our last day in Cuba
Lynn & Mike ..around the world
Mike Drinkrow & Lynn v/d Hoven
Thu 12 May 2011 14:24
21:37.37N 081:33.85W Cayo
Largo
Today is our last day in Cuba, we leave for Grand
Caymen tonight. It is about an 18 hour trip, so we sail at night to take
advantage of lower winds and to be able to arrive in daylight.
Cayo Largo is a 'tourist island' catering for beach
and diving vacations.... not real Cuba at all. There are
many Canadians here, as it is only a 3 hour flight direct from Toronto and the
all-inclusive resorts here are apparently good value. There are no local
settlements on the island, with workers being ferried in for shifts e.g. our
local waiter works 20 days on and 10 days off, when he goes home to Isla de
Juventud. While here they stay in small duplex apartments. We have been
eating at this local restaurant where a plate of fried chicken and chips is
2CP's, while fish and chips is 8CP's?!! (Not a lot of fishing seems to be
happening, I suspect as a result of the tight controls on boats
and fuel.) So we have been pigging out on the chicken with lots of
beers and Mojito's The marina is extremely busy with dive boats,
snorkelling trips, charter catamarans and flats-fishing....and if that doesn't
appeal, you can lie on one of the beautiful beaches. Bright white fine sand and
blue blue water. There is also a facility where you can swim with dolphins, but
I found it to be rather sad to see these majestic creatures in
captivity.
We were hoping to buy some provisions here - but so
far have only managed to get 2 cucumbers, bread rolls, a small quantity of
butter, some fruit juice and beer. Each day the lady in the 'shop' tells me
sadly that she has not been able to find any fruit or vegetables. It would seem
that most things are in short supply in Cuba ...except booze and cigars.... and
ever smiling people.
We have been out of touch with news, internet, TV
for almost a month now, and only yesterday heard a few snippets on the
developments in Libya and the death of Bin Laden - we look forward to a catch up
in Grand Caymen.
