Welcome To Our Web Page

Hello everyone! Karen and I thought that it would be a good idea to put a site up on the web so that, if anyone is interested, they can read about what we have been up to.

This year for reading week, Karen and I took a trip down to Cuba. We flew into Holguin which is located on the North Eastern end of the island of Cuba. Holguin is a city of approximately 1 million people. The trip to our resort took about 45 minutes from the airport until we finally arrived at LTI Costa Verde Beach Resort.

LTI Costa Verde Beach Resort exceeded any of our expectations. It was absolutely beautiful. Set on the beach in a bay that is protected from the ocean, the situation couldn't have been better. Snorkeling in the bay extremely accessible. It was just a short swim from shore and then the corals met you not more than 10-15 feet below. Fish of all colours swam throughout the patches of coral and the sea bottom was littered with sand dollars. The highlight of our snorkeling excursions was observing some sort of eel, brightly coloured and at least five feet long. It was truly amazing to see these animals, that I have only seen on television documentaries, in their natural habitat. 

The resort itself had much to offer. There was a beautiful pool shaped like a three leaf clover. It had a swim up bar where we could get non-alcoholic beverages. Beside the pool in a massive outdoor setting were three of the resorts four restaurants. They were of different tastes: a Grill, a snack bar, a buffet and an Italian eatery. Our favourite was the Italian spot because it had great fish and personal pizzas. And for some reason, the wine here was much better than at any of the other restaurants. 

LTI also had many recreational facilities including a gym, tennis and basketball courts, badminton and a beach volleyball court. Bicycles were available to anyone interested in taking an excursion outside of the resort grounds. I wouldn't suggest going too far on the bikes though because they are not maintained that well and the seats are more than uncomfortable. After an afternoon of riding in the Cuban countryside, we found that our behinds were so sore that we could barely sit down. A great alternative to the bicycles, and much more comfortable, were the mopeds. Available for rent at $30 American for 24 hrs, these are an awesome way to get around. 

One day we decided to take the moped on a journey into the city of Holguin. Holguin was situated about 50 kilometers from our resort and this made for about an hours journey. The moped would reach a top speed of about 85 km/hr with 2 riders. I am telling you, you feel like you are going a lot faster than you really are when you are booting along the potholed roads without any protective gear at 85 km/hr. But it is a lot of fun. It is a great way to see the Cuban countryside. When we arrived in Holguin, we ran into Manuel, a guy that we met on the road earlier in the week on the bicycles when he stopped us and offered to sell us some cigars. He and his friend acted as our tour guides and were we ever glad that we had them. Holguin was a maze of dilapidated low-rise apartment buildings and home to about a million people. Manuel took us to the tourist district of the city and there we got off the moped and walked around for a while. Manuel's friend stayed with our moped to ensure that no one would steal it while we were gone. Manuel showed us some of the shops and art galleries where tourists could purchase souvenirs. However, as far as souvenirs go, there is really not that much of interest. After our tour around the city center, we got back on the moped and went to a great set of stairs, one of the cities' main attractions. I believe that there were about 600 or so stairs. We only went half way up but this lent to a great view of the city. It seemed immense from above, sprawling for miles in every direction. After our descent down the hill, we decided that it was time to head home. We thanked Manuel and his friend for their direction and paid them $5 dollars each. This doesn't seem like much but it is actually half of the average monthly salary for Cubans. It was amazing to see the appearance of the city, it seemed to be stricken with poverty but everyone appeared to be quite happy and content with their setting. 

The following day we so privileged as to have been invited to a lobster dinner at the home of the people who we had purchased our cigars from. To read the story about the cigars, click HERE. It was intriguing to experience how the average Cuban rural family lived. The house was on a property owned by the man's father. The property was several acres in size and was partially farmland from which the family grew much of their own food. There were three other homes on the property, each belonging to family members and their wives. Each of the homes were small and appeared to be built of concrete blocks. There was no glass in the windows, rather they had shutters to allow for lighting and to shield the inside from the weather. The home where we ate consisted of 3 simple rooms: a kitchen, a sitting/eating room, and a bedroom with a small bathroom housing a sink and a shower. I suppose that the toilet was an outhouse located somewhere else on the property as I didn't see one anywhere inside. The roof was made of sheet metal, probably because it is fairly inexpensive and easy to maintain. Some of the other homes that we saw had thatched roofs made from palm or banana tree leaves. 

After our meal, we talked with the couple for about an hour and learned some interesting facts about Cuban life. It is imperative that every Cuban attend school and go to some sort of post-secondary education or else you face the penalty of imprisonment. The Cubans are not allowed to sell cigars on the black market to tourists and if they are caught, they face imprisonment for a period of 1-2 years.