I think perhaps I found the beach I searched for long & hard in Cuba only to come up empty handed. It’s in Palomino, Colombia. It’s on the Caribbean in the middle of nowhere beneath the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, the highest coastal mountain range in the world. It’s beaches are white sand, wide & gorgeous. It’s super chill. There’s no one here. No resorts of any kind. The town consists of a few dirt roads barely big enough for scooters. The surf is a bit aggressive & would rightfully scare off some folks, as do the red “swim at your own risk” flags posted everywhere (it was yellow one day), but I actually kinda prefer to get knocked around a little bit as it keeps things interesting. Those visiting on the weekend included quite a few locals as well as foreign travelers. You’ve got the hippies w their packs & guitars camping of course, you’ve got hostels whose spot on the beach in front of “the center” is the happening spot if there is one, & the relatively higher priced huts & bungalows further down the beach. It’s so quiet everywhere in a really good way. Palomino is flanked by 2 rivers, one of which you can rent inner tubes & tube down, although you don’t cover much ground as the current is nearly non-existent. So I got a lot of R&R, posted a lot of blogs & rested up for the trek North to alta Guajira.
I of course can’t take credit for Palomino. My arduous research revealed Taganga, 2+hrs W of here, could be a good spot but the more I read, the more I found it USED to be a good quiet spot but now hordes of tourists have overrun the small fishing village. I came across Palomino for an untouched beach in an online Rough Guide article listing the top 10 places in South America you’ve never heard of. Umm. It’s like it was written for me. As for the rest of the places on that list? I’d actually heard of several others, but you can bet your ass I’m keeping many of them in mind.
Sunrise. The cloud cover burns off by 9. Sunset The main strip Restaurant row The tubing river that lets out on the sea. Note Colombia’s version of the beach umbrella.
I was a bit indecisive when it came to choosing lodging for my Parque Tayrona visit. I tried a couple spots but they were shockingly booked up. Meanwhile, I had been emailing w this dude for a couple weeks… at first regarding availability about one of his properties (booked) & then regarding my questions on Tayrona. He was pitching me a room in another property that was more than I wanted to spend, but I found him to be helpful as he offered to buy my Tayrona ticket & coordinate the taxi. So I decided to splurge a bit on a room in Casa Playa, only a 10-min drive E from Tayrona right on the beach near where a river intersects the sea. I had the bus drop me at the drive & found the lovely casa w it’s private pool perched atop a bluff directly overlooking the sea to the front & the river to the rear, flanked by crazy ridiculous beaches & equipped w a house man Benedicto. Best part? I was the only one to rent a room so not only did I get the best room but I had the whole place to myself which was perfect after an exhausting day at Tayrona. Only downside? The house was so close to the sea, the waves crashing below were pretty darn loud at night. I can’t even type that with a straight face. No the downside is I only had 3 days / 2 nights here.
Beach 1
Cool ass jelly that washed ashore https://youtu.be/1QQK3xQfn20 Beach 2 (& the river). As I was going to Tayrona, I asked the driver what beach was her favorite (intending of Tayrona’s beaches) & she indicated Naranjos was her fave… the one I’m staying on. https://youtu.be/iJ7MJcULEHsYes there are crocodillos in the river & I was told to look out for them. This skinny little path is right by the river & the path to the beach so I’d walk pretty quickly & keep an eye out.
Hammock video especially for Cash
Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona in Colombia was quite possibly the most highly anticipated stop of my entire South American adventure. I think I may have even showed a photo of Tayrona to my Chi crew before I left… as in, “Holy shit!!! This is what I get to see!!!”. It’s a national park located on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia about 5hrs drive E of Cartagena. It’s run by local Colombian tribes who wisely charge admission to visit their paradise. It’s a lush green mountainous region whose jungles just explode onto the coast in these amazing rock formations & mesmerizing beaches. But you gotta work for it. The deal is you hike through the jungle, up & down foothills from beach to beach – I think there’s upwards of 7-8 beaches accessible from the main El Zaino entrance although a few are deemed unswimmable & even come with warning signs indicating “hundreds+ have died” trying. So you feel as if you’ve earned this massive reward by the time you reach the beaches & witness the views.
