Hello again! Another reasonably busy month for us!
A bit of sport, some travel, car issues, local critters & weather pretty much covers it. We won't hold you up, read on!
Don’t forget that you can read older editions by navigating down through the pages or by using the Archive button on the right. You can also click on the pictures if you want to make them bigger. There are also some links to view other photos too if you are interested.
Travel Report
Don’t forget that you can read older editions by navigating down through the pages or by using the Archive button on the right. You can also click on the pictures if you want to make them bigger. There are also some links to view other photos too if you are interested.
Travel Report
Cuba
Here's some music for you while you read. :)
Since it was a long weekend and then there was an election here during the short week, we decided to high tail it to Cuba for a week. It’s only a short flight (direct) from Cayman which makes it very easy… sort of.
The day we left, the telephone network was down so we couldn’t call a taxi. Dave took the car and rounded one up to take us to the airport. We ended up being early for a flight which was then delayed a couple of hours.
Anyway, we arrive in Cuba to a crazed mob wearing surgical masks who were screening everyone coming into Cuba for Swine Flu. Then we got to the Immigration queue, and then had to muscle our way through throngs of returning locals wielding all sorts of boxes and bags stuffed with ‘western’ goodies.
The day we left, the telephone network was down so we couldn’t call a taxi. Dave took the car and rounded one up to take us to the airport. We ended up being early for a flight which was then delayed a couple of hours.
Anyway, we arrive in Cuba to a crazed mob wearing surgical masks who were screening everyone coming into Cuba for Swine Flu. Then we got to the Immigration queue, and then had to muscle our way through throngs of returning locals wielding all sorts of boxes and bags stuffed with ‘western’ goodies.
Lots of old cars still chugging around.
We were met by a local guy who had organized the trip and we jumped in our taxi, only to wait about 40 minutes while the driver argued with the Police about a ticket he just got. He eventually got off, so to speak.
The journey into Old Havana was interesting with roads that seemed to go all over the place, lots of run down houses and buildings and then driving down very narrow dark looking alleys. But we made it to the hotel and settled in. The next few days were spent traipsing the cobbled streets with kids in tow and checking out the sights while being offered the ‘best deals in Habana’ for Cigars, taxi rides and Horse & Cart Tours.
The journey into Old Havana was interesting with roads that seemed to go all over the place, lots of run down houses and buildings and then driving down very narrow dark looking alleys. But we made it to the hotel and settled in. The next few days were spent traipsing the cobbled streets with kids in tow and checking out the sights while being offered the ‘best deals in Habana’ for Cigars, taxi rides and Horse & Cart Tours.
We also had one or two Mojitos and the occasional ‘Cerveza’.
Our Spanish is pretty average but we got by. The kids were able to interpret numbers quite well, which was handy when asking prices and paying for things.
Our Spanish is pretty average but we got by. The kids were able to interpret numbers quite well, which was handy when asking prices and paying for things.
CoCo Taxi
The average salary in Cuba, so we were told, is around $20 - $30 per month. So $1 tips go a long way.
The doorman at the hotel took us to our room on arrival and carried a suitcase for us as well. He was a little out of shape and struggled up the first flight of stairs, stopping to regain his breath before continuing on the great assent to our room which was on the first floor. He lingered waiting for a tip and Dave searched his pockets and handed the guy his smallest note. A tenner. He was pretty happy about that and must have told his mates downstairs because later on, whenever Dave needed anything they were only too willing to help!
We did a horse and cart tour around the sights which was quite good. The kids enjoyed it too, especially since they didn't have to walk.
We did a horse and cart tour around the sights which was quite good. The kids enjoyed it too, especially since they didn't have to walk.
"You can't fire me! Where else will you find someone of my calibre?"
We met up with some Aussie friends from Cayman (ex BVI) and had dinner at a popular resturant called La Guarida ( www.laguarida.com ). It is famous for the movie "Strawberry & Chocolate" or "Fresa y chocolate" which was filmed there. There are lots of photos from the movie on the walls and the place itself is up about three flights of stairs in an old building (well, all the buildings are old). The dinner was nice and we sat around chatting for a while afterwards until a waitress came over and informed us that there was another group wanting to dine and we were holding up the works.
We had dinner in a Pizza place one night which was quite nice. They had a band playing (as most bars and resturants do). We paid our $30 bill (which included drinks) and a $2 tip (big spenders!) and went on our way. A few minutes later, one of the bar staff races up behind us in the street and tells us that we must return to pay the rest of the bill. We explained that we had paid it, which he acknowledged but still wanted us to go back. Apparently the waitress had added the bill up wrong and should have charged us $35. We asked them to explain what she had missed and we got yelled at and probably called lots of bad names in spanish. We thought that this was a little bit rough and were tempted just to walk off. In the end Dave gave them an other $3 and told them to make the rest up from the tip.
