Havana

CUBA!

We absolutely loved our time in Cuba - it was such an amazing country to visit. The people we met had so many interesting stories to share, and they’re so vibrant! 

Even though personal access to the internet is illegal in Cuba, I managed to add notes onto my laptop so I have a few posts at the ready. 

HOLA HAVANA!

After a 1 hr sleep at a party hostel in Cancun, where a pre dinner activity involved dancing to the song: "da da da da da da TEQUILLA” and consuming shots on the word tequila, we caught a taxi to the airport at 3.30am to head to Havana.

Alex was a hot target amongst the customs officials when we arrived. Potentially due to his long hair (now worthy of a pony tail), or ever growing beard… or a combination of the two. The list of questions from the lady got crazy - she even wanted a huge list of the reasons why we had come to Cuba… Music, Architecture, Dancing, Beach, Culture - our reasons were all acted via charades as she could not speak ingles, and got more obscure as she continued to prompt us to add more. The kind señorita apologised after about 30min of questions and waiting and welcoming us to Cuba we were allowed through the sliding doors and free!

We stayed at Casa Lily in Havana - amazing, on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Vedado, with beautiful views and a room so nice I didn’t even want to shower with my jandals on. The best way to see Cuba is to stay in Casa De Particulars - rooms within family homes, that usually have their own ensuite. It is so much cheaper than staying in hotels & you get the benefit of chatting with the owners and sourcing great local knowledge (not to mention improving your Spanish!).

View from the balcony at Casa Lilly

An evening stroll around the neighbourhood to the Hotel Nacional, was followed by dinner Waoo Snack Bar where we ordered fish - a fillet approx. 8cm thick was brought out and we were advised that it was red snapper - ha! The streets are alive at night with people everywhere. We were staying on Avenue De los Presidentes - where the middle of the street consists of park like grounds with benches and statues of previous presidents. From our room and the terrace you can look out and see people meeting up all throughout the road. 

We met Fritha & Kieran at Casa Lilly, coincidentally they were also from Auckland and moving to the UK in August too. We headed out to the Museum of the Revolution the following morning - which was quite the experience. It had a star next to it in the Lonely Planet book - an honour usually reserved for only the creme de la creme of local attractions and restaurants. As none of us knew the full story of what happened back in 1959, we thought this museum would provide a great factual overview. The descriptions for each object / photograph in the museum were cut out like a child’s school project - a bit wonky and sides curling upwards. These descriptive cut outs gave us a real insight into what it’s like to live in a communist country like Cuba - there is no information regarding the deaths/ injuries that Che & Fidel’s army’s inflicted - nor any information on the negative impacts the Revolution has had for Cuba. They truly hate the Americans, and perhaps fair enough - there is an entire wall dedicated to various plots the CIA had supposedly organised against them including:

I haven't had any time to thoroughly investigate the truth behind some of these outlandish accusations, but word on the street from other tourists was that the CIA did indeed carry out a lot of bizarre plots against Cuba - so who knows! Once I do some reading into it I shall update you all.

At the entrance to the museum there are caricatures of various leaders that they Cuban’s have done speech bubbles around saying: “Thank you cretin for helping us to make socialism irrevocable” (Note George W Bush’s Nazi Helmet, and holding book upside down).

We did a walking tour of Havana Vieja and stopped off at the Camera Obscure. Having never seen one of these contraptions before we were quite amazed - the view we saw was in real time so people moving about the streets in Havana, very cool! We walked home along the stormy Malecon with waves crashing into the other side, rubbish from the ocean strewn across the road.

At the conclusion of afternoon nap time, we headed to the Hotel Nacional to treat ourselves to dinner in their ballroom. This is the hotel that Jay Z & Beyonce stayed in on their recent visit to Cuba and although it had it's heyday in the 1950's or earlier - it's still very grand and posh by Cuban standards. We had been to inspect it the evening before and for $25 CUC we each received 3 courses and a drink, not to mention free bread rolls and butter! It was a very ostentatious setting for 4 x backpackers from New Zealand. 

