Thursday November 6, 2008

I booked my flight to the Sol Luna Rio Mares at Esmeralda Beach near Guardalavaca in Cuba. Selloffvactions.com was once again my travel agent and were excellent as usual. Total price including return flight, all meals, drinks and activities for the all-inclusive 4 star resort for 7 days was $496.00. Two days before departure I was called to say that the section of the hotel I had booked in was under repair so I could either cancel for a full refund or take an upgrade room in the Mares section. I took the upgrade.

Got up at 7:30 and was on the road to Toronto by 8:10 am. It was warm enough that I never used my car heater all the way. Arrived at Skyparx at Faskin Road at 11:10, paid my $67.47 for parking then they immediately shuttled me over to Pearson Airport by 11:20. I checked through customs and had my carry on bag searched until they came up with my car keys which they thought had been scissors.

The Skyservice plane left on time at 3:20. I had a window seat. I find the Skyservice meals adequate but their seats are very cramped together so I did have sore knees by the time I arrived. Tonight's movie was "Journey To The Centre of the Earth". The highlight for me was near the end of our destination when the plane suddenly dropped about 50 feet. Everyone on the plane was screaming in terror. After that they provided each of us with a very strong rum punch.

We disembarked at Holguin where our free 1 hour shuttle bus took us to the resort. Check in was extremely quick and efficient. In less than 5 minutes I was encamped in my disability room (apparently I look older than I thought). I had special bars over the toilet and shower and a special seat for the toilet along with other disability tools. I'm also right near a wheelchair accessible ramp.

After getting settled, I had a great supper at the buffet restaurant then had a shower. I was impressed with the hot water and high pressure. There was never any lack of pressure or hot water during my stay…not always the case in other Cuban resorts.

Friday November 7, 2008

I woke up at 4:00 am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I watched an old war movie on tv. Around 8:30 I went for breakfast. I had an omelet after telling the cook the ingredients to add. The rest was buffet style with pancakes, bacon, etc., and even chicken. Went for a walk on the beach which is horseshoe shaped. To the left is a coral cliff and at the opposite side was a set of stairs leading up another coral cliff to the Paradesus Resort (Rio Del Oro) and supposedly the most expensive resort in Cuba. Half way up the stairs, I was stopped by a guard and was denied access. They had a little cave farther out that I wanted to check out so I talked the guard into letting me have a quick look. The resort is great but you are restricted to their ¾ kilometer beach.  I also checked out the Lunas section of the hotel which had been destroyed by Hurricane Ike last February. This was where the miniature golf course was. It was pretty overgrown and unused now.

I took one of the free bicycles and biked about 4 km to the dolphin sanctuary. There is an excursion to swim with the dolphins so I was hoping by showing up alone, I might get a discounted price. The price was actually more expensive so I quickly pedaled back to the resort. Biking in Cuba is hot work, so I had a pina colada, followed by a lime daiquiri, banana milkshake and two glasses of orange juice. I signed up for the Wednesday dolphin swim via Mastercard. I would call it a little expensive at $110.13 U.S.

I grabbed some lunch at the Restaurant Colon and then took a $5.00 Cuban Convertible Peso taxi each way to the market in Guardalavaca. It's about 6 km away. I bought a Compay Segundo guitar for $54.85 CUC which would be about $80 CDN. The exchange rate varied from about 1.31 to 1.39 when changing CDN to CUC. Returned to my room and discovered that one of the tuning keys was broken. I had no money left so I went to the exchange booth to convert some more for my taxi ride. They informed me they were closed until Monday due to a possible hurricane that was on it's way. I explained my problem and they were gracious enough to help me out. I taxied back to the market and make an exchange. Later tonight, the power went out for a while. I played my new guitar to keep up my practice.

