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cuba_2018_2

Day 1 - Miami to Santiago de Cuba

Day 1 - We all gathered in the Miami airport at 7:30AM as planned. We checked in, went through security, and found Gate 45 with 90 minutes to spare. It was a full flight and someone really must have needed to get to Cuba because they offered $1,900 (USD) to anyone willing to give up their seat. That was difficult to pass up! We all made it onto the plane and Gary even got bumped up to Row 1 of Business Class. It was a quick 90-minute flight and the view was beautiful as we flew along the Cuban coastline. We landed at Frank País International Airport in Holguin, passed through Customs, Immigration, retrieved our bags, exchanged some dinero (money), and hopped onto our bus. We had a brief tour of Holquin and then stopped for lunch at a nice café. It took a while to get all 18 meals to the table and unfortunately, we were impatient customers. We’ll chalk that up to being “hangry” (a mash-up of “hungry” and “angry”). Our meal was delicious and we had time to get to know one another. Then, it was back onto the bus for an hour ride southeast to Santiago de Cuba. We arrived just after sunset. Our rooms were ready. Everyone found their rooms, cleaned up, and 30 minutes later we were back on the bus to go to the Church of Santiago for a full lechón dinner (roast pig). We sat with members of the congregation and enjoyed getting to know one another. We took a tour of the church, inspected the water system, and then headed back to the hotel. It was a very long day - travel like this can be mentally and physically draining. We struggled a bit with the WiFi and then called it a night. But first, I’m sitting at the counter in the hotel lobby enjoying a cold Bucanero cerveza and then heading to my room.

After organizing the gear for the next day Rick went for a walk exploring the hotel. The restaurant and pool area was on the second floor. Everything was closed down for the night but there was music off in the distance. Around the corner and down a flight of stairs there was an outdoor cafe attached to the hotel. There were several people enjoying the night air and typical cuban music (salsa). After watching from a distance for a bit, Rick went down to the cafe and grabbed a seat. A few minutes later Josh came from the same direction and joined him. They relaxed talking about the day when to their surprise four performers, two men and two women, came out on the floor and performed some amazing dance moves. They basically put on a 5 minute floor show and then disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. Josh and Rick stayed for about 45 minutes enjoying the scene, feeling very comfortable in the crowd and then they returned to their rooms to get some rest. First night in Cuba and they knew they already had a story to tell at breakfast tomorrow.

DAY 1 PHOTOS



UPDATED: 2018-02-24 20:52:54