So Christmas day arrives and problems start to rear their ugly heads.

We open the beautiful drapes in our fabulous room on Christmas morning and ................................ HELLO!!!

 What is this RAIN??????

Yes it was and had been raining for some time. So it continued for most of the day, puddles everywhere. We were lucky to have our wonderful 'Mountain Warehouse' Cagoules that we were hoping to wear in fabulous Rain Forests in the next few weeks. It was warm so we wandered. But Christmas Day, why rain, was this our turning point? I'm afraid yes.

Maybe you have been patiently waiting for my next blog. I'm sorry that will not happen as promised from Costa Rica. Peters health suddenly became a worry in the early hours of a few mornings. For any of you that know our history, in 2008 Peter had major heart surgery and the pains he was having at 3 a.m. were far too similar.

We chilled and hoped each day that our thoughts were wrong. Everything would be OK and we would be able to continue our fabulously planned trip.

On Saturday 27th December we headed from Varadero back to Havana for our last night in Cuba. We have a super driver and a lovely two hour drive sightseeing, stopping for fabulous Pina Coladas in actual Pineapples, again a band was playing in the little roadside café as you see and hear in so many places and moments in Cuba. The land is full of music, wherever you are, I shall miss that about it more than anything.

Back at Parque Central we want to explore the mad city of Havana one more time. We want to wander the place that 2 weeks ago, when we arrived was hot, frustrating but new. Now we had our bearings, now we knew how to cope with the hustlers, beggars, and various people trying to make a buck. We hired a Rickshaw and travelled down to Cathedral Square for a coffee and watch the world go by. We finally found Plaza Vieja and what a beautiful place it is. The architecture is fabulous and nearly every building surrounding it is painted perfectly. Its Havana's xxxxxxxx. It is simply beautiful in the middle of a crumbling City centre. 

But then Peter hails a Rickshaw to take us back to the Hotel. Alarm bells should have started then. But later, at 3.30 a.m. when Peter woke me, he was in horrible pain and the decision was made. The only thing we could do was go home. There would be no Costa Rica, or Galapagos or any Islands in the Caribbean on this trip. At 6.a.m. I rang Exeter Trailfinders and within 10 minutes Andy had booked our Virgin flights home.

Monday 29th December 8.10p.m. we head back, all I can think of is getting back into Gatwick with Peter safely, anything else just doesn't matter. As long as we can get home, we can get a diagnosis and get something done.