The dining room at Hotel Nacional

Dessert time at the Hotel Nacional

Dinner time ended with an ambush from the resident pianist attempting to sell us her CD and a faux Happy Birthday number for Kieran that we sung along to. We then moved on to the terrace to sample their cocktail menu and smoke the Cuban Cigars we'd purchased earlier in the day.

All class - cocktails & cigars on the terrace

The next day we explored the old fort, then headed back to Havana Vieja for some drinks and dinner when we happened to bump into some Kiwis outside a bar. We couldn't believe it when we realised we were all from Mt Eden - and it turns out that our new friends George & Jeremy are good friends with Jilly Mowat-Smith & Raewyn (Tim and Harley's Mums). We all headed off to a small plaza to catch the end of the local salsa evening, then a brewery on the waterfront for some local beers, then into a taxi to a cheap local restaurant for a fillet of fish for $4.50! Mojitos only $1.50.

You’ll all be relieved to know that I am enjoying the odd beer every now and then and managed to drink my brewery pint in record time to keep up with the guys.

Attempting a bit of Salsa

The architecture is absolutely mind blowing here, the most beautiful buildings … some painted and looking OK but some which you know in a previous life would have been the most stunning house on the block are now nothing but a facade on the front with the entire back of the house/building having fallen down. The two men from NZ we met told us about a friend of theirs who lived in one of these apartments, he was out at work one day and came home to a massive pile of rubble where his house had been - with neighbours desperately picking through it trying to find him as they thought he may have been in the house. God forbid if there were ever an earthquake here. And Dad - if the government ever decide to update their building policy the business opportunities over here would be endless!

I have also been brainstorming ad campaigns for paint brands where they could come to Cuba and sponsor a street or suburb where they painted every property - the before and after results would be spectacular. Only (major)  issue I can foresee is government approval to film/ get the paint in here!

Looking down from the old city fort 

Me outside my favourite building (in this particular plaza)

Beautiful ceiling in the Museum of the Revolution

Plaza of the Revolution - bit of a let down to be honest, was most definitely more carpark like than plaza.

More to come on the rest of our Cuban adventure soon! 

xx

Caye Caulker

Hola Amigos!

Admittedly I am pretty behind on my updates, but have been keeping notes and have quite a few updates to fire off! We're in New York City at the moment, or more accurately on a train up to New London - tomorrow we're off to watch the Harvard versus Yale Boat Race. 

Caye Caulker

Caye Caulker is in Belize, and from Chetumal Mexico only a 2.5hr water taxi ride away. We decided to head down there for 4 nights (9th - 14th May), after some rave reviews from people we knew.

Our Mexico Waterjets ‘crew’ gave us a hilariously scary safety briefing which involved him telling us that throughout the journey it was going to be very rough, and he would be asking passengers to move from one side or the other to balance the boat - and for us to enjoy the movie - TAKEN, great soothing movie option for people on a boat driving through gigantic waves. Customs and immigration was done on a tiny wharf in San Pedro, before heading off to Caye Caulker on a smaller speed boat driven by children that proceeded to break down at least 5 times making the usually 1/2hr journey over an hour.

Belize used to be a colony of Britain, and is still part of the commonwealth so everyone speaks English and has a Rastafarian vibe. The locals speak their own version of pigeon English called Creole - which we originally thought was some foreign language, as to the untrained ear it is very tricky to decipher. There was one Rasta cycling round one night who I thought was just yelling out “SA-WEEEEET” while he peddled through us - as if life was just sweet for him. Alex investigated further asking a local what he was up to, and turns out he was selling seaweed from a container on his bike, and had actually been yelling “SEA-WEEEEEED”. Hilarious.

After much discussion with the local guides as to which snorkelling trips had recently seen manatees in the area (Seacows), we decided to go with Carlos Tours. We spent a day on the boat at the marine parks in the area. The day was amazing, definitely the best snorkelling trip both of us had ever done (The photos speak for themselves!) even though we didn’t see a manatee. One of our stops was called “Shark & Rey Alley” - aptly named for its inhabitants. I was horrified to see that Carlos Jr was preparing food for the sharks to feed off the boat, and when we anchored and the feeding began I estimate there was about 30 - 40 sharks near the boat flopping all over each other, fighting for a place at the top for the food. Of course I refused to get out of the boat at first, but eventually Carlos Sr persuaded me and I jumped out far from the shark feeding frenzy only to be accosted by Carlos Sr and his Shark friend which he coerced me into patting. I have to say, shark skin is a lot rougher than I had been expecting. Alex noted that the stingray was slimy as expected though. I should note that these were apparently nurse sharks and the ‘friendly’ kind.