During our wanderings around the city we found numerous memorials to Jose Marti (the 'hero' of Cuba) and also Che Guvara (Fidel's offsider in the revolution). We visited the Revoltion Museum which was quite interesting and also went up to the top of the Jose Marti Memorial at 'la plaza de revolucion'.
We popped into 'Floridita's' for a Daiquiri. This is where Ernest Hemmingway used to hang out apparently. They even have a bronze statue of him by the bar.
We had arranged a few days out in the country at a place called 'Vinales' (pron Vin - yar - lees) and travelled there by bus (for about four hours). But the bus was reasonably comfortable and we were able to watch the countryside go past as we went along. When we arrived in Vinales the bus was mobbed by over 50 people all waving posters, signs and business cards for rooms in their houses (homestays I guess). We already had a hotel booked so we took a taxi and headed to it only to find it was closed. Hmmmmm.... After a bit of mucking around and a phone call, we jumped back in the taxi and went to another hotel, which seemed pretty nice as well. It had great views of the Vinales Valley, as well as a resturant, bar and pool. All three of which we put to good use.
Life can be tough...
"Hi ho Silver!"
We went on a three hour horse trek one evening. In the end it was about a one hour ride to a tobacco farmer's house, and hour and a half of sitting on his porch drinking straight rum and smoking cigars, and then about a forty minute ride back to the hotel. Dave was pretty happy about the whole thing. The kids enjoyed the horse ride, but the sitting around bit wasn't their favourite time.
Tobacco Farmer in the drying shack with freshly made Cuban cigars.
We were approached by a dodgy looking character who offered us an authentic Cuban dinner at a family house not far from the hotel. We were quite keen to go but he said we couldn't go until 8:30, which probably meant dining at 9/9:30 which was getting a bit late for the kids. We asked to make it a bit earlier but he explained that it needed to be after dark so the neighbors couldn't see. Apparently this practice is illegal as they would be giving their monthly food rations away. So, we reluctantly declined. Maybe another time when the kids aren't with us.
We visited some caves while at Vinales. One was a tour by boat. The other a guided walking/clamboring tour which was quite good too.
We retuned to our hotel in Havana by Taxi. It cost us $92 (we could have got it cheaper but not all the cars had seat belts so opted for the safer option!) for the three hour trip which was worth it when we had paid about $50 for the bus trip plus a bit more for taxis to the bus terminal in Havana. Some of the trip was a bit hair-raising along the bumpy roads, especially when we ralised there was no speedo!
Upon returning to our hotel, some other Aussie friends (from BVI) had arrived and had been allocated our old room. Small world! We caught up with them and had dinner at an Egyptian resturaunt (which had $2 Mojitos!).
The next day we did a quick walk around and then headed back out to the airport. The flight etc was reasonably hassle free and we made it back in time to race up to the rugby club for the final of the Touch Rugby competition.
More photos from Cuba:
Visitors
Marianne, Simon & James (friends from BVI) popped in en route for a night to and from Cuba. Unfortunately we were already in Cuba when they first arrived, but we caught up with them in Cuba for a night and again back here in Cayman on their return trip to the BVI.
During their short stay, they seemed pretty impressed with the supermarkets here and also the friendly airport staff. As we may have mentioned in an earlier issue, friendly and helpful staff are not that common in the BVI.
The kids had fun playing together and the bigger kids had a few drinks and caught up on the 'goss'. It was great to see them again, even if we had just spent some time with them a few days ago in Cuba.
Cycloprep
Cycloprep is a fundraising event for the kid's school (Cayman Prep). The kids have to find sponsors who fork out oodles of cash if the kids can bike a certain distance. They could do either 1, 5 or 12 miles. Sam did the 5 mile (with Dave) and Jake did the one (twice, with Michelle). The course was over the other side of the island (away from traffic) and finished at Rum Point where a cooked breakfast was provided, and enjoyed. The kids raised about $40 each, mainly from unsuspecting Rugby Club folk.
Cycloprep is a fundraising event for the kid's school (Cayman Prep). The kids have to find sponsors who fork out oodles of cash if the kids can bike a certain distance. They could do either 1, 5 or 12 miles. Sam did the 5 mile (with Dave) and Jake did the one (twice, with Michelle). The course was over the other side of the island (away from traffic) and finished at Rum Point where a cooked breakfast was provided, and enjoyed. The kids raised about $40 each, mainly from unsuspecting Rugby Club folk.
SPORT
Gaelic
Michelle scored her first goal the other week, but unfortunately, they lost the game. As they near the end of the season it gets harder to get players to turn up, and with their star scorer away, the rest of the team had to up the anti - they did well but not well enough.
