My Beloved Guantanamo Bay

I arrived in Guantanamo Bay on June 26, 1996. 

GTMO was the fourth duty station for my U.S. Navy 

husband and I to live at.

  We arrived in the heat of the day, late on a Friday 

afternoon. Suffering through the tropical heat with us 

was our then 6 year old daughter, and our pets, Reigna 

the Chihuahua mix, and Bear the "RED" Maine Coon Cat.

  What a disaster it was when we arrived! We had to 

wait an hour for the ferry, the dog was grumpy and 

LOUD, the cat was heavily panting. Our luggage went 

with the ferry before us, and we had no idea where. 

Our household goods were on their way, supposedly, 

and our impromptu sponsor ( I say impromptu, because 

they had NO CLUE we were coming at all, these people 

who should have gotten our house, car and 

furniture arrangements settled) was calling our 

"borrowed" furniture "Flintstone furniture" because of 

its primitive makings and design!



  



   Needless to say, GTMO was not "all that" when we 

arrived. And due to the car being "lost" for a month 

and our own comfy furniture and belongings not due to 

arrive for another 40 days, things didn't get much 

better.

  I sat in the house with Brit thru the hot days of 

summer... alone, friendless and irritable, while the 

husband went to work and had a "life" of normalcy. 

  Then the day came! Our CAR! 

  "Beaches here I come!", I thought, out of pure boredom.

 And the magic began.

   I went to the beach every day, rain or shine, after 

the first initial visit. For those that don't really 

know about the terrain of Eastern Cuba, the beaches 

are nothing but rock and cliff. Small pebbles litter 

the beaches, broken off of the cliffs and coral heads. 

There is little if any sand, and from a Native 

Floridians point of view, it is VERY different.

 

  But I LOVED it! The cliffs showed off the contrasts 

of the Island of Cuba itself. Beautiful bright blue 

ocean, see through almost, and hard faced cliff. 

Tropical fishes of all colors, the likes I have never 

seen. Scrub bushes and palm trees, the salty tang of 

the air, a sea breeze all year long, despite the 

soaring temperature of 100 degrees or so....



   I got myself employed by the U.S. Army Veterinary 

Detachment down the "road". I started off as kennel 

clerk, and became fast friends with the techs, 

receptionist and vet. What wonderful people! The 

bittersweetness of parting broke my heart though. In a 

military setting, friends come and go, sometimes never 

to be heard from again. I lost many friends and 

co-workers in the 3 years I played and lived in Cuba.

   

   For such a small place, GTMO had so many interesting 

people. It has settled a bit, many people do not live 

there anymore, and the base is slowly dying out....But 

when I first arrived, friendly faces were EVERYWHERE, 

whether you knew the faces or not. It is safe there to 

take and offer rides to total strangers. Safe to let 

you child play in the park after dark. Safe to leave 

the door unlocked, and to leave the car windows down.

   Many animals in the wild caught my attention. The 

banana rats, known to non-GTMO-ians as Hutia,

are thought of by some to be extraordinary pests and 

destructive beasts....while my daughter and I, on our 

twilight walks, stopped to "chirrrr" at them, and watch

them play.... A dolphin pod once stopped by our boat 

while joy riding in the bay to see if we had caught fish 

and could we "please share?"...Small deer, the size of 

large dogs, used to eat by the old vet clinic on Sherman 

Ave in the Stable's "pasture", and would pause to listen 

to my car whir by as I finished rounds on the weekends 

in the vet clinic's kennels...

   And of course, the royal "tarantula" caused me many a 

nightmare after one tried to "eat" Reigna at the back 

porch door.

    My husband thought it would be nice to get me into 

the water more, and to take diving classes at the 

"Reef Raiders". I did, and I'll be danged if he didn't 

renigotiate on his promises to go diving every weekend! 

But, gimme my snorkel gear, my net and collection buckets, 

and I would be at Windmill Beach, like clockwork, in 

my bright pink bikini, gallon of ice water and Mexican 

blanket. 



  Collection bucket? Well, with 10 and 60 gal fishtanks

you can't let the tropical fishies, crabs, anenomes 

and the like go unharrassed, now can you?

   Some of the most beautiful fish swam in my tanks 

along with the native coral, rocks and water...Beau 

Gregories, yellow tangs, cleaning shrimp, even had some 

brine shrimp at one point! Couldn't beat the price...free, 

you catch!



   The diving and snorkling, when we did go out together 

(buddy system, ALWAYS!) showed some of the most glorious 

sights to us. Mr. Jacque Cousteou once called Cuba the #1 

best Diving spot in the world...The barracuda babies were

a delight to play and chase...and be chased by...and I once

saw a 5 ft puffer-fish under the pier at Windmill Beach.

The stingray are almost tame, and many people have seen

the loggerheads and manatee while enjoying a cool water

dive.

   Alas, when the sad day came to pack out our belongings,

I had to release them from whence the came.

   Along with "Nummy", the wild dove I was raising, our pet crabs, 

and the native plants of Cuba...oh, sad day....

  I worked at the vet clinic, where I had been promoted 

to receptionist, till the day of my flight...

  I do have my artwork upon the bathroom and lobby walls 

to say..."I was here". 

   I also have beautiful pictures of my friends, some 

still in my beloved Cuba, some left before me, and some 

just a bit ago. I also have relics of GTMO past, bones 

of wildlife found and given to me by my vet buddies, the 2 

kitties I rescued there, postcards, autographs, 

old Gazettes and phone book. Such small things compared 

to the memories I have.

  I also have my love of Jimmy Buffett to thank GTMO for.

The island music, the memories of the Jamaican folks' 

accents, the jerked chicken and rum punch recipes...streakers

in the parks (LoL!), Halloween costumes and twizzler wars...

 All take me back to a wonderful place I was lucky 

enough to call home once upon a time....

   Hail and Farewell, Guantanamo Bay....