phorbesie Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 (edited) i guess all you easties have been to cuba before but it was my first time. not too much to tell as i was only there a week! but i have a few stories. we flew to camaguey, which is i think the 3rd largest city in cuba...one of the largest anyway. it's about in the middle of the island, a bit east. getting through immigration took FOREVER...i was going insane in line. from there we got driven to the resort at santa lucia, which is on the atlantic coast. the resort was really nice, but the first few days i was feeling a little bit annoyed with it...never having done a package tour before, i didn't like having to eat at certain hours and that the drinks were all cheap liquor, hehe. what i would have given for a really yummy pina colada or mojito...sigh. i felt a bit weird about the whole resort thing, but i knew this is what i signed on for so it was time to get some sun and relaxation! spent the first 3 days just relaxing by the pool and on the beach, drinking screwdrivers. the weather was awesome, nice and hot but not too hot. the first day it did rain though, but after that it was great. the sand was beautiful soft white powder. some pics of the place... http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A%3B86%3A%3A%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3235%3E984%3E38%3B%3EWSNRCG%3D3233477%3A95%3B6%3Cnu0mrj http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A%3B86%3A%3A%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3235%3E984%3E38%3B%3EWSNRCG%3D3233477%3A9832%3Cnu0mrj so,we wanted to get out and see some of cuba and decided to rent a motorbike and drive to camaguey on saturday, which is 110 km away. so we get the bike which is actually a scooter and i'm thinking there's NO way this thing is gonna make it there. but i knew it would be an adventure in any case. the countryside is very flat...only saw one little group of hills the whole time. what we didn't know, was that there would be no gas anywhere between our town and the city. there were several little towns along the way, but we could not find gas. we ran out of gas just over halfway there, and just 5 miles from the town where we knew there would be gas. booooo. it was soooo hot out there on the highway walking the bike but we were in good spirits. after an hour or so a nice man stopped and siphoned off some gas for us. we made it to the next town, minas, and when we spotted the gas station we felt like a king and queen. we pulled in there so happy. however, there was no gas at the gas station! no gas today. no gas tomorrow. lol. so we were stuck again. after some sad looks we got the attendant to go scout out gas for us...he said you can't hoard gas and if we'd wait out back and he'd try to find out if anyone would sell us any, interspersed with some comments about the socialist government. when he returned later he had no gas. we didn't really want to leave the rental bike, so then i offered the guy some money to go to the city and bring back a jerry can of gas for us, which he did and a nice lady we met took us back to her house while we waited. she made us coffee black as tar and we hung out with her family. she showed us their pig in the backyard which she promised to cook up the next time we come to cuba. hehe. it was nice to meet some locals and we were happy to be off the resort even though we were stuck. nice people who befriended us in minas when the guy came back with gas we got on our way, but by the time we got to the city we were tired and didn't feel much like sightseeing. one thing about cuba that is really cool is that there are so many old cars there! really cool cars everywhere, like 50s chevys, and in all colours. it's neat. there is also graffiti and references to the 26 july ('53) everywhere on buildings and streets...ex. camaguey, from what we read, is a very interesting old colonial city, but very easy to get lost in since the streets are all windy. boy was it ever! we got sooooo lost...so many times, we were going in circles. the streets are all one-way too which makes it even harder. we finally found this plaza which was supposed to be the best in the city, and we just had to laugh, as it was just nothing at all! a tiny square and not really beautiful or anything. i couldn't believe it. there was a church in the plaza though... there are also these giant water jugs all over. http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A%3B86%3A%3A%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3235%3E984%3E38%3B%3EWSNRCG%3D3233477%3A95%3B2%3Cnu0mrj streets in camaguey you may know this hombre http://images.snapfish.com/345%3A%3B86%3A%3A%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3235%3E984%3E38%3B%3EWSNRCG%3D3233477%3A95%3B36nu0mrj we ate and drove around some more, then parked and walked around for a while. it wasn't really too impressive though! there are lots of old buildings but all crumbling of course. we had a long drive back so we stocked up on bottles of gas and got on our way. the moonrise was beautiful, but it was a long drive back in the dark. at least we had gas though we got back to the resort and had a delicious dinner at the pizzeria...mmmm. so...then another day of relaxing... the resort is on the sea but directly behind the town was a big salt lake, where flocks of flamingos live. we only went to the lake one day and it was the wrong time of day to see the flamingos i guess but we did have a couple in the pond at our resort so i took some pics since they were so cool! their necks were incredibly bendy. on monday we took bicycles to ride up the coast to another village, playa cocos. it was a nice ride between the sea and the lake on a dirt road. the beach there was nice as it was a little bay so the water was calm, and so clear. i just loved swimming there. i wish i was swimming there now! playa cocos i like palm trees..hehehe cuban houses pelicans