The Vibrant Colours of Cuba

I love gardening!  

                                                                                 




 I enjoy visiting parks and farms and anything to do with flowers and plants

I enjoy learning and looking at flowers of various kinds no matter where I go.
















Cuba is a very green country. Its population is about eleven million people occupying a fairly large island.

It has a lot of green space, parks and farmland.

Regardless where we visit, it gives me great pleasure just looking at the colours and photographing the different species of flowers and plants during our travel.

We wanted to visit a rain forest in Cuba, but it would require an overnight stay.

This special rain forest tours only take place on Wednesdays and Saturdays