Ciego de Avila – amusemusings

I arrived in Ciego de Avila at 10am to take my longest at 5.5hrs but last bus ride of the trip at 11am after a 2hr taxi ride from Guillermo to find the streets lined w people. Police had the roads closed & but granted us permission to continue to the bus station. This had to mean only one thing… looks like I ran smack dab into the Fidel caravan. I had been trying to figure out the exact route & timing. The news never seemed to announce it. I asked a bunch of locals & those that claimed to know all had different answers. Even a group of hotel workers last night who have today off & live in Ciego were taking a 5am bus East to see the caravan elsewhere. Why would they leave their hometown if it was happening there? I had asked them about the route & told them my bus time & they thought I’d miss it. And now it’s right outside my bus station. I definitely have impeccable timing.
Of course this all means there’s zero chance my bus leaves on time, at least I was hoping so bc that would mean I’d see history unfold in front of me. After checking in, I wandered the street near the station until 11, all while carrying my backpack, & then headed back for an update. The bus going west from Santiago to Havana had arrived & was staying put until after the caravan has passed as the government has shut down all the roads – including the carretera the bus would take. At least their bus agreed to hold their luggage. As I’m going East, my bus is stuck behind the caravan so I’m still stuck w my bag – but so happy it’s a light backpack. It was a real hot day – hottest to-date during my trip – so I sat in the station til 12:30 watching the tv coverage of the procession. I could see & hear outside & the crowds had grown to enormous proportions so I ventured out, walked a bit, found a decent spot behind the initial 3-4 deep crowds lining the street, dropped my pack & promptly took a seat on it to sweat it out. People waiting seemed envious of my seat but they were the smart ones w umbrellas bc it was a scorcher. The spot I picked happened to be right behind a bunch of kids aged 5-10 in their school uniforms marching around in a large circle singing various Fidel chants & carrying signs. Their fave chant was of course “Yo soy Fidel”. Adults of all ages were more quiet & somber but the kids brought a lot of energy. Even some of the adults were taking videos of the kids who seemed to bring big smiles to many of their faces – perhaps a reminder of the excitement they had in their youth.
Watching the crowd was pretty unreal. No one seemed to have any idea of when this was happening & they were lined up for hours waiting. At the slightest sound of a vehicle, people who weren’t already standing along the street rushed from their spots in the shade & sprinted to the street. It didn’t matter what direction the car was coming from. I mean I knew I had no idea from where the procession was coming but I had assumed the locals would. That’s how little info has been put out in advance of this thing.
Fidel’s procession passed by at 2pm. I found a slight incline from which I took a pretty cool video as you can clearly see the mini-casket bearing his name carrying his ashes & covered by a mini-Cuban flag, enclosed in glass, surrounded by white flowers, held by an military trailer & towed by a green military 4×4 holding 5 officers. There was massive cheering & chants & flag waving as he passed & once he passed & the cheering subsided, only then could I hear the sobs. People were very upset & almost didn’t know what to do with themselves after they waited so long & then it was over in 3 minutes. Some stood & cried. Most just wandered off silently. It’s so cool I got to see this. I had given up getting close to any festivities & then whaddya know, chance intervened on my behalf.
Many would consider this a real shitty travel day (and believe me, there were those tourists who sat right where they were, not leaving the bus station & missed history happening right outside) w the bus leaving 4.5hrs late & further 1.5hr & 1hr delays on the way due to road shutdowns as we were following the caravan East. I arrived in Holguin 8hrs+ behind schedule & still had to catch a 1hr taxi to Playa Pesquero… but I saw freakin Fidel so it was all worth it.