They tried to make it difficult for me to visit. The tribes must grow weary of the visiting tourists (although they do limit visitors daily so you must get an early start) & every so often they suddenly decide to close up shop for a month to purify the land. They announced in December they were closing as of Jan 27 but I didn’t get word until just as I was leaving so I had to rework my trip to accommodate & thank goodness I did, as I do believe this may be my single favorite travel day EVER. The sailing trip from El Nido to Coron in the Philippines was my fave trip-within-a-trip but I think this was my fave single day. I’m not sure my photos do the views justice & they certainly don’t capture the feeling of joy once you’ve completed the hike & get to enjoy it… before of course you do the hike again on return. I just love it when shit works out.
A few things I learned based on my pre-hike research & on-the-hike experience:
Buy your ticket in advance. The park’s website to do this is a joke & doesn’t work. I asked the manager of the casa I was staying at to buy one in my name & he obliged. This assures you a ticket & the privilege of avoiding a massive line to get tickets the day of & given the park limits daily visitors, on busy days, I’ve read the park stops entrants by 10am, so travelers have been known to wait in line beginning at 4am. That’s just not for me. The fact the park was closing made this that much more important, although I’d do it again visiting on a normal day. A little advanced planning goes a long way.
Hire a taxi to drop you & pick you up in accordance w park hours (8am-5pm). There are public buses you can take to the entrance of the park. What the park doesn’t advertise is the 5km walk to the point at which the jungle hikes begin. From that point, it’s a 3-hr minimum hike past all the beaches. Adding on a 5km walk? No thanks. Thankfully I found this advice online before I went.
Stay offsite. There’s a couple places you can camp in the park. One at the “furthest beach” & biggest draw, Cabo San Juan de Guia, & the other at one of the closest, Arrecifes. I previously read about these options… bring your own tent (yeah right, even if I owned one, it’s NOT making the backpack cut), rent a tent or rent a hammock. Let’s just say, by staying overnight, you’re not blazing a new trail. It’s like tent city. A sea of tiny little tents placed nearly on top of one another in the beating hot sun. The hammock situation didn’t appear much better although you at least had some sort of structure as a cover. If you want to really treat yourself, Tayrona has these 14 ecohabs (i.e. somewhat fancy thatched huts) perched on the hillside; only thing is, they are at the start of the hike & located on an unswimmable beach. So for >US$200 more per night over what I paid for my baller digs (see next post), you haven’t cut into your hike at all. Offsite there is a whole range of options and besides, one doesn’t need any more hot equatorial sun than a full-day hike provides. Believe me, it’s plenty.
Bring real hiking boots. Some fools were hiking in flip flops & when that didn’t work, they resorted to bare feet. I’m not sure if those people are stubborn, foolish or lazy & failed to do the research, but the hike is not for pansies as it requires some scrambling up & down boulders & obstacle courses to avoid massive mud baths, especially given the torrential downpours the night before. I was happy I had my hiking boots & put them to good use. Sure, at times you hike through sand & across mini rivers but I’d just kick off my boots & walk barefoot til I needed to don them again. 90% of people came similarly prepared so the 10% sure did stick out.
Take time to enjoy the hike. Life is a journey not a destination. All of the travel guides rave about the “furthest beach” Cabo & it’s photos justifably serve as the parque’s advertisements so you can imagine its popularity. But it’s 3 hours before you reach the beach & along the way, you pass 4 other breathtaking beaches & views. Although I think many people missed those. I’d take the long way, stopping to find the perfect views & surveying each beach; while most others seemed to just beeline straight for Cabo, not pausing for a second to enjoy the journey. When I arrived at the exalted Cabo, I realized why. While the other beaches were scantly crowded, this one was teeming with people. Yes, it was drop dead gorgeous & I went a little overboard w the photos (a couple different times 3hrs apart bc, you know, the sun changes), but my goodness, finding a little square piece of sand to plop down upon seemed like a daunting & unwelcome task. After round 1 of photos, I spied a path on the further end. I recalled the travel books saying there was one beach after Cabo but it was a nude beach (gasp). Hell, at this point, I was excited for the nudes in order to escape the Cabo frenzy. So I continued on & thankfully so bc there were 2 further beaches that were hardly touched by tourists save for hippies hiding out & taking pot naps. Perhaps the travel books’ mention of the nude beach scared folks off. Regardless, I found a happy isolated spot to chill & rest before my 3hr hike back (& round 2 of pics at Cabo).
If anyone is inspired by this post & wants to visit in the next 5 months, not only can I help you with planning the details, but I’m also happy to re-route my trip & do it all over again to play tour guide. That’s just how incredible it is.