Saturday November 8, 2008

After a good breakfast I played a few games of pool with myself and then with an older gentleman from Scotland. I ran into another single guy like myself. Basil was worked for CN doing bridge repairs. We decided to rent a couple of scooters. Unfortunately, they weren't available because of the upcoming hurricane again. Instead, Basil and I decided to take a horse drawn cab to the Guardalavaca market. The market was virtually closed. Basil wanted to get a beer. No one would sell us one as there is an alcohol ban during hurricane warnings. We wandered around the beach and then found Michelle, our horse cart driver and headed back. That was a $7.50 total ride each.

Back at the resort, Basil and I had lunch together then I went swimming in the ocean. Basil came down to tell me that a Grade IV hurricane was definitely on it's way and that they were in the process of evacuating everyone from our hotel. Then the rumours began. There would be no power, food or drinks. I heard that you had to leave or if you elected to stay you would have to sign a waiver. We discussed it with our friends from Toronto…an extremely nice family…The Repps, Gary, Maryse and their daughter Adrien. The five of us decided to take our chances and stay. I was extremely worried and went back to frolicking in the ocean. Later, that evening the five of us were sitting at a table in the lobby waiting for the promised 9:00pm manager's hurricane speech. I told Basil I would get us a couple of beers from the bar. I came back beerless.

"Where's my beer?" he asked.

"Apparently there is a total ban on liquor during the hurricane", I replied.

Basil's happy smile turned into a scowl as he said, "Well, I'm not staying here then…I'm going home".

Then he got a bright idea and ran down to the little store and stocked up on cans of beer. He poured us each one. Basil's smile quickly returned. Then the waiter came over and confiscated our beer saying that the military had arrived and would be enforcing the ban.

Mohammed, the hotel manager, gathered us together for the hurricane speech. He did an excellent job and spelled everything out for us. Basically, what it boiled down to was…if we encountered any problems, then we were to "go to the bathroom". This was the safest place. I could tell, as all the tv's were put into the bathtubs. Apparently they were more valuable than we were. We were also told to lean our mattresses up against the window for protection. The staff was busy making preparations such as taping all the windows including the one in my room, and putting all the plastic furniture into the pool. I hung around with Basil, Maryse, Gary, Adrien and another nice family from Toronto and their sixteen year old son, Stewy. I sent off a final e-mail to my friends back home then went to my room around 10:30. I was looking forward to the death and destruction but unfortunately I fell asleep.

Sunday November 9, 2008

Woke up relaxed around 8:30. All was calm. The hurricane reminded me of Y2K…it was a non-event. Although, I did watch some news footage showing waves going over a five story building in Camaguey 200 km away. About 37 people from the resort had elected to return home and cut their vacation short. They would receive no compensation. I also heard that at another resort, a Japanese family stayed holed up in their room for 30 hours without food before realizing that nothing had happened. They wrongly thought that the staff would notify them that it was safe to come out.

I had breakfast with Basil, then we played a half dozen games of pool and swam in the billiards (or vice versa). We tried to rent scooters again but they were still unavailable. Returned to the pool area and relaxed most of the day.

We had supper then went to the stage for the jazz concert which was pretty good. They did a good job on "La Bamba" and "La Vida Loca"

Monday November 10, 2008

Had breakfast then at 10:30 I met Basil at the scooter area. We rented two for the day for $27.00 CUC. We decided to go to the town of Banes which was about a 1 ½ hour drive through mountains. It was very scenic. On the way there, my scooter was slightly faster. We dodged pigs, goats, huge potholes, buses, people etc. When we arrived in town, two guys on bicycles insisted on having us follow them to the market square. It was like a parade. We bought Carlos and Pedro each a beer. While we were drinking, another guy came and put a cloth bag full of cement on my scooter seat as if he was claiming it. He wanted to guard my bike despite the fact that I was standing right beside it. I removed the cloth bag and dusted off the cement so I could kickstart my scooter. It wouldn't start. We all took turns and eventually I got it going again.

