Retrasado estaciones saludos de su intepida viajandro corresponsales!

Leaving Camaguey we shared a taxi with a couple from the Czech Republic to Santa Clara. He was a climber who fell 50 metres down a mountain some years ago breaking his back and both legs. He had recovered sufficiently to resume climbing but still needed a further operation on a badly set and swollen ankle. His wife or girlfriend who had consumed too many mojitos the night before, he told us, didn´t speak a word during the entire journey. Such are our fellow travellers.

We had one night planned in Santa Clara, famous for a daring attack in 1958 by Che Guevara and just 18 rebels on a train carrying more than 350 soldiers. They used a bulldozer to derail the train and home-made Molotov cocktails to set the train carriages alight. This, we read, prompted President Batista to give up all hope of defeating the revolution and to flee Cuba. Che became the most wanted man on the CIA´s hit list and was eventually executed in Bolivia in 1965 together with 38 fellow guerillas - his remains along with 17 of the others were exhumed from a mass grave, flown to Cuba years later and buried in the mausoleum built in his memory.

We did our own walking tour of all the main sights including the train carriages and bulldozer, the mausoleum which was in a huge Soviet style square and, most interesting for us, a bronze sculpture of Che holding a child. The sculpture was amazing and had episodes from his life carved in miniature on the statue, including him and the 38 guerillas set into his belt buckle. That evening we bumped into the English couple we´d met in Santiago earlier and so had a few more drinks with them and arranted to meet up again in Havana just before they fly home and we head off to Mexico.

The next day we were off early to a small town called Remedios for another overnighter. When we arrived we would be just 40 miles or so from our Christmas destination an all-inclusive hotel on Cayo Santa Maria which we booked (and thankfully paid for) before we left home.

Remedios is famous across Cuba for its Christmas fiesta which lasts five days. During this time the town splits into two competing factions, based on where you live and which of the two churches you attend, and try to outdo each other with firework displays and dancing. Huge light displays were being set up by cranes when we arrived and some fireworks were set off during the day with no attempt at keeping people at a safe distance. We saw some of the large rockets that had fallen on the main square and it was obvious that these were homemade efforts that looked as thought the materials used were toilet roll centres wrapped with old newspaper. We also saw a video at our Casa of some of last year´s celebrations - these were very impressive but a bit dangerous with some of the trees on the square in flames as fireworks fell on them! Later, on the way back from Cayo Santa Maria, we talked to an English guy who had stayed in Remedios for the full festivities - he told us that the fireworks were unbelievable and that people were running around with either towels or upturned chairs to protect their heads from fireworks that were still burning when they hit the ground. He also saw people with burning hair who had no such protection. The celebrations on the busiest night Christmas Eve, did not finish until 7am on Christmas Day!

In the days before Christmas we had seen a few live turkeys, fully feathered, being carried around upside down by their feet - no frozen, ready-plucked with giblets in a bag here!

From Remedios we took a taxi, a 1949 Dodge we were proudly informed across a 30 mile causeway, linked by 45 bridges, which connects mainland Cuba to a series of Cayos (very similar to the Florida Keys but a lot less developed).

Cayo Santa Maria was at the end of this causeway and surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, happily with the water a lot warmer and clearer than the Atlantic that we´re used to. We stayed in a lovely hotel set out in resort style with groups of 6 apartments well spaced around gardens - ours was in a nice position with a balcony overlooking the ocean about 100 yards away. All food and drink was included in the three nights we were there and we had six restaurants to choose from in the evening - we opted for Italian on Christmas Eve and Japanese on Christmas Day. On the downside entertainment was also provided - we could have done without most of this which included live Kenny G type music in the piano bar and ´ínternational´´ bands performing UK/US songs with words barely intelligible. It was far better and livlier when the Cuban bands were on and people immediately got up dance. We don´t understand why these sort of places bother with bad immitations of music that´s neither indigenous or natural to them.

Unfortunately the hotel had no wifi and the internet cost 8 pounds an hour - the staff told us it was also very slow so we decided not to waste our money. We then discovered that our mobiles had international call barring switched on and that we needed a password to switch this off so had to resort to text to get in touch with friends and family who we were really looking forward to speaking to over Christmas.

We hadn´t seen the news since leaving home so were pleased that the hotel had a wide selection of TV channels, including BBC World and CNN so we could catch up. Seeing the weather forecast for Europe and reports of ice storms in the US made us feel very fortunate to be here.

The tourist set up in the Cayos have one unexpected advantage - we found a combined post/DHL office where good English was spoken and so were able to compare prices and send back a 5kg parcel of accumulated souvenirs (cigars, wood carvings and a ceramic plate that had already broken in our bags). We opted for standard post as DHL was three times the price and more than the value of the parcel contents and we will keep our fingers crossed that it arrives home safely. The packaging we used at such short notice, appropriately a Havana Rum box, was scavanged from a rubbish pile at the back of the adjacent shops!

Feliz navidad con sinceras disculpas por el retraso.

Love from Tony and Linda xx

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Comments

Celia Forsberg You lucky things - it is wet and windy here. All well at No: 3 - smart meters being installed - do you want me to let them in?? I can arrange from here - I have emailed you. Look forward to hearing about the food - any recipes for me? Jan 6, 2014