Might as well start backwards at the money shot at the money beach, Cabo San Juan de Guia. It really is freakin gorgeous. And it’s actually 2 perfectly shaped crescent beaches that meet at one lookout point. OK, enough about el Cabo (it really is stunning tho). This is the NO NAME beach past el Cabo that I crashed at for 3hrs. Not too shabby. A sign indicated over 100 people have died here but I’m pretty sure that was a scare tactic. Tide wasn’t that bad. The path from el Cabo to La PiscinaAptly named La Piscina as it’s great for swimming given its a big deep bay w minimal waves. And then we continue along the hike back…
Videos of the beaches bc I am a real dork. This is for me.
I was super excited to see Cartagena, a gorgeous Spanish colonial city on the Caribbean Sea. I thought I’d spend 5 nights here. I was planning to until I had to move up a future destination. So I only had 3 nights. It was enough although I had to cut out a jaunt to some outlying islands where I probably could’ve found some decent scuba diving (I need my fix).
A couple things about Cartagena:
(1) Cartagena is an outlier in Colombia as it’s expensive with prices nearing US levels. Which is a bummer.
(2) I was forewarned in the coffee country about the heat. I spent months in SE Asia so I admittedly shrugged it off. It’s MF hot in Cartagena. When you’re on the equator, that sun is just so goddam strong. So my schedule in Cartagena went something like this: sleep til 8, eat breakfast & hit the city by 9am before it’s scorching hot. Lunch at 1ish & then spend the rest of the afternoon in the shade on the rooftop of my hotel or lounge by the pool. Anything to get out of the sun. I’d come back to life around 5 & head out again to wander & enjoy the night.
The thing to do in Cartagena is wander. Wandering photogenic cities just so happens to be my favorite thing to do traveling, taking pitstops along the way in gorgeous chill plazas at coffee shops, restos & bars. It’s impossible to get lost as long as you stay in the old town as it’s fortified by large stone walls. The city is lovely & it reminded me a bit of Havana with its picturesque winding streets although the difference is Cartagena is a pristine colonial town unlike the dilapidated Havana (which in my opinion, just adds to its romanticism). I’m not sure there will ever be a more charming city than Havana so I should probably just remove it from any future equations.
Although I didn’t read it anywhere, the city should be known for its big imposing wooden verandas. Just gorgeous. These bags are made by the Wayuu tribe in La Guarija in N Colombia. They also make these ridiculously amazing large hammocks (chinchorros) that are so warm & could fit 3 of me. I’m going there. I’m going to want to bring one home. Bag & chinchorro. Chinchorro will be tricky.Believe it or not, I actually asked permission to take this photo. Boy have they got their posing down. One of my far-too-many-to-count fresh fruit juices
Thinking about Colombia, what comes to mind? Cocaine & coffee right? The country’s heyday on the former is thankfully past so tops on my list was most definitely to dive into the latter. No better way to do that then actually stay on a coffee farm in La Zona Cafetera, the Arabica-growing coffee mecca of Colombia, located just a 5hr bus ride South from Medellin near Manizales. The bus was more of a van jammed w 9 people plus the driver. Thankfully I had a bucket seat so while legroom was severely limited, there wasn’t anyone sitting on either side. I managed to convey to the driver before leaving that I wished to be dropped approximately 20 mins before Manizales at a pedestrian bridge with a restaurant nearby as I was going to a coffee farm, Hacienda Venecia. I was a tad bit anxious about it as I was unsure whether myself or the driver would recognize the site but turns out, there was nothing to worry about as it was very obvious. The driver swung over, dropped me & my backpack in the middle of nowhere & I wandered into the charming little restaurant near the bridge in order to call the ranch for a pickup & enjoyed fresh fruit juice while waiting. As an aside… Colombia is justifiably known, in addition to coffee, for its freshly made fruit juice & it has become a daily staple in my diet featuring both known & previously unknown fruits (guanabana???). I’m more than a little obsessed. Back to the coffee… the ranch driver scooped me & we were on our way down a rutted rough one-laned road into a valley surrounded by lush hills. The coffee farm was lovely. Three different accommodations including expensive main house, middle-of-the-road guesthouse & economical dorm bed hostal. I chose the middle-of-the-road featuring private rooms & baths & super cool travelers along w a pool & great indoor/outdoor communal