9 May 2017 | Evening

Wow, what a day!  We woke up early to depart from Trinidad to Santiago De Cuba – all the way on the East Coast of Cuba.  In route we stopped in many beautiful places such as the beautiful sugar mill valley overlook – where we could see the entire sugar mill valley spread our below us.  We visited the tallest tower in Cuba and were serenaded by one of the best local bands in Cuba… and I even learned how to play one of their instruments.  Our journey was long, departing Trinidad at 10:00am and arriving at Santiago De Cuba at 9:00pm – that being said, it was well worth it.  After a delicious dinner on the rooftop Terrace of Roy’s Inn we set off to be for a full day in Santiago De Cuba.

10 May 2017 | Evening

Roy’s Inn is the top ranked Casa Particulare in all of Santiago De Cuba, and sure enough that is where we stayed.  The breakfast was delicious and the Casa is only a few blocks from the main Plaza (where you can find the wifi).  We spent the entire day visiting beautiful sites like the oldest house in Cuba, Cuban Museum of History, the Cathedral in the Square, and even took the time to visit the best restaurant in Santiago for lunch and climb to the top of a moorish castle before setting off to home for dinner.  Tomorrow we visit Guantanamo Bay and Baracoa before continuing on to moron, and we are very excited!  Today is my mother’s birthday – so HAPPY BIRTHDAY mom!

11 May 2017 | Evening

The time is 2:30am and I still cannot go to sleep.  We arrived at our Casa at 1:00am, much later that we ever anticipated.  We have learned that Cuba runs on two different time zones, regular time and Cuban time.  Cuban time means that when you ask a local how far you are from your destination – you take their answer and multiply it by 5…  Today was beautiful – we stopped by Guantanamo Bay (where GITMO is located) and learned about the USA territory that is leased from Cuba for $4000 per year to house our most highly protected prisoners.  We continued on to Baracoa where we learned about the recent hurricane, chocolate production, Christopher Colombus, and even took a boat ride through yunque canyon and Humboldt National Park.  Alber made sure that we stopped at the best restaurant available for lunch – which was absolutely delicious!  We did not leave Baracoa until 4:00pm which meant that we arrived in Moron (back on the west side of Cuba) after midnight.  It was a long day, but we are all excited for snorkeling & scuba diving tomorrow.