Originally Posted by
Ivan Cloherty
Brian, the weather was fine 82/88F sunshine daily, nice breeze all the time, people were lovely, food was great for such a poor country, the dark eyed maidens made an old mans heart flutter, 50 years of sanctions have certainly taken their toll on the infrastructure. Our friends had booked a complex, miles from anywhere and although it was lovely if all you wanted to was relax it was not my ideal holiday as I need to be out and about in the country I am in. We were in a place called Playa Pesquera nice but isolated and about 500 miles from Havana, thought we'd go to Havana but internal flights are booked three months ahead so no chance of flying, alternative was a 16/17 hour bus journey each way spending one night in Havana at a cost of £640 per couple! so gave that a miss, as can get a 10 day holiday in Cuba including Havana for just over£800 each from here, all other trips were expensive £90 each to swim with the dolphins and a few hours on a boat. As said the complex was lovely and lacked for nothing and would be an ideal location for a family holiday with a choice of restaurants, pools, snack bars and wall to wall entertainment for youngsters and teens but alas no dancing for adults but did get in a few impromptu dances in the lobby when the band came serenading. Dennis had advised me that some daily items were unobtainable such as toothbrushes etc, so we took a load out and some baby clothes which were greatly appreciated (so thanks for that Dennis) would also recommend taking out fancy hair slides for the waitresses as they appreciate them more than tips, because they cannot buy locally and they all have to wear their hair in a bun (hotel regs). Apart from the old cars and trucks all modern motors are Chinese (Geeley) apart from a few Peugots, the French always seem to get in there. Cuba is a favourite place with the French-Canadians as it is less than four hours from Montreal, so there were more Fre-Cans than any other nationality, the complex held 1800 people with over 1000 staff to keep it spick and span, and it certainly was, never any trouble getting a sun lounger even though some had towels on them at 0600 hours. Did take some taxi rides in the old Yank tanks, you don't go anywhere fast but always go in a cloud of smoke! On the whole had a relaxing time, put on bloody weight and the Cubans have not lost their friendliness and the maidens are just as alluring as they were in the 50's (not the same ones I hasten to add)