Carlos took a professional camera underwater so we bought the CD so we could remember the experience forever. A selection of photos for you below!

Swarm of Sharks

Eagle Ray

There are no beaches on Caye Caulker, so the majority of sunbathers / wannabe beach goers head to The Split - a split between the two islands of Caye Caulker caused by Hurricane Hattie in 1961. There is a bar and music playing so a great spot for a relaxing drink even if it has to be on wooden slats rather than a sandy beach. The 'island' which is in actuality a 'caye' was likely destroyed/split so easily due to being a Caye rather than an Island - more details on that here.

The Split

The bar at The Split

Alex making friends with the locals after we offered them our disgusting G & T's we purchased at the bar downstairs

Strangely there are about 5 or 6 supermarket/dairy type shops on the island all being run by Chinese people. They were not as friendly as the other people we met on the island and Alex was determined to investigate why on earth these grumpy shopkeepers would want to live in such a happy place if they were going to be so surly all the time. Word on the dusty streets was that the Chinese mafia are buying up a lot of land in Belize, and that they send mafia members to places like Caye Caulker to run these businesses if they’ve messed up or need to “do their time” so to speak. 

The food on Caye Caulker was amazing - if you’re heading there soon here are our top recommendations:

• Terry’s Grill - tiny roadside stand with Terry on a small grill with coal. He took over a year to develop his jerk chicken marinade and oh my god it is good. The shrimp sticks also went down a treat.
• Aladdin’s - Kebabs / Middle Eastern Food 
• Enjoy - super long wait, but bloody tasty!

We left Caye Caulker on a 7am ferry bound to Mexico, and we were accompanied by quite a few local kids catching the ferry to neighbouring San Pedro to school. One super cool kid who’s dad was one of the Raggamuffin tour guides got dropped off at the ferry by speed boat with his little back pack on. What a sa-weeeet way to get to school each morning! 

xx

Cozumel & Isla Mujeres

Hola Amigos!

We decided to go to Cozumel mainly for the diving and snorkelling on offer - it is meant to be one of the top places in the world to explore the underwater universe, and after a very hungover ferry ride we arrived ready to be wow-ed. Unfortunately for us, Cozumel is now the cruise ship capital of the Caribbean and absolutely seething with dorky Americans, lanyards in tow, moseying round the many diamond and jewellery shops on shore. The vibe there was just plain weird and very un-Mexican. We even encountered a Disney cruise ship whose horn to call their passengers back was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7UXsxloiWg 

We hired a scooter on our first day to explore the island, and I had to admit part way through the journey that I was just really bored, Alex concurred. Now I know all you readers back in NZ will be tske tsking me for even telling you that I got bored on a scooter ride around a tropical beach island, but there just wasn't much to look at and I am really just doing you all a favour to ensure that you either spice up your scooter tour of Cozumel with a lot of alcohol, or just stick to a day trip for Snorkelling from Playa Del Carmen.

Now although the vibe was off, the snorkelling and diving (according to Alex) were amazing. On our snorkelling trip we saw baby sharks, a sea turtle, eels and we were literally in fish traffic jams down there! (#firstworldproblems). Being the impatient individual I am I had to push these boring large fish out of my way on many occasions to ensure I could swim away in search of more sea turtles.

Whilst in Cozumel I was also viciously attacked by some type of horrid mosquito whose bites grow larger and larger post the initial bite. Thus I spent a lot of time researching the origin of this insect, even vibering Dr Anna Lee for a professional opinion. Thankfully she confirmed they were insects and not bed bugs (apparently bed bugs bite in rows, breakfast - lunch - dinner). But I ensured I inspected the bed at Casa Mexicana, Cozumel thoroughly for potential culprits.