Videos

Kids chanting before https://youtu.be/fs6Xzekr4kE

Crowd just before he passed https://youtu.be/G6quYw5V90Y

Fidel https://youtu.be/OAL0XflcOaQ

I was planning to end my trip by visiting a couple beaches & doing some diving. Now I was pretty intent on trying to see the funeral in Santiago, a city only 2hrs from Holguin, where my flight leaves for the US on the afternoon of Mon Dec 5. I considered lingering in SC for a bit longer bc I was in the right place (along w Havana & Santiago). Sure enough, 3 large construction vehicles w lifts began doing odds & ends repairs & paint refreshes Sat evening on the grand buildings surrounding Parque Vidal, long after normal govt worker hours, clearly preparing for the caravan that will pass through – but based on my estimates, it wouldn’t reach Santa Clara until Wed eve or Thurs morn, so I decided to head out to Cayo Guillermo as planned.
Some of my fave albums ever got me through a frustrating 3-hr bus ride that included a 45-min late start for no apparent reason & an hour long stop for a late lunch 20 mins from my destination of Ciego de Avila. The punk goddess/poet Patti Smith’s Horses’ put a smile on my face as it does every time w the very first lyrics – quite possibly one of the best starts to an album ever. It’s certainly not for everyone bc she’s so weird in a really great kinda way… I liken her to the female version of Lou Reed, another one of my obsessions. Then I moved to another all time great, Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, which is definitely for everyone. I finished in the Latin realm w Manu Chao’s Clandestino which made me happily recall one of the first Lollapalooza’s since being permanently based in my Chicago (so prob 10 yrs ago), where he played opposite the home town Kanye West to close the fest on Sunday night. All but about 5k went to see Kanye while my sis, a friend & I spread out & danced like crazy people to Manu Chao, along w everyone else in the crowd who very obviously really appreciated his music. One of the best, craziest, high energy, fun shows I’ve ever seen. Screw Kanye (still).
My trip was not over at Ciego de Avila. I found & negotiated w a taxi driver to take me the 2-hr drive to Cayo Guillermo, supposedly a lovely somewhat-difficult-to-get-to little island w pristine beaches, great diving, exciting kite surfing (which I’ve always wanted to try) & good deep sea fishing. It just so happens to be the island & beach (Playa Pilar) that Hemingway called his favorite back in the day when there wasn’t a man-made causeway connecting it, via Cayo Coco, to the mainland. A total coincidence that I went through the trouble to end up here.
I checked out the kite surfing early on. The bulk of them are further SE from the hotel closer to a point on the island – where SE & E winds collide. As I walked down the beach, I could feel the winds pickup. Then I just sat there for hours watching. I talked to a couple guys about lessons & questioned the learning curve due to the strong winds. “Oh but the winds are good… helps you get up. Makes it easier.” And then I watched for an hour as a relatively physically fit man repeatedly tried & failed to mount his board in the water while keeping control of his kite. Poor guy was trying his best to heed the advice of his instructor, who was following him in the water, as his kite took the newbie 100 yds down the beach, clearly failing. It reminded me of the time Karen, Gina & I checked out Pirlanta beach in Cesme, Turkey off the coast from Izmir known for being one of the top kite surfing beaches in the world & witnessed a woman, clearly in the early stages of her lesson so still on the beach, dragged 50 yards down the beach by her kite while eating mouthfuls of sand. That beach was far windier than this. But this was still a bit intimidating. So I sat & watched for awhile. After an hour, I stopped watching the newbies as I decided that I should first perhaps give surfing a whirl before I throw a kite into the mix (surf camp in Peru sounds pretty fabulous right!?!). I then turned my focus to the experienced guys & was especially floored by a guy who had no footholds on his board (what!) so when he gets air (& he was getting the highest air), he isn’t grabbing his board to show-off, he’s doing it so he has something to land on. He was more kite skateboarding & I’ve never seen anything like it before. Impressed.
IMHO, although I do consider myself somewhat of an expert when it comes to grading beaches, this is superior to Varadero. However… in order to visit now, there are only 4 hotels to choose from. All of them are all-inclusive resorts. I’m quite certain Ernie would roll over in his grave. I’ve never done an all-inclusive before. It’s a real nice place – a fancy Spanish owned resort. I don’t think I wanted to like it. I was a doubter when it came to the food & drinks assuming the former would be terrible & the latter would be watered down. But it was pretty darn good. I did get to know a bartender Wildmer quite well who was heavy on the pour. Muchas gracias, Wildmer. BTW… there are drinks (clearly)! Apparently the Spanish hotel owner doesn’t dare cross his Canadian & European guests, who as far as I’m concerned barely recognized Fidel died or there was anything happening outside of their all-inclusive little world, by withholding booze. So it flowed. A bit too freely for some. But still no music.