.,.at least that's what a former East German friend would say, and how true it was at Playa Santa Lucia ......
Bayamo to Camaguey, at the seaside in Playa Santa Lucia and return to Camaguey
And our first dinner here was huge again - grilled shrimp, salad, rice, fries and ice cream for $8 each.
Camaguey is considered a world Unesco heritage site due to the city's narrow, winding streets once used to evade the pirates.
It has a lovely pedestrian way with higher end stores - almost like department stores. We followed some music sounds down a street to find a band practicing. Music is everywhere in Cuba. In the evening we went to the Centro Theatro to see a folkloric performance with children, singers, dancers and musicians. Was great! We've also gone to the movie theatre a few times to experience Cuban movies... ha.
We then left Camaguey for a few days to go to a northern beach area called Playa Santa Lucia. It took us 1 1/2 hrs to get there in Julio's 4 door Peugeot taxi. This small town of only a few thousand has a few stores and a bank.
Our casa, Casa Luna Mar, was 100 m from the water with a large field in between.
Casa Luna Mar with an outdoor shower and large outdoor patio.
The snorkeling was good further out on the reef.
We swam every day with the locals. Not a single tourist in sight.
One day we took a horse carriage ride with our casa manager, Reuben, to a special beach called Playa los Cocos @ La Boca. This was a 45 min. ride through the jungle and over very rough roads...
... at the end, a magnificent beach with a bar and restaurant, El Bucanero.
Good snorkeling here too...
After 4 days at the beach we returned to Camaguey to participate in the May 1 International Worker's Day celebration. We took a bici-taxi (bicycle taxi for 2) to the central part of town to arrive at crowds of at least 100.000 people pushing their way through the streets. People were streaming in from everywhere with signs, posters, workers t-shirts, uniforms and hats. There were dancers, musicians, cars, bic-taxis, young royalty celebs, horse carriages and military/police....
... eventually they pushed us into the marching groups and told us to join in... running at times... waving at the tv camera... taking it all in. Was great!
It has a lovely pedestrian way with higher end stores - almost like department stores. We followed some music sounds down a street to find a band practicing. Music is everywhere in Cuba. In the evening we went to the Centro Theatro to see a folkloric performance with children, singers, dancers and musicians. Was great! We've also gone to the movie theatre a few times to experience Cuban movies... ha.
We then left Camaguey for a few days to go to a northern beach area called Playa Santa Lucia. It took us 1 1/2 hrs to get there in Julio's 4 door Peugeot taxi. This small town of only a few thousand has a few stores and a bank.
Our casa, Casa Luna Mar, was 100 m from the water with a large field in between.
Casa Luna Mar with an outdoor shower and large outdoor patio.
The snorkeling was good further out on the reef.
We swam every day with the locals. Not a single tourist in sight.
One day we took a horse carriage ride with our casa manager, Reuben, to a special beach called Playa los Cocos @ La Boca. This was a 45 min. ride through the jungle and over very rough roads...
... at the end, a magnificent beach with a bar and restaurant, El Bucanero.
Good snorkeling here too...
We saw a casa for sale on the beach for $30,000. any takers?
Our casa manager looked after us well while we were in Playa Santa Lucia with a theme drink every day.
Day 1 - pina coladas (pitcher), made the traditional way... 1. get a coconut from the yard - cut open with a machete, 2. pour coconut milk into a blender, add soft coconut from shell, 3. add ice, 4. add 1/2 fresh pineapple from the yard. Blend. 5. add lots of rum 6. drink for better understanding. Yahoo.
Day 2 - mojitos,
Day 3 Cuba libres
Day 5 breakfast - pina colladas. oh yeah!
Santa Lucia also has an interesting bird that we saw wandering about but were never able
to find out its name...
They were much larger than our chickens and made quite the noise. Huh!?
So, for those of you that like really isolated beaches, Santa Lucia and Playa los Cocos are the
places for you! It also has a flamingo sanctuary for your viewing pleasure, although there weren't
many here at this time of year. (end of April).
There was also beautiful flora here...
After 4 days at the beach we returned to Camaguey to participate in the May 1 International Worker's Day celebration. We took a bici-taxi (bicycle taxi for 2) to the central part of town to arrive at crowds of at least 100.000 people pushing their way through the streets. People were streaming in from everywhere with signs, posters, workers t-shirts, uniforms and hats. There were dancers, musicians, cars, bic-taxis, young royalty celebs, horse carriages and military/police....
... eventually they pushed us into the marching groups and told us to join in... running at times... waving at the tv camera... taking it all in. Was great!
We finally came to the Revolutionary Monument where more people waved at the workers (and us),
as we paraded past.
So many people!
Once the parade was over, most dispersed into Cuba's largest urban park called Casino Campestre
where vendors of every kind could be found. It was kind of like a fair atmosphere. People drank
beer openly and had their coolers of food. Children played, people visited and music was heard.
General observatioins...toilets come with seats or without, some clean or gross....glad to be constipated at times....
-Bus drivers on Viazul buses (Cuba version of Greyhound) all seem to ride with a girlfriend...nice perk!
-Bus drivers on Viazul buses (Cuba version of Greyhound) all seem to ride with a girlfriend...nice perk!
Professional drivers, always in pairs and switch...
-Cubans continue to amaze us with their heart and kindness.. This eastern half of the island has many clean and vibrant city centers.......love everything about our trip ...
Now it's off to the city of Trinidad and more adventures ...
Now it's off to the city of Trinidad and more adventures ...
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