Touch Rugby
The last lot of games in the round were played two weeks ago. Our team (Cayman Prates - or Pirals) was a bit short of players. Dave was not allowed to play (Physio's orders) but Michelle did. They had one reserve and managed to win both of their games quite comfortably, although they were very tired. Unfortunately, Michelle twisted her knee in the second game and since then both Michelle and Dave have been making regular appearances at Cayman Physio.
Finals day. We returned from Cuba just in time to play in the final. During the day there had been knock out games and the team manged to make the final. But a number of key players (and speedsters) were absent and we lost 5 – 3.
Kids Rugby
Jake played a few games of contact rugby the other week. He got knocked around a bit but seemed to enjoy it.
Kids Rugby
Jake played a few games of contact rugby the other week. He got knocked around a bit but seemed to enjoy it.
Sam had the option to play but decided not to – and besides, she didn’t want to remove her earrings. They also played Tag Rugby so they both had some fun there too.
Rugby
Dave has now been ‘allocated’ to a team here. He’s playing for the ‘Iguana’s’ who wear a dark blue strip. He was pretty happy about that as one of the other teams had a white strip that looked too much like the England strip for his liking (Oh the shame!). The other possibilities were red or yellow (which he could have lived with).
Anyway, Dave finally recovered from his hamstring injury to play in the Quarter finals for the Iguanas (4th in the league) vs the Buccaneers (1st). He was given a jersey for the game.... midget size. He eventually managed to shoe-horn himself into it much to the delight of the rest of the team and thought his arms were going to drop off as the circulation was cut off by the tight sleeves. 5 pm kickoff. Still, the temperature was above 30 and there was no breeze.
Rugby
Dave has now been ‘allocated’ to a team here. He’s playing for the ‘Iguana’s’ who wear a dark blue strip. He was pretty happy about that as one of the other teams had a white strip that looked too much like the England strip for his liking (Oh the shame!). The other possibilities were red or yellow (which he could have lived with).
Anyway, Dave finally recovered from his hamstring injury to play in the Quarter finals for the Iguanas (4th in the league) vs the Buccaneers (1st). He was given a jersey for the game.... midget size. He eventually managed to shoe-horn himself into it much to the delight of the rest of the team and thought his arms were going to drop off as the circulation was cut off by the tight sleeves. 5 pm kickoff. Still, the temperature was above 30 and there was no breeze.
The game started with Dave at No: 8 and the Iguanas were doing alright against the much favoured opposition. As the Iguanas didn't really have a backline, Dave was told to hit up every ball from the base of the scrum. Which he did until his lack of match fitness and a few kicks to the head slowed him down a bit. But eventually the opposition got some ball and made better use of it coasting away to a 20 point lead by half time.
The second half continued in much the same vein. Dave took a break (blood bin) while the halfback and Captain also took breaks (as directed by the somewhat inexperienced and lippy referee). In the end it was a 50 point thrashing but Dave was happy to be able to get out and play a decent game and walk away (relatively) injury free.
Coming up for Dave is a friendly game at the club and then a trip to Jamaica in July.
Coming up for Dave is a friendly game at the club and then a trip to Jamaica in July.
Swimming
Sam has been getting into the swimming and goes to training sessions up to three times a week at the pool.
There hasn’t been room for Jake in his age group so he’s been getting a few private lessons from Mum from time to time.
On Saturday they held a swim meet at the club and Sam entered three events while Jake put himself down for two.
Sam has been getting into the swimming and goes to training sessions up to three times a week at the pool.
There hasn’t been room for Jake in his age group so he’s been getting a few private lessons from Mum from time to time.
On Saturday they held a swim meet at the club and Sam entered three events while Jake put himself down for two.
Jake did quite well in his Breaststroke heat, finishing third, especially since Michelle didn't even know he could do Breatstroke! Unfortunately his time didn't qualify him for a medal placing. In the Freestyle race Jake lead from the start and was quite a way ahead when, at about 10m from the finish, his goggles filled up and he couldn't see where he was going. He did a couple of pin ball bounces of the lane ropes before finally zig zagging his way to the finish. If he had managed to keep going straight he would have got a medal, but in the end was awarded a ribbon for fifth overall. Still, not bad for his first ever meet.
Sam won all three of her heats (25m Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Freestyle) and her times gave her one Gold and two Bronze medals which was a pretty good effort too.
Diving
Not much diving this month. Michelle went out the other day for a dive to try out the new (and very cheap) Dive Computer that we purchased recently which worked well. Two nice dives but nothing extra special this time - quite a few large Grouper.
More Swimming, Cycling, Gaelic, Rugby and other photos:
Car
We decided to buy a second car to avoid continuous circuits of the island day and night, especially while Michelle was biking because of her dodgy knee.
Said car was purchased privately through Dodgy Brother’s Car Inc. The car’s registration had been suspended while some plates where being sought. In the interim, we bought the car… without plates. Therefore the car had to go through the vehicle inspection process. Slightly more Hi-tech than BVI as here they actually look at more than the brake lights and listen to the horn.