area. House breakfasts, lunches & dinners features delicious local food & all the coffee you can drink. The coffee tour the next morning was really interesting & informational but I may have tuned out for a second as it dawned on me I’d done similar (but not as in-depth) tours in numerous wineries throughout my years but had never thought before to learn about the coffee process. I drink quite a lot of coffee. Perhaps I drink more wine? The balance of my 3-day stay was spent lazing about in hammocks, eating, drinking coffee & to stay somewhat active, going on hikes into the hills for pretty spectacular views of the valley. As a special treat, the owner kindly showed off the cacao he’s now growing on the farm. We picked a fresh cacao & sucked the pulp off the beans which to my surprise, tastes quite fruity. To make chocolate, the beans are dried for days (so flash forward like those magic cooking shows), then roasted til they popped, peeled to separate the bean from its outer coating, smashed & then ground for 24 hours. We tasted the cacao frequently as the grinding would constantly change the consistency & taste of the chocolate. By the next afternoon, it was a real bitter flowing dark chocolate. We first added sugar to make a proper bitter dark chocolate, sampled quite a bit, & then added milk powder to make a milk chocolate. We finally poured the chocolate into molds, cooled in the refridgerator & enjoyed our freshly made milk chocolate bars that evening for dessert. Pretty damn great if you ask me. Although I’m clearly not used to “manual” labor as the 2hrs spent peeling the cacao beans left me w borderline blisters. I’ve got a lot to do before I take up farming. The bonding coffee experience brought us together as did shots of the local Colombian anise flavored liqueur, Aguardiente, & local Caldas rum. All in, a phenomenal trip to the coffee region.
While I was enjoying Medellin, it struck me the end of day 2 that it was a truly modern city & unlike a lot of places I visit on my travels, it was a bit devoid of culture & history as most old buildings had been razed. To get a little culture, I decided to take a day trip to Santa Fe de Antioquia & try out Colombia’s bus system. An advertised 2hr bus trip was really 1.5hrs through gorgeous mountains to Santa Fe, which is the oldest city in the region & has maintained its colonial history. I visited on a weekday when prices are significantly cheaper as I read it was a key weekend getaway destination for Medellin locals. It was pretty empty which is just how I like it. Nestled in a valley, it was stunning & perfect for wandering the streets snapping photos, interacting w the locals & enjoying long lunches & great views.
Due to a plane’s flat tire, my flight left 3.5 hours late from Miami to Medellin. The upside is I was able to watch most of the Packers playoff win vs Dallas. The downside is I didn’t land in Medellin until 1:30am & the airport was dead but for pre-arranged taxis which seemed like a really good idea in hindsight. Travel books say avoid private taxis for security reasons & only use official yellow Medellin taxis. Well that wasn’t an option so I found a man, who seemed like a very nice man, who operated a private taxi, and I talked to him in my elementary Espanol for 10 minutes about generalities & where I was going to ensure he was familiar with the area & he didn’t come across as an overt murderer, rapist or thief. He was nice & charming & it thankfully all worked out just fine as I happily arrived safely at my digs only a 3 block walk from the center of El Poblado, the supposed hip & trendy but oftentimes noisy hood in which I was staying, at 2:30am. So first trip snafu conquered with ease.
I happily explored much of Medellin for the next 3 days & despite its somewhat recent sordid history in cocaine trafficing courtesy of the late Pablo Escobar, it’s really come quite a long way in a relatively short time. The neighborhoods are interesting & welcoming. The metro system is the only one of its kind in Colombia, includes metro cables (cable cars) to its relatively impoverished barrios up in the hills & is far nicer than Chicago’s el. From what I can tell, it’s a happening modern city that’s very safe, accommodating & livable. The best part was the people. My recent trip to Cuba revealed the machisimo that’s a part of everyday Latin lives. I had heard & was expecting it to only ratchet up a notch in South America. To my very pleasant surprise, I’ve come across none of that so far in Colombia & I’m going to choose to believe it has everything to do with the kind, respectful nature of the Colombian people & nothing at all to do with the fact that I may have overreacted by chopping all of my hair off & dying it from platinum blonde to my more natural brunette.
