and windy so a perfect day for cycling. We get our bikes from Luísa and head over to Boulevard first to call Lubo & Elena on What’s App. So convenient! Around 9:50am or so we start our journey. We have the Maps App on my phone and the route seems pretty straight forward so we are set! This time of day in a Sunday is quiet and the ride is very pleasant. At the moment the wind is behind us and the gentle lomas (hills) are easily climbed. We...

Feb 28, 2020 - Feb 27 - 29, 2020 Guardalavaca

Not much to report here. We spend our days at the beach, or just toodling around town on our bikes. We had a couple of blustery, rainy days and even though it said it was 22C or 24C, we were cold! A few 'frente frios' - cold fronts blew in. brrrrr Very laid back this Cuban lifestyle!

Feb 26, 2020 - Feb 26 Guardalavaca to Boca de Sama

Cuba 2020 - Feb 26 Guardalavaca to Boca de Sama Today is the day to visit Boca de Sama. It is close, only 12 km each way and is supposed to be beautiful. It has been recommended to us by several people. We leave Guardalavaca around 8am so nice and early before it heats up. The only down side is the large loma (hill) that we must descend and then ascend on the return journey. Now I plainly remember this loma from last year and we both declared, this would be tricky on a bike. Fero, however, doesn’t remember it and thinks we are all pulling...

Feb 24, 2020 - Feb 24, 2020 Guardalavaca to Playa Esmeralda

We have been here for a week now and have tootled around on our bikes here and there, but it is now time to start exploring. So today we have decided to bike to Playa Esmeralda which is only about 6km each way. The trip only took us a little over 1/2 hour even with the odd small inclines. We locked up the bikes and found our way to the beach. The resort is an all-inclusive so we are not able to rent beach chairs ☹️. We walk to the end of the beach and sit for a bit. We decide there is no advantage to come here as the beach is identical to...

Feb 16, 2020 - Feb 16 - 23, 2020 - Guardalavaca, Holguin, Cuba

The next few days are leisurely with a little bit of cycling and exploring and a whole lot of beaching! I get into my routine of shopping the local stores and stalls and quite shocked to see how little there is on the shelves. Things are much worse than last year and many items are hard to come by. At the present time there is no toothpaste, soap or laundry detergent, toilet paper or paper products at all. The state sends products to the stores and they sell out immediately and then its weeks before they get another shipment. In the time...

Mar 3, 2019 - Sunday March 3, 2019 - Holguin

Our last full day in Cuba. 𯘢 By 9am we are ready to head out and walk over to see 'The Passion' restaurant as we will likely have lunch there. We walked the 1km into the centre occasionally darting into air conditioned stores to cool off. All offices are open 7 days a week and I have been told there is no 'designated' day off. To us, there is no difference between week day and weekend, except maybe the hours of the bank. We find a nice shady spot at the main square Parque Calixta Garcia, named after a Major General in the early 1900's,...