Pedro talked Basil into having a lobster dinner with his friends at their beach house but Pedro would have to direct us to the location about an hour away. They doubled up and we set off on a cowpath. It was very scenic but quite bumpy. At one point, I decided to zoom ahead to get a picture of them. I went around a curve and down a hill, pulled over and waited with my camera…and waited…and waited. They didn't show up so I turned around and retraced my route. I found them surrounded by military police. Being Mr. Magoo, I hadn't spotted them as I zoomed past. They waved me over and demanded my passport. Pedro was being charged for not wearing a helmet. He managed to talk his way out of that one and we resumed our trip. I didn't think helmets were mandatory as we were asked at the rental agency whether we wanted them or not.

Eventually we arrived at the fishing village of Puerto Morelos. Pedro introduced us to his friends and Basil prepared himself for his lobster buffet. I wasn't hungry so I went off exploring the village which consisted of about 30 clapboard houses right on the beach. Nearly all the inhabitants had been evacuated to Banes so the houses were all boarded up and some were now roofless from the hurricane. I had a good time exploring and taking photographs, pausing to help a fisherman pull his boat up on the beach. I returned to watch Basil polishing off several lobster and an array of other goodies including a bottle of rum which was being passed around. I helped a bit with the rum.

After thanking the family, we went back to our scooters. I discovered that my kickstart handle must have bounced off on one of the numerous potholes. This made it even more difficult to start. We wound our way back to Banes and dropped Pedro off to get his bicycle. He and Carlos led us by bicycle to a friend's house that had a very old used, Cuban Tres guitar for sale - but unfortunately it was way overpriced at $200 CUC. I passed. We filled up on gas then set off for our resort. We were running out of time. Since we had to be back for 5:00 we raced all the way back. My bike was just slightly faster so I led the way. Their top speed was about 74km/hour and we had them wide open all the way. People cheered us on as we leaned into the corners not even slowing down for the small towns. It was an excellent ride. We arrived in Guardalavaca at 4:30 so I had just enough time to buy another identical guitar. They put it in the standard coffin-like cardboard box and I set it between my feet on the scooter. We made it back in time.

We spent the evening playing pool with Stewy then the three of us watched the nightly entertainment. Of all the resorts I've been to, this one has the best entertainment. Very professional. The staff put on a good fashion show. One woman had an amazing dress made out of newspaper. They had an excellent magician. At one point, he yelled, "Abracadabra" and the power went out for half an hour. He was good!

Later, I was entertained by Liz, a good looking lawyer from England. She kept brushing her hand over my face and saying "what a beautiful face". I certainly didn't want to argue with her. She found out I was drinking pina coladas without rum so she began telling everyone, that I was "the real McCoy" and the only true man in the resort. Once again, I didn't see any point in arguing with her.

I was saved by Maryse who invited me to play poker with her family. I asked what the stakes were. She said so far she owed Gary 60 kisses. I wasn't sure I wanted in on that action but said I would bet pina coladas if Gary taught me how to play. By the end of the night, I was down a straw, six pina coladas and owed Gary 10 kisses. Adrien now owned the resort and Maryse had 20 palm trees. I went to bed penniless.

Tuesday November 11, 2008

Had breakfast with Basil then we played a few dozen games of pool with Stewy. Later I joined Basil and Les (a retired GM union rep) for lunch. Les kept us amused with some jokes. Later I played some good games of beach volleyball with some foreigners. I couldn't tell where they were from. Possibly Switzerland. Near dusk, I spotted a lookout gazebo on the top of the coral cliff to the left of the beach. There appeared to be no way to get there so I took a chance and scaled the coral cliff. At the top I found an intricate set of cement pathways. I explored every one. At one point I found a sign that said "No Trespassing" but it was too late now. I rounded a corner and came upon two naked natives which gave me a start until I realized they were statures. Apparently this is a miniature nature preserve. The entrance turned out to be at the back of a little hut on the far side of the resort. There was a cave with native bones inside and many little displays here and there. The mosquitoes were terrible. I tripped on my sandals and speared my arm on the jagged branch of a large tree. As I was working on staunching the blood flow, I spied a sign on the tree that said, "Highly Toxic". What are the chances?! No one was around, possibly because it was dark so I was able to insert myself into some of the displays for some interesting photos. I made my way back to the cliff and climbed back down to the beach. Went for a swim. Spent the rest of the night playing pool with Basil and Stewy. Had supper then went to bed.