City views
Houses atop housesEl centro
Botero sculpture in main el centro plazaView of El Poblado from metro station El Poblado neighborhoodWhile staying at a $20 per night Airbnb, I realized how much good food was in Medellin & despite my unemployment & rough travel budget, I decided to treat myself in El Poblado bc while I don’t have a paycheck nowadays, I choose to spend my money on things that give me joy (Cubs season tix, the boat, good food). Turns out I picked a trendy spot & the attire of the locals put my travel outfit to shame. But apparently Colombians can figure out whether you know good food & wine despite how you’re dressed. So much so, that the head chef brought out a comped dessert HERSELF, asked me how my dinner was & thanked me. I didn’t know the chef was a SHE until Laura introduced herself. I felt blessed I randomly ended up at one of the top 5 Medellin restos that is owned & run by a woman!!! In a typically male-dominated South American society. So I asked Laura about this sign very clearly displayed as you enter the resto & turns out it’s a local campaign to try to dissaude traveling dirty old men or good ol’ US expats from bringing in their underage prostitutes (age of consent in Colombia is 14). Apparently it’s been a big issue so its great to see it highlighted.
So would I come to Cuba again? Absolutely. I fell in love w Havana & pray that w the future US investment bound to eventually come, it retains its unique culture & feel. I will be back to Havana probably in the not so distant future. The rest of Cuba? I’m not so sure. I loved the other cities I visited & I’m thrilled I did so, but I’m not sure I would need to return. I don’t think I need to hit the beaches again. As pretty as the beaches are, & they easily rival / best any other Caribbean beaches I’ve seen, I think I’d skip them as they are devoid of any Cuban culture & teeming w annoying entitled tourists. I know the same people visit Havana, although most I spoke with had never, but in Havana they are far outnumbered by locals so they don’t stand out quite as much.
It all depends on how much time I have. One week? Stick to Havana. Do some day trips in a hired taxi out to Playa del Este 20-30 mins outside of Havana for beach time & still enjoy the Havana nights. Two weeks? Squeeze in something else. A flight to Santiago de Cuba, which I was unable to squeeze in thx to Fidel, & again if necessary, find local beaches surrounding the city. But I think I’d stick to the bigger cities teeming w people, music & culture bc for me, that’s what Cuba is all about. Or consider spending a week at one of the top 2 dive locales (Jardines Del Reina & Isla de la Juventud).
One thing I know for sure… I would think twice about flying in American-owned airlines. Other airlines have been flying in & out for years & they seemed to have no problems. I flew AeroMexico to Havana w no issues. Unfortunately I decided to fly American Airlines back from Holguin. Their computer system kept shutting down so it took them forever to checkin the passengers which resulted in a 1hr delay. 1hr of 3hr layover in Miami. Not bad. Then on the runway, we suddenly turned back toward the terminal. Not good. After sitting for 30 mins, we finally got an unbelievable update from the Captain, clearly taking cues from the new President-Elect: “I’m sure you all are as frustrated as we are. The delay is due to the total incompetence of the people on the ground here who can’t seem to understand that we need an accurate count of people & weight before we can leave & they can’t seem to get it to us. I have no idea how long it will take.” Ummm. What??? A lot of white Americans around me laughed out loud. When they were done, I said, in a rather loud judgemental tone to anyone within earshot, that I thought the statement was extremely rude, there have been planes flying in/out of Cuba for years & a Canadian airline that was due to leave 1.5hrs after us got off just fine, yet we’re supposed to believe it’s an issue w the Cubans & not an issue w American who is newly operating flights here. Yeah right. That shamed the laughers into silence as the plane was full of Cuban-Americans & I was offended on their behalf. It was total BS from an incompetent airline. And by the time we left, I had given up all hope of making my connection to Chicago. Oh well. I put on The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs Vol 3 & chilled out on the way back to the states.
Traveling in Cuba & especially w Fidel’s passing, I’ve spent quite a bit of time considering the US’ embargo. I must say I’m not quite sure I understand the varying US stance when it comes to dictator-ruled communist / socialist countries around the world. For example, we still give a hundred million dollars each year in aid to Cambodia whose Hun Sen, still in power today & still ruling ruthlessly, is corrupt beyond belief, runs bogus elections & operates a hit squad to take out political opponents, dissenters & members of the press who dare challenge him. We do that bc the people need it & we overlook the significant human rights issues but for a semi-terse talking to every year. We are close allies with Saudi Arabia whose human rights record is atrocious & has never held elections. There are several other examples. I fail to understand how Fidel in Cuba is any different. I in fact think he’s more tame.
