Varadero, Cuba January 23-30, 2020

Varadero, Cuba

January 23-30, 2020

Sanctuary at Grand Memories Varadero

 

Population: Cuba = 11.5 million 2019

Varadero = approx. 20,000

Cuba has a rich and varied history which I won't go into here, I'll just keep it simple.
 

Varadero (a.k.a. Playa Azul - blue beach) is a two-hour drive from Havana (140 km East). The Peninsula is only 1.2 km wide at its widest point. Varadero is known as a resort town with over 20 km's of white sandy beaches. 

View from plane... can't wait to get into that water! 🌊

After the Cuban Revolution in 1959 many mansions were expropriated from their rich owners. These mansions became museums. Between 1960's - 1980's Varadero transformed itself into a cultural centre. The 90's saw lots of hotel building. Since international tourism has come to Varadero it has sadly lost a lot of its' cultural life and traditions. According to Google, the city sees more than 1 million tourists annually. 

According to our tour guide to Havana the government is only concerned with building hotels even to this day.  

Apartments on the way to hotel... we learned after from our Havana guide that most people only live in apartments temporarily and that the majority of Cubans live in single homes that they pay for in cash.

Craig and his bird shots... 🐦

Pretty shot from the bus ride to hotel

Lots of these oil stations along the coast.

This is always a sign (lol... literally) of what nationality the tourists will be. Canadian (in this case), French Canadians, German and Russian. Not at the Sanctuary part of Grand Memories, but the main resort was probably 1/2 Russians! 1/2 of 1800 guests!

Our resort... last of 6 stops from the airport

We thought "that luggage is never going to stay there", but it did! Our ride to the adults-only "Sanctuary" side of Grand Memories (adults only). Definitely a good decision for us to go there vs. the main Grand Memories resort. 1800 people there, 200 at Sanctuary

Free booze, pop and water in the room! Sweet! Craig drank 2 full bottles of rum all by himself on TOP of the drinks he picked up at the bars!

Sanctuary pool area the day we arrived

Soon after arriving and eating lunch we headed straight to the beach! And what a gorgeous beach it is!

Awesome beach... white sand and beautiful turquoise waters! We walked many many kilometers on this beach for the week as a lovely start to our mornings.

We were told the sand flies here were really horrible, but we didn't have any issues with them. I have a few bites, but that's really amazing since we spent probably 1/2 of our time here outdoors.

Ahhh... 1st time our feet are in the water! So refreshing.

Protecting the boys! 🤣

Good action shot of him riding the wave

The fun ended when the man in the red shirt came over blowing his whistle and telling these 3 to get out of the water. I thought... is there a shark?? 🦈It took them a while to catch on, but they eventually got out and thank goodness they did!

The fuss was all about this little guy floating at the surface... you can barely see him (that little bubble near the top left), but he looks like this (see pics below)

This is the Portugese Man of War jellyfish (not quite a jellyfish). They are beautiful, but very dangerous! This was on the beach and we saw several of them! They apparently can still sting while beached so it's a good thing we didn't touch it!

This is how beautiful they are in the water (internet photo). It's long tentacles deliver a very painful sting venomous enough to kill fish and in some cases, humans! The name comes from an 18th century sailing warship and resembles the Portuguese version at full sail. It lives at the surface of the water because of it's gas-filled bladder and the remainder is submerged. Thankfully for Craig they have no way to propel themselves - they only move from the winds, currents and tides. I'm glad I didn't know all this about them before because I may not have gone in the ocean! Their sting leaves a whip-like wound and if the venom gets in your lymph nodes it can restrict your breathing and cause a deadly reaction. Normally it just REALLY hurts for at least several hours to several days. We saw several on the beach, so I guess we're lucky we didn't get stung by one. The good thing is you should be able to see it coming near you because of the balloon-like sac on the top of the water.

We could not have done this resort any other way than the calm, kid-free zone of the Sanctuary... ahhh... it was SUCH a lovely and relaxing vacation. WAY more lounging around the pool than I've ever done in my life, but it was good therapy after the last few months.

Hey Handsome! 💓

Our 1st of 5 lobster meals! Actually, I think this was lunch, so it was just a lobster teaser with steak. Beef, not so good in Cuba, but despite all the warnings that the food was terrible in Cuba, we had no problem with it. Would I want to live here and eat Cuban food all the time... nope, but for a week it was really good.