Little bay we swam in on Cozumel 

Scooter tour boredom - snapping selfies in shop windows

Casa Mexicana, our hotel in Cozumel - Disney cruise ship seen in distance

Bed bug inspection one evening. Trying to catch the non-existant, nocturnal bastards when they least expected it.

After 4 nights in Cozumel we headed up to Isla Mujeres, off the coast of Cancun. We stayed at a great hostel called Poc Na and met up with Alice, Kate, Lucy and Harriet again. Isla Mujeres is home to what is surely one of the nicest beaches in the entire world - Playa Norte. You will see proof of this in my pictures. The sand is just perfect, no shells messing with your feet and the water is crystal clear with not a drop of seaweed to be seen!

After a night drinking at the beach bar at Poc Na we woke up and started what can only be described as the funnest day EVER. It started with the hire of two golf carts between us to head off exploring the island. Thankfully the girls had done some pre planning on picnic ingredients in the form of a rustic french brie which they had sampled on previous picnics in Tulum. To accompany our prized ingredient we bought fresh bread rolls, olives, salami and serano ham and some of the most delicious Rose and headed off to find the perfect spot to enjoy. After three weeks of tacos, this European style feast was just phenomenal and all for the price of $15 NZD per person (lunch + drinks).

Stopping off at a beach for our picnic we witnessed some kind of sick adults only booze cruise (no doubt a day tour from Cancun), where the adults were participating in some kind of sexy competition. Basically fat men with their butts and other things out, and overweight women with no tops on dancing under a shower hose to "I'm sexy and I know it". Thankfully they were on a separate part of the beach and did not disturb our civilised picnic-ing.

Few pictures from the golf cart tour and Playa Norte below! 

The gals and Alex. There was wide spread panic amongst those back in NZ who didn't know Alex after photos were seen of him with the gals, speculation was rife that they had picked up a random Latvian on their travels.

Isla Mujeres Turtle Farm

Feeding frenzy at the Turtle Farm

After a big day out and about we were unsure that we could hack a big night in at Poc Na, and wanting to make the most of our golf cart hire we decided to head out onto the mean streets of Mujeres for some cruising. After driving aimlessly we sped past some cardboard tubes and Alex had the great idea of picking them up and finding a quiet road for a spot of golf cart jousting. This was certainly a highlight of the trip so far. Dragging up and down a quiet road, with a 3 flicker spin of the headlights to indicate the joust was to begin, we spent a good 20 minutes battling it out. Top points to Harriet Weatherburn who was a top class competitor and enthusiast throughout the battle. It remains unclear who the overall winner on the night was with both teams getting their fair share of jousting victories and cardboard tube remains being strewn all over the road. Of course we collected and disposed all of the rubbish to ensure no one could place us at the scene, some Germans who witnessed the joust were not impressed at all with the (non-existant) safety precautions we were taking. Imagine the headline: NEW ZEALAND GIRL INJURED IN MEXICAN HOSPITAL AFTER GOLF CART JOUSTING INCIDENT. I Didn't get any pictures of the joust, but those on snap chat will have seen the ferociousness of it on my story.

We spent our last day on Isla lounging about on loungers at Playa Norte with a repeat of the European picnic. It was the girls' last day in Mexico before heading back to NZ and honestly couldn't have been a more idyllic setting.

We're in Belize now on a wee island called Caye Caulker. More on that next time though lovelies!

xxx

Couple more snaps below!

Being attacked by a whale shark 

The Pink Lady with the Pink Shoe Lady

Don't mind a glass of Rose and a clear ocean!

Tulum & Playa Del Carmen

Hola! 

As I write I am enjoying a much needed coffee in Cozumel while Alex is on a diving trip. Since my last post we have been to Tulum and Playa Del Carmen - about an hour away from each other on the Riviera Maya. 

