Apr 10, 2009 - Havana

Today me and Robbyn had the whole day in Havana to explore so we got up early and walked into the centre and caught a tour bus. Was 5 CUC for all day - bargain. A man outside our apartment gave us free guavas off his fruit lorry but there were horrible! We toured round and saw some of the man sights only for our driver to swerve and hit a lamp post half way round! No end to the excitement! So we all traipsed off and had to wait for another bus to continue our journey. Then we changed buses and went to check out the beaches. They were...

Mar 20, 2009 - Happy Birthday Meg & Jac

Just a quick message to Meghan (for 17th) and Jac (for 18th) for your birthdays this week. Sorry we didn´t call but we were thinking of you both on the days and were even able to procure a ¨birthday¨ cake from a helpful street vendor. We also had (several) drinks to mark the occasion. We hope you both enjoyed your birthdays as much as we did!!! We´ll write more about Cuba later (so much more!) Love, Paul and Bryony.

Mar 6, 2009 - Cuba- Land of Salsa, Beaches, and Fidel- Part II

Now that I have a bit of time, wanted to complete the Cuban component of my journey.

New haircut and Gisela, Sunny, and Paro in tow, we were ready to leave Varedero for the big city. The drive is about 3 or 4 hours, depending on how lost you get, and we were jamming out and enjoying the good company. We stopped to capture a few especially picturesque moments, and also to distribute some coloring books and candy that the Canadians had brought for the local children. Even thought Sunny and Paro had a flight out of Varedero early the...

Feb 27, 2009 - Cuba- Land of Salsa, Beaches, and Fidel- Part I

Hello Again,

Sorry it's been a bit since my last entry, but Internet access has been tough to come by down here, and I've been on the go pretty much non-stop for the past 3 weeks. Heading out in just a couple hours and will have a night in Cancun on my way back to SF, before heading to Europe and the Middle East. I will do my best to get some pix up over the next few days before I leave the country again. But now onto the good stuff...

Cuba is a dream. In so many ways, so much about it is harder to believe than the...

Jan 14, 2009 - October 26

The next day we moved to the Accor-owned Hotel Sevilla Habana. In quality terms, if the Parque Central was an 8 out of 10, the Sevilla was a 4. Many things, from the plumbing in the bathroom to lights in the tiny bedroom, were absent or simply didn't work. However, being just a two minute walk from the Parque Central, we were still in the area we wanted to be. We spent the next few days exploring on our own. Spending hours at the Museum of the Revolution, acquainting ourselves with a few local bars soaking up the atmosphere and alcohol,...

Jan 14, 2009 - October 25, Havana

Our first full day in Havana started with a visit to our hotel by Jorge (jorgeguide@yahoo.es)a guide recommended by numerous Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor users. He bought along Alejandro (Alex) who was to be our guide for the day. He charged a very reasonable CUC10 an hour and he took us on a walking tour of Centro and Habana Vieja for a good 5 hours. We would have gone on for much longer however our feet were tired and it was a hot day. Alex was a very personable and knowledgeable guide who seemed to know quite a few people around the...

Jan 13, 2009 - October 24, Chichén Itzá to Cancun to Havana

Drove back to Cancun to fly to Havana on Mexicana flight MX7574, which is actually operated by Mexicana's low-cost subsidiary Click. Pretty basic service but thankfully the flight is only 45 minutes. On our arrival we had pre-arranged pick-up to take us to the Hotel Parque Central situated pretty much on the border of Habana Vieja (Old Havana) and Centro (Central Havana.) It consistently rates as Havana's hotel número uno and it has earned it. A modern hotel with good service (even access to the internet though admittedly at times very...

Aug 22, 2008 - Back to Havana

At the hospital Jan underwent a small operation with local anaesthetic to remove the parasite (a grub - dimensions approx 1 cm x 0.5 cm) from her head. We are not sure what the doctor had removed the previous night, we think it was part of the spiricle the lavae uses to breathe whilst imbedded in it´s host. The culprit was a botfly (Dermatobia hominis) which doesn't occur in Cuba as such Jan was the subject of much curiosity and photo taking in the clinic. The botfly is an interseting insect, it captures a mosquito on which it lays it`s...

Aug 6, 2008 - Havana

A short flight took us from Cancun, Mexcico to Cuba. We spent three days exploring central Havana on foot (in scorching temperatures!). The city is packed with architectural gems, some fully restored and set in beautiful plazas, others in various states of dilapidation. Most date from the 1920s and 30s when Havana, under the influence of the mafia, became a playground for Americans during prohibition. We particularly enjoyed the Plaza del la Revolution with its iconic buildings, Che mural (on the Ministry of the Interior building) and...

Apr 26, 2008 - Viva Cuba - Old Cars, Fine Cigars and...um...oh yeah, Food Poisoning!

CUBA. Cuba, Cuba, Cuba……Oh how our stomachs wish to forget Cuba. Sorry this update has taken so long – Our last meal at the Havana airport left us with a bout of food poisoning that sort of left a bad taste in our mouth (boom boom) about our trip to Cuba. We arrived at Havana airport and quickly met up with Danys, a local guy who we made contact with, through friends of ours from Gove (thanks Rick and Sally). We got a taxi into Havana and drove straight to our accommodation. Danys had told us via e-mail about a week earlier, that he had...

Jan 13, 2008 - Cuba till Jan 30th

Where to start, where to start? Bad Amy and Bob for letting 2.5 months pass without updating this site. And we were doing so well for the first part of the trip!!! In any case, I'll try to summarize our 2.5 weeks in Cuba... Cuba was by far the most interesting place we visited on the trip. Not that Colombia and Venezuela and El Salvador, etc. were not interesting, it's just hard to beat staying in a country with ration cards, crumbling buildings everywhere, two totally separate monetary systems for the tourists and locals, Fidel, and other...

Jan 11, 2008 - Cuba - Habana

Cuba was my favourite country on our trip and the country I most want to return to with Greg. Most of you have heard me rave about Cuba since I got back so I don't need to say too much. In short, what made Cuba so amazing was that the Cuban people were the friendliest, kindest and most welcoming people I've ever met. They seemed mostly content, despite having so little, full of life and creative. Many of them were artists, musicians or dancers, or all three. I felt almost as sad leaving all my new friends in Cuba after only 8 days as I did...