Our room (where the star is). The pool is just on the other side of the building

This is one of the little kittens running around the resort.

This is the mamma to the kittens ... lucky cat eating lobster!

Moscow 9528 km's away - direct flights Varadero!

The beach here is awesome with nice, colourful props!

The pointer is back!

The resort I had a pee at during one of our many walks on the beach

A neat water spout up through the coral
(during one of our walks along the beach)

Working on his tan right from the start

This section of the beach is really busy (by our resort), but there's plenty of deserted sections along the way too

Tons of these little guys around sunning themselves

A buffet out by the pool one day for "Cuban Day" at the resort

LOTS of seafood this week! Yum! 🦞🦀🦐

See! Cuban food is pretty good!

Chicken & rice... a staple of the Cuban diet.

Since it was "Cuban Day" at the resort, there were a few 50's American cars around. Do you know which one this is Dad? There are apparently 60,000 of them in Cuba. It's an amazing time capsule for these cars. Most of them being used as taxis for tourists. We drove in one to Havana on a private tour.

While I was waiting for Craig to exchange some money I thought I'd go get some pictures of this old car. The couple who own it were there and he offered for me to get in and he'd take pictures (for a fee, of course, nothing for free in Cuba). That's ok, I had no problem with that. I actually didn't have any cash on me and I told him beforehand. I came back later with some money for him.

Turns out he's a pretty good photographer. I forget the make,  model and year of this car though. :(

That's his wife to the left sitting down. I guess they just sit here all day collecting tips for taking people's photographs.

The band playing that night for Cuba Day

Giant Cuban flag on Cuba day @ the resort

There were no french fries at the snack bar this day, but instead we got these little potatoe bites that were quite delicious!

The Sanctuary pool area early one morning

Our Sanctuary restaurant (sign made of corks)

 Monday, January 27th
 Day trip into Havana via classic American car...
but not THIS classic car

We go to the taxi stand where we THOUGHT we were to meet our driver "Carlos". We find this guy, get in, start heading out and then we get talking and said we're going to Havana. He had no idea, so we realized we had the wrong Carlos! Nice car though.

We found our actual driver and tour guide (Carlos & Bob). Not as nice of a car, but old nonetheless - bouncy plasticized seat included!

Craig's pina colada being made with pure pineapple juice and coconut milk. The rum you see there on the counter is for you to top it up with rum as much as you want!

I don't even like pineapple, but this drink was really tasty! Craig really enjoyed his and then off we went continuing our journey to Havana

A gorgeous pink taxi where we were having the pina colada.

"Havana oh na na, half of my heart is in Havana oh na na"Castillo de La Real Fuerza

Next up... cigar factory tour! I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Havana.

Poster within the cigar factory

They like pictures of him everywhere in Cuba

This was a really authentic experience of a cigar factory in Havana Cuba. The workers sit all day under tight security at their little stations and make various types of cigars. We both REALLY enjoyed this tour and having such an authentic look at how they're made.

Below is a good link to an article on how a cigar is made from start to finish.
https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-day-at-the-la-corona-factory-16780

Here's a link to a video of them being made
https://youtu.be/g_moEBgvLbM 
 

It's a really large factory. The security cameras and guards keep a close eye on the workers and us tourists on tours. They only allow you in certain rooms and you're actually not supposed to take photos, but our guide said we can try taking some discretely.

This worker's quota of cigars per day was 110 (it depends on the worker's experience and the type of cigar).

They're explaining the difference between the leaves. There are different strengths - all from the same tree. The strength of the leave depends on where they take it from (top, middle, bottom). I couldn't visually tell the difference between the leaves (there is a slight colour variation), but you definitely could tell by the smell of them. Workers train months and months to learn the craft of making the perfect cigar. I believe they said this factory produces about 7000 cigars per day.

Revolution Square: Completed in 1959 (the year Fidel came into power) it measures 72,000 square metres and was used for political rallies and for Fidel Castro and other leaders to address the Cuban people. Also large masses were held here by Popes.

