DMC in Jibacoa

Ok here he is, my one and only super dave!

Here are some of the ruins of a small house that was built so that the landowner could "breed" his slaves to produce stronger slaves after slavery had been outlawed in the country.
The human race is quite awful. But has the world gotten any better?

Horses at the coffee plantation

This is Rolland, me and Lorraine on our Cuban horses!
Dave was our photographer. The horses took us for a short trip around the coffee farm.

Coffe plantation, Matanzas province

Part of our tour included a stop over for lunch at a local coffee plantation farm.
This used to be home to many slaves that were brought over from Africa to work the land.
It was a very sad experience to see the iron chains that were attached to their necks & ankles.
It was more disturbing to see ruins of a small house that was built so that the landowner could "breed" his slaves to produce stronger mightier slaves after slavery had been outlawed.
This tree was one of the oldest and largest in the area. The slaves used this as their
sacred prayer tree which was as ritual from Africa.
Touching it you could feel the hope and also the extreme suffering that had happened here.

The old man in the background grew up on this farm, he was 76 years old and had been there all of his life. His farm which has been in his family for many centuries was now owned by the government. It was hard to leave the farm and see the man off. This was his life.
Showing the chains, the sacred tree, the horse rides, the deep water well dug by slaves...
After riding one of the horses, we ran for water bottles.
Guai told us that the horses would "get a drink later" after I asked where there water was.
I then noticed that the horse handlers didn't even have one bottle of water for themselves let alone for the working animals. The sun was very intense. I then felt terrible for riding the horse. But figured they were used to the heat.
So of course it was strange to leave the plantation and for us to all get back in our jeeps and never see this old man again. He rested his tired arm on the iron gated entrance and looked at me and smiled anyway while we drove away.

free range jibacoa

This photo was taken after a long wild crazy fun day of jeep off roading...
and jeep "pushing".

Its difficult and at times frustrating to imagine living the actual "Cuban way" of life
until you are stuck on a hot jungle highway pushing your friends that just ran out of gas!
Cuba's national sport is hitchhiking.

We sipped REAL coconut milk from REAL coconuts during this bumper-to-bumper
ordeal...I told our tourguide Guai, that up on our side of the world coconuts are available,
but come wrapped in plastic and the milks been replaced with water...as the milk is then sold in tin cans. He coudln't understand this complex chain of coconut events.
He thought our world was the good life and that his world was poor and empty.
I spoke to him all day and let him in on the real life we live...and how his was in fact better.
We went to a coffee plantation to have lunch and I mentioned how our meats/chicken etc is loaded with chemicals and are raised in tiny cages after farm chickens, roosters and turkeys ran past my feet. I told him that they would be "organic-free-range" because they were allowed to roam and to have a good life.
I then said that his life was pure, healthy & simple.
He let us know that the lunchtime banana's were straight off the trees on the farm.
I then told him that ours are shipped bright green before they can ripen on the tree.
His eyes bugged out in disgust...I am not sure he feels the same way about us tourists anymore
and or where we come from. I tried to let him know how it really is, and that it isnt all its cracked up to be in his mind. I also wished that we could have taken him home to Canada to be "free?!" to be the biologist he studied to become and not a tourguide trying to survive within Castro's regime.
We then wondered how he would feel about seeing both worlds like we had and letting him choose which is actually better...or the ripest.

Roof Garden at Ambos Mundos

http://www.casaparticular.com/hotel-view.asp?lID=1&hID=119&show=1

While in Havana we went to this famous hotel for mojito's...

Much is made of Ernest Hemingway’s predilection for staying at the Hotel Ambos Mundos; he wrote the first few chapters of ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ in room 551, which is now maintained as something of a shrine.
The rooftop terrace view was incredible and you can see a church with its giant 'bell' off in the distance.

Hence the inpiration regarding the title of his novel.

Old Havana cigar lady and misc roaming dog at large

I had to snap this shot real quick as this old Havana lady was charging to do so!
She also spotted me with camera in hand...or was it my lilywhite office cubicle skin perhaps?
Anyway, she saw us and then quickly released her fan to block her face from taking a good picture.

She also has a giant cigar in her mouth.

The wild dog happened to get in the shot, which I love most about this as his spots happen to match the vibrantly colored wall.

Old Havana was a magical place indeed.

We gave out our old ball caps and assorted little toys..it was wonderful.

Havana

YOU...!

yes YOU....!

get under my boot!

Canada Day in Cuba

This was taken outside our 'ocean-view' room on Canada day...
I didn't want to wear my hockey sweater...but I am wearing red lipstick!

Jibacoa

This was taken just outside our room...
every night we got to watch the giant sun melt into the ocean...

Matanzas, Jibacoa & Havana 2006

We are back in Canada now...just about in 1 piece
despite our jeep pushing the other 4x4 jeep that ran out of gas "the Cuban way"
while we were all driving in the jungle aka: the 'Cuban forest', and then on the provincial highway. We survived swimming & hiking through giant sodium chloride caves,
being tugged underwater by our dive leader hand-in-hand in a sea of a million jellyfish to see everything and also to take pictures with our 'hightech waterproof camera'.
The best part of the dive was seeing a big fish down below hiding inside a pile of rocks and shells and there I was, watching him then get hit on the head by the leader throwing rocks to cover his hole/lookout...and then the fish would push them out of its mini-cave....it was funny.
Then our leader kept throwing them on him....this was kind of insane.
And he joked that he tortures this poor fish everyday.

We loved the trip and met a lot of people.
Despite the short length -altogether it was an amazing trip visiting
the cities of Matanzas, Jibacoa & Havana.

I have to sort through my 1GB of photo's but this shot was a goodie taken in
Havana's biggest city square where Fidel gives his "IMPORTANT" speeches.
I can't believe Dave and I are sporting a smile while standing on a tarmac in aprx +45 humid heat.

As our tour guide said,
"you only live once"
So thank you Guai, for showing us your version and highlights of your special country
frozen in time.