The difference is US got its feelings hurt. You see, they scammed Cuba in 1900 during the Spanish-Cuban-American War when Americans came in to save the day & free Cuba from its Spanish conquerors. Just from the goodness of our heart. I’m sure nothing at all to do w the fact that we wanted a naval base in Cuba to protect our interests in the Panama Canal, a naval base that was written into the Paris Peace Agreements to discuss the now “liberated Cuba”, a meeting to which the US didn’t invite a single Cuban representative. Imagine the US anger then when the horribly oppressive dictator they backed, Bautista, was overthrown by Fidel & Fidel had the gall to oppose their imperialistic policies, nationalized US interests in Cuba (which was a lot as US owned 75% of sugar industry & much of the utilities) & partnered w the Russians. I mean it was the Cold War & having a communist propped government 90 miles off the coast of Florida was clearly unsettling. But 1991 happened & USSR fell & Cuba’s sugar daddy went away & without that money, it drove Cuba into a massive economic depression. Cubans really struggled but yet Fidel still wouldn’t bow down to the US. How infuriating.
Despite the suffering, there’s still the embargo. It seems like Fidel & his cronies were a thorn in the US’ side. They vehemently opposed imperialistic US policy & looked to spread their beliefs as they sent Cuban troops to help overthrow dictators in Latin & South America as well as Africa. The US knew he inspired people & was afraid of those thoughts spreading like wildfire & undermining their control & influence. And I bet it drove them nuts that he foiled over 600 known assassination attempts. But what I’m really curious about is who in the US held those interests that were nationalized in 1962? My guess is they are prominent wealthy American businesses who are very much still active, yielding massive power & who are still, & will forever be, royally pissed off at Fidel. At the end of the day, our country’s decisions are ruled by money so why would this be any different?
So maybe just maybe the US’ message on Cuba is different from reality – much like it is for Palestine – bc that’s what they want everyone to believe. “Fidel is a ruthless dictator guilty of many atrocities”. If that’s wholly true, then how do they explain the millions of Cubans out celebrating the life of, & paying respect to, Fidel at the various ceremonies this week & lining the caravan route? It’s difficult to imagine they’re all brainwashed or forced to attend for fear of arrest. I bet the US is having a hard time with it, if they’ve even bothered to step away from their own politics to report upon world events. It’s hard to ignore.
(Aside… I only just realized I had 3 blog posts saved as draft leftover from my Cuba trip so I’m going to post those first before I get to South America).
Due to the delay from Fidel’s caravan, I didn’t arrive in Playa Pesquero until 2am & was starving since I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Thankfully there was a spot still open. There were 3 Canadian guys sidled up to the bar who claimed to have never seen an American in Cuba before & in fact, they were experts bc they come to Cuba every year. Well to be clear, they came first to Varadero & then every year since, they come to Pesquero. Never anywhere but all inclusive resorts. But they claimed to be the experts on Cuban culture. So much so they claimed, within earshot of a very nice bartender who spoke enough English to be dangerous & who already appeared somewhat annoyed w them, that Cubans would much rather have gifts like tee shirts than money. Me: What?
Canadian: Yeah bc if I give them a CAD$5 bill, they have to declare it & then the govt takes a cut.
M: Right, but why don’t you just give them $CUC.
C: Silence. Blank stares.
C: Oh that’s the currency, right? Yeah, I’d rather not take the time to exchange.
M: Oh so this is really all about convenience for you huh? It’s much easier to give them some old Maple Leafs tees than it is to exchange money?
Background: This is the same guy who claims to love Cuban culture so much yet brings along from home his own ketchup & maple syrup. And he was lamenting the fact that Americans will likely be coming soon in droves.
C: I mean, you’re really cool but there are some not so cool Americans out there.
M: Right, I’ve met some not so cool Canadians & Europeans on this trip not at all interested in really experiencing the Cuban culture & I’m not so sure they’re any different from the Americans you’re referring to.
He agreed. But yet he had no idea I was digging on him. His friend figured it out & I think was somewhat embarrassed so ushered him out. The bartender sat down on the stool next to mine & commented on what assholes they are & how he does not enjoy their annual visits. I settled up by tipping him CUC$5 for his troubles which pleased him very much & then I crashed.
Daylight revealed this is another pretty beach. Cuba has a lot of them. It’s just that none of them are a secret anymore. This one isn’t so windy, has a bit better snorkeling, the sand is slightly more brown than white but it’s pretty darn soft so that’s just being picky. It’s lovely. I just can’t stand the other people visiting.
amusemusings 