Revolution Square

The architecture is quite nice in downtown Havana, but it is definitely a mix of beautiful restored old buildings and abandoned buildings in ruins. If I were to stay in Havana it would be cool to rent one of the renovated spaces rather than a chain hotel (which are VERY expensive in Havana)

The ornate, Italian-designed building on the left is a theatre

TONS of classic cars in Havana for all the tourists. Depending on the condition and the rarity of the car determines the price per hour to rent it to tour around the city.

La Florida (supposedly home of the margarita) in downtown Havana was one of the many frequented spots by author Ernest Hemingway. Below he & I were chatting and getting to know one another at the bar!

My ole bud, Hemingway

Normally Craig likes to do his "shop around" for the best booze prices only to find out in Cuba, liqueur prices are regulated across the country and are the same price in a liqueur store, or hotel gift shop. He went up to see this one anyway, but then figured he'd just buy it at the hotel. Unfortunately, when we got back to the hotel they were all sold out of the one he wanted! ܹ😠We told the story to our butler back at the hotel and she brought Craig a bottle! That's awesome!

Hustling downtown Havana

Plantain wagon guy

This is where our tour guide took us for lunch. It was a quaint spot with live music (that we felt obligated to tip) and the food was decent, but expensive. Of course, our guide and driver receive free food when they bring their clients here. We have no problem with that so long as the food is good and it was (for Cuban cuisine)

The food came "family style". I had chicken and Craig had the fish and then they bring you potatoes, beans, rice and eggplant (which looked disgusting, but was flavorful)

Pointing towards downtown Havana

Our tour guide "Bob" and driver "Carlos".

Craig getting a little Cuban love from the "pictures for tip" ladies like he did in Cartagena

Like Nicaragua and Columbia, Cuba has some lovely, colourful buildings

Everywhere you look there's a bar that Hemingway frequented. The man must have loved to drink!

View from rooftop deck of Hotel Ambos Mundos

Like Portugal, I had to get a picture of the tile

Havana Cathedral... we went up in the bell tower on the right

Gorgeous cathedral

Pierre was a Canadian born in 1661. He was a soldier, ship captain and explorer (among many other things), but I haven't been able to find out the reason he was buried in this church in Havana

Starting the climb up the bell tower.
My shorts were too short, so I had to wear this skirt (scandalous eh Maggie?)

ool bell tower with not a lot of safety features. Don't bring small children here!

I just couldn't get enough pictures of the brightly coloured classic cars. I wanted to capture THE perfect one and this is probably the closest I got

Craig's  new buddy Chris

We had an awesome time with these ladies (Chris & Jen). We hung out by the pool together and had some laughs. Thanks for the memories! It was so great to meet you both! 💗

This is our new British-Canadian friend Derek Cain (on left). He was a hilarious member of the band (www.haemoblues.com) that played in the Sanctuary bar most nights. He & Craig had some good discussions and shared some laughs.

After Derek's set came the Cuban Rock Band and they were awesome playing lots of familiar American tunes. This was "Blue Lagoon" night for me and I had several strong ones, so I was up dancing for most of the night!

Blurry, but otherwise good photo of my dance partner & I having fun on the dance floor

Too many of these blue lagoons bring about this face! 🤣It was a fun night though!

For you Aunt Judy...
We think this was the father of all the kittens running around. As soon as we sat in the lounge chairs he came over and jumped up on me first, but I quickly shewed him off cause he was digging his nails into me. He decided Craig's lap was much more comfortable for him and there he stayed until he tried to get up on the nice cushion of Craig's belly and brought the nails out again! 🐈

Craig's angel buddy "Ms. Sanctuary"

They put on a good "water ballet" show on gala night and they were actually quite good, but we didn't have a great spot for watching them.

Flexible!

Love their curly tails

This is the Patriarch Cactus. It took us a while to find it, but we eventually did and were early enough to beat buddy who collects $2 from each person to tell them about it (just a guy who sits in a lawn chair waiting for people to come see it - Cuban's are good at finding ways to earn money). We didn't purposely go before 9, it just worked out that way cause we're early risers.

At over 20 feet tall and presumed to be over 500 years old it is the only witness to the arrival of Christopher Columbus

Bye bye Cuba! We had a wonderful, relaxing time and enjoyed your hospitality!

Jan 28th - 7.7 earthquake. Although it was sort of near us, we were on the other side of the island and didn't feel a thing or experience any weather-related issues at all after this. We heard there were tsunami warnings, but they didn't happen thankfully!