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Cayo Blanca
We were at Cayo Blanca for a few hours before we sailed to Marina Hemmingway. The water was just beautiful! However the main purpose was to get the boat ready for the 80 odd miles over night to Havana. The passage was a wonderful one. The only slight worry were the numerous little lights shinning on the water. They were actually lights from floating fishing lines attached to wooden crosses and a light, the Cuban fishermen’s night fishing tactics.
Marina Hemingway
Arriving at Marina Hemingway we were once again boarded by very young, mini skirted, officials wearing fishnet stockings. The young ladies filled out numerous paper work, looked through the boat and were very impressed with Chico, taking photos of our boy. Then we were off to channel 1 the dock where we were helped to tie up, hooked up with power and visited by the vet and agricultural fellows, who again couldn’t get enough of Chico. Yes Chico has proven to be a star here, folks actually visit us to see him and take pictures of him or with him, just crazy…..
Marina Hemmingway – 10 2018-02-09 00:33UTC http://map.iridium.com/m?lat=23.088203&lon=-82.500472 Sent via Iridium GO!
Into Havana
Our friends on Kestrel were also on dock 1 and they asked if we wanted to share a taxi into Havana the next day, so nice and early we were Havana bound via a taxi – a 1957 automobile!
We drove the 9 miles to Havana mainly along the front enjoying every bit of the journey, as it was so very different. There we disembarked at the Museo de la Revolution agreeing to meet there at 4:30.
There are no words to adequately describe Havana. It is the most amazing city we both have ever visited. It is vibrant, colourful, seducing you to wander the streets and alleyways for miles with the sites forever changing. Everywhere there is just too much to see.
Yes, it is simply too hard to describe Havana in few words. From the moment we set foot out of the old American car/taxi we felt as if time stood still in this place, that we had somehow traveled through a time capsule and landed in a beautiful yet chaotic and extremely poor city 50 years ago.
“No one could have invented Havana. It’s too audacious, too contradictory, and – despite 50 years of withering neglect – too damned beautiful. How it does it is anyone’s guess. Maybe it’s the swashbuckling history still almost perceptible in atmospheric colonial streets; the survivalist spirit of a populace scarred by two independence wars, a revolution and a US trade embargo; or the indefatigable salsa energy that ricochets off walls and emanates most emphatically from the people. Don’t come here with a long list of questions. Just arrive with an open mind and prepare for a long, slow seduction.” – Lonely Planet
After being dropped at the Museo de la Revolucion John and I wandered for hours, our route taking us firstly across the Monumento a Maximo Gomez towards the Castillio de San Salvador de la Punta There we could see across the entrance to Havana’s harbour to the lighthouse and Casa Blanca on the other side. There were quaint fishing boats heading back to port from fishing the scene was lovely.
We then crossed the Parque de los Martires and onto Paseo de Marti with its centre pedestrian walkway. Both side were lined with such interesting buildings where people where on porches, hanging clothes, or just gossiping. Everywhere we turned there was another story being played out. And some this was how the day continued for us.
We found Havana an enchanting and intriguing city. It is like no other place we have been. To say it is unique is an understatement, because its individuality is seen everywhere. I saw everyday sights, which never failed to surprise me. There were roosters, dogs, and cats roaming the streets, black smoke spewing from the old American cars, young boys on rollerblades holding on to buses and flying down main streets.
There were kids playing baseball with sticks and bottle caps, climbing the church gates to enter the grassy grounds to play. Laundry hanging and ladies gossiping from balconies that were near collapsing and opposite them amazingly crafted buildings having been lovingly restored. On and on sites were ever changing, every corner we turned we were surprised.
We wandered down alleys, across plazas just glued to the scenes around us, such an amazing city and nation of people.
Some of he highlights were simple: watching the school children play with the stilted performers and then watching them play in the park old fashioned games,
seeing the fishermen catching Jacks right out of the harbour, an old lady relaxing on the balcony way above the street, seeing the numerous happy people on the streets strolling back from work are just a few example of what made our first day in Havana special for John and myself.
Our return to the marina was again in an old fashioned American car that had been restored. The young fellow who drove us was charming and obviously very proud of his country. We all were exhausted!!
You’re worried about how you’re going to feel at the end of your life? What about right now? Live. Right this minute. That’s where the joy is at. :- Abigail Thomas
Travel is more than the seeing of the sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living:- Miriam Beard