i wanted to go snorkelling but todd didn't want to so we relaxed at the beach awhile. then i had the yummiest langosta lunch at a lady's little restaurant. her brother fernando brought out his guitar and then after lunch we went over under some trees and some other people came and played music for us. this one guy was rapping in spanish and it was AWESOME. we hung out with them for a little while and then headed back to santa lucia on our bikes. however, by this time there was a strong headwind, and it took a long time! one last day of relaxing and then we had to come home! it was a little taste of cuba. the cuban people were really nice. i don't feel like i would do the package tour again though. it's just not for me, i like to be an independent traveler. i can't deny the package was a great deal though, and our suite was really nice! but i'm already thinking about next time....flying to havana and doing some more exploring on my own. Edited January 23, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 craaaaaap i dunno why the pics aren't showing up...hope it's just me.if not, sorry peeps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
can-o-phish Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Sound like a sweet escape to the carib! My only question is "Did you enjoy a cigar rolled on the lap of a virgin with Fidel accompanied with a Cuba Libra?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 you'll have too change those image tags to URL for links at snapfish. If they don't link directly to the image file itself, it won't show.i just tried doing the first couple for you, but the links don't go anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im going home Donny Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 change em up sista I want to see cUbA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 sorry folks...i don't know how to fix it if the links won't work! it could be because you need a password for snapfish...then again, i've put up the photos on another web site no problem...so i dunno. sorry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 use www.flickr.comit's a WAY better service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lazlo Posted January 22, 2006 Report Share Posted January 22, 2006 Gobbledy Goop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveler Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Cool.I'm going to Nicaragua in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 (edited) thanks.... traveler...cool man! i was just on the phone talking about nicaragua & costa with a buddy for next fall/winter. bouche, can i delete this topic? it's weird without the photos. and, i looked at the flickr website...please explain... why is it better? it looks like the same thing as snapfish to me, no? maybe i'll give it a try and see. but i've been happy with snapfish for 5+ years and have never had a problem before. thanks! oh i just noticed that flickr is part of yahoo...which i use. that's good i'll try it! well, the quick upload tool is not working for me so i'm bailing. hehehe Edited January 23, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 i don't feel like i would do the package tour again though. it's just not for me, i like to be an independent traveler. i can't deny the package was a great deal though, and our suite was really nice! but i'm already thinking about next time....flying to havana and doing some more exploring on my own. I'm planning on staying in Havana for my honeymoon in August. One thing that you have to keep in mind is that Cuba is the safest county in the Caribbean. If you go to countries like the Dominican, Panama, Jamaica etc... you'd be wise to book a resort. The Caribbean and Central America are really dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 i've been all over (on my own) so i'm not unaware, thanks though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 hey Heather...cool stoies even if the pics don't show up (never seen a page saying BAD REQUEST! before though ....hahahaha) Anyway, I'd love to hear more stories and see the photos in person sometime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_rawk Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 Phorbesie -- thanks for the post! That's awesome.Please try to get the pics working, I really want to see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Im going home Donny Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 me toooooo...i need help daydreaming about sunnyskies and warm blue water. my -its allmost spring- mantra get a bit thin in the deads of winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted January 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 thanks people...so i did try to put the pics up on flickr but...bouche, maybe my post to you got missed earlier, but i really don't see what is so good about their service!?i downloaded the quick upload tool, but when i try to drag and drop pics it only ends up uploading one. no way i'm going to do them all one by one!and once i uploaded ONE picture it said i had used 4% of my allowed amount for this month. that means i can only put up 25 pictures in one month?! also not gonna happen...snapfish is unlimited and much faster at uploading as well.am i missing something here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Jane Posted January 23, 2006 Report Share Posted January 23, 2006 I had the same drama with flickr you just described, so I gave up in a huff! Bouche, finish up yer dinner and answer us, man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
headymamamyrna Posted January 24, 2006 Report Share Posted January 24, 2006 I had the same drama with flickr you just described, so I gave up in a huff! Bouche, finish up yer dinner and answer us, man! Does Booche ever finish the yer dinner thingy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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