Dave took the car in to the inspection place and was immediately accosted by that pesky Parking Nazi again. The car was bordering on being slightly out of line with the painted lines in the car park. Dave had had enough of this clown on his last visit and walked straight past him and over to the inspection bay. Hmmmm…empty. A shower of rain had passed over a few minutes prior. Maybe they were hiding from the Rain Jumbies. The Clown appears and asks “Can I help?”
“Yeah, I want to get the car inspected”
Clown looks towards the heavens and then at the ground. “Not now” he says.
“Why not?” asks Dave.
“The road is wet”
“So?”
“Can’t inspect the car if the road is wet.”
“Why not?” asks Dave wondering if this guy is pulling his chain.
“The road is wet.”
“You’ve said that. Why can’t the car be inspected?”
“Because the road is wet.”
“Yes, I understand that the road is wet.”
“Maybe wait an hour and the road might be dry.”
“What? Why?”
“Because the road is wet.”
“Why does the road being wet have anything to do with the car inspection?” asks Dave.
“You need to go and ask at the office for that.”
Dave spots a “Mechanic-looking guy” and heads over to him to ask about the meaning of life. After asking why the wet road precludes a car from being inspected the mechanic explained that with the underside of the car being wet from the rain, it was difficult for them to determine if there were any water, oil or fluid leaks coming from the vehicle when they inspect from the pit in the inspection bay. “It’s a safety thing” he went on to say, “And also the water drips into our faces…”
Fair enough. Dave drives away to come back on a dry day. Given that May is supposed to be very wet, he wondered when that might be.
He comes back the next day. It is dry, but there are some black clouds looming. He makes it to second in the queue as a few drops of rain begin to fall. Surely a few drops won’t hurt…
Out comes the parking Nazi and puts the chain up. He tells Dave that it’s raining and they won’t be doing any more inspections. Dave tells him that he’ll wait. Nazi replies that if he wants to wait, he must park over to the left in a parking space. Dave does so and manages to park the car perfectly with exactly 9.75 inches of space on either side of the vehicle and thus avoiding the wrath of the Parking Nazi.
And down comes the rain… and out comes the sun. Insey Winsey Spider is probably hanging about as well, but that’s another story.
The inspection is finally completed and we’re legal again!
House Critters
There are a bunch of critters we have found around the house over the last month or so.
Snakes – they hang about in the garden mainly, apparently harmless.
Crabs – they live under the house.
Chickens & Roosters – the common Caribbean pest.
Frogs – Dave and Sam have both been attacked by these ferocious creatures. One jumped up and landed on Sam’s tee shirt. Another one leapt up and planted itself on Dave’s face.
Frogs – Dave and Sam have both been attacked by these ferocious creatures. One jumped up and landed on Sam’s tee shirt. Another one leapt up and planted itself on Dave’s face.
Woodpeckers (who seem intent on pecking on roofing iron… what a racket!)
Lizards & Iguanas appear all over the place, not usually inside though.
... and a Cat. Dave finally relented and there is a new edition to the family. "Plum" the cat. Not sure how 'Plum' came about for a name, but she's here now and hopefully will be housetrained etc under Sam's tuteledge.
Lizards & Iguanas appear all over the place, not usually inside though.
... and a Cat. Dave finally relented and there is a new edition to the family. "Plum" the cat. Not sure how 'Plum' came about for a name, but she's here now and hopefully will be housetrained etc under Sam's tuteledge.
"Plum" the cat...
Weather Report
It's getting hot! The weather has remained hot and dry up until the last few weeks where we have had a bit of rain and even thunder! (still hot though!). Often big black clouds will loom up and then either dump their load on a particular spot or just keep on moving. It’s common to get rain in one isolated spot and nowhere else. The island is flat, but the clouds are only so big. That must be why.
We understand that things in the BVI have been quite wet of late and that the place is almost washed away.
Still, the temp ranges from 25 (night) – 32 (day) at the moment.
Next Month
McDonalds Cayman! Yes, we promised it for this month. We just haven’t had the time. We’ll definitely get there soon and report back to you!
It's getting hot! The weather has remained hot and dry up until the last few weeks where we have had a bit of rain and even thunder! (still hot though!). Often big black clouds will loom up and then either dump their load on a particular spot or just keep on moving. It’s common to get rain in one isolated spot and nowhere else. The island is flat, but the clouds are only so big. That must be why.
We understand that things in the BVI have been quite wet of late and that the place is almost washed away.
Still, the temp ranges from 25 (night) – 32 (day) at the moment.
Next Month
McDonalds Cayman! Yes, we promised it for this month. We just haven’t had the time. We’ll definitely get there soon and report back to you!
Rugby Club Dinner
Gaelic Club Dinner
and some other stuff!