Wednesday November 12, 2008

Had an early breakfast then I was picked up at 9:00 and taken to the Bahia Naranjo Marina to swim with the dolphins. About twenty of us were packed into a large boat with a 225 hp Yamaha motor and taken out to a sort of floating island restaurant. We were instructed to jump into a penned in area with two female dolphins. They each had a baby dolphin but they stayed well away from us. We formed a line and the two dolphins were told what to do by a series of whistles from the trainer. First they swam over and gave each of us a kiss with their beaks. Then they would roll over while we rubbed their bellies. Later we were instructed to try and lift one of the dolphins, and at the end we each had our picture taken as both dolphins kissed us on either side of the cheek. They seemed to have enjoyed their time with us. After everyone left, I saw one of the dolphins put a stray straw in it's mouth and swim around the pen several times.

From there we were left to our own devices for an hour and a half while we waited for the sea lion show. It was interesting as well and the sea lions also seemed to enjoy their work. Finally, we had the dolphin show. The most interesting part for me was watching a dolphin go completely around the pen while gyrating a hula hoop on it's nose. I have no idea how you would train it to do that.

Back at the resort, I hit the beach, swam and read for a while. I noticed the activity director over by the archery range so I decided to give that a try. I was informed that their last arrow just broke. Oh well. Instead, I borrowed a bike again and pedaled over to the miniature zoo. I thought it was included but the admission cost was 2 pesos. I had no money with me but the caretaker told me to go through anyway. The most interesting thing was a 30 year old tortoise. They also had a turkey vulture, rabbit, crocodile, guinea pigs, hawk etc.

Went back to the resort and joined Les and Basil for a drink. We watched the nightly show then I joined the Repp family for a while. Basil, Les and I went down to the beach disco but there were very few people so I only stayed for about 15 minutes.

Thursday November 13, 2008

This morning I did my packing. I put my two guitar coffins together and sealed them with plastic tie wraps. I figured customs at both ends would request that I cut them so they could see inside, but meanwhile it would make them easier to carry. I also felt I would most likely arrive home with two cardboard boxes full of firewood. As it turned out, the seals were never broken and the guitars arrived intact. What a surprise!!

After breakfast I had planned to go horseback riding as the resort offered a free hour every day. I ran into Stewy's parents who told me that the horses were very scrawny and looked starved. I decided I didn't want to abuse them for my pleasure so I passed. Instead, I hit the beach for my last day of tanning until lunch time. After another great buffet lunch, I played pool with Basil and Stewy.

Checkout was at noon. I carried my luggage to the front desk and it was put into a secure room. Had a good lunch then played some more pool. I filled up my water bottle with pina colada at the bar then at 4:00 a bus came to whisk us away to Holguin. Basil, Stewy and I got seats together but slept most of the way. We hung around the airport and our plane left on time at 8:10 pm. I got a window seat again.

We made a stop in Camaguey and let off so many passengers that the plane seemed empty. The pilot announced that we would only be taking 3 more passengers on, and that once we were in the air, we would have free reign to roam around and sit wherever we wanted to. I chose a block of seats as my own and like most people, I raised up the arm rests, laid down and went to sleep. I even missed the movie. But I did show up for the meal.

Friday November 14, 2008

Arrived in Toronto around 1:30 a.m. I breezed through customs. The customs agent glared at my two sealed coffins and said, "What's in the box?". I said, "My girlfriend". He laughed and waved me through. I called Skyparx and they were there in about 10 minutes to drive me to my car which was waiting and running with the heater on. It was still fairly warm so the heater wasn't really necessary. I left Toronto at 2:00 and almost made it home by 4:40 but I gave up 7 minutes from home, pulled over and went to sleep for an hour.

All in all, the resort was perfect. Excellent friendly staff, clean rooms, great meals, best entertainment, and no complaints. The only negative for me was the beach restriction. I enjoy being able to walk non-stop on the beaches and that wasn't possible here. Other than that, I would highly recommend it.