The beach in Tulum is spectacular. The sand is like white dust, and the ocean the perfect refreshing temperature. We stayed at Tubo Tulum which is a new hostel half way between the beach and town, where each room is created from a concrete pipe - a bed across the middle, and storage underneath. Below is a picture of me outside our pipe! We stayed at Tubo for 4 nights, and admittedly by the end of it things were getting a little stressful with only one of us being able to stand up at a time in the pipe, and losing access to half of my belongings under the bed - but Tulum is an expensive place to stay and this hostel served us perfectly. 

Cycling is a key mode of transport in Tulum as the beach and town are about 3 to 4km apart. Along a stretch of about 9km of Tulum beach lies the Zona Hotelera - beach resorts & cabanas. The restaurants and bars in this area are pretty expensive, so the majority of hostel accommodation is in town. Cycle paths are everywhere and the taxi drivers are great at giving you a lot of room, the added bonus is the breeze that cycling provides. 

Tulum beach

Beach bar where we drank a lunchtime Pina Colada 

The Tulum ruins - the community that lived here had it SO much better than those poor Mayans sweltering up at Chichen Itza

Beautiful beach at the Tulum ruins

Swimming at the Dos Ojos cenote

The wider Tulum area is home to a lot of Cenotes (underground sinkhole), and after some research we decided to head to Dos Ojos which has about 5 cenotes within the park where you can snorkel without a guide. The water is fresh, and as it's shaded by its own cave - it's pretty chilly! But the water is super clear, and if you're lucky the diving groups far below will shine their torches on the deep, far areas of the cenote so that you can see deep within them. Whilst on a stroll to one of the further cenotes Alex just managed to dodge a small snake that slithered across the road - definitely the first snake I have ever seen in the wild and ensured the rest of the walk 

We caught a Collectivo van to Dos Ojos - these are air conditioned vans (in the Mayan Riviera area anyway!) and are basically like public transport. You wave them down in designated spots and we went to Dos Ojos (13Km) for only 20 pesos - approx. $1.80 NZD each. Such a brilliant travel option for budget travellers like ourselves!

We also tried to swim with the turtles in Akumal while we were in Tulum, but alas the weather was so bad that the life guards had banned snorkelling and swimmers were only allowed in to their waists. To us hardy New Zealander's the choppy water looked more than fine for turtle watching so Alex stuffed his mask down his boardshorts and swum out for a look... unfortunately the visibility was so bad he could barely see his hands in front of him. I have spent a good portion of my recent snorkelling excursions looking for turtles and Akumal literally means 'Place of the Turtles' in the Mayan language - so I was bitterly disappointed. We're hoping to stop in again en route to Belize so fingers crossed we stumble across a calm day!

We headed to Playa Del Carmen after Tulum and checked into The Yak - such an amazing hostel with the friendliest staff EVER! Playa Del Carmen is not too dissimilar to Kuta, Bali - on a much smaller scale. It's a party town and it did not disappoint. We had a quiet-ish first night drinking at the hostel then heading out to the clubbing street where things were just getting started at 2am. A bar on the waterfront had a live salsa band and the dance floor was absolutely packed with locals dancing like absolute salsa professionals - we attempted for a tiny while to practice a few of the steps we learnt in our beginners class but we were shocking and I think a refresher class is definitely in order. 

Alice, Kate, Lucy & Harriet joined us for our second night in Playa and after a lot of drinks at The Yak we headed out to one of the designated bars where it is LADIES NIGHT - every night. A pink wristband was all we needed for free drinks all evening. The salsa bar from the previous night was hosting a Hip Hop night and we ended up there until 5am before a quick dip in the ocean and a box full of delicious pizza for the walk home.

I can also recommend that you do not get a pedicure in Playa Del Carmen. Mine involved a two hour long process whereby slips of the polish were followed by nail polish remover on a paint brush to remove it - and there were a lot of mistakes! By the end of it my feet were pink due to this technique dissolving a lot of excess nail polish into my feet and it was even a nice place! Lesson learnt.

5th Avenue - Playa Del Carmen

We're off to Isla Mujeres tomorrow and meeting Alice, Kate, Lucy & Harriet again at the famous Poc Na Hostel which is right on the beach. Isla Mujeres means Island of Women in Spanish - very fitting. Hopefully Alex finds a male friend or two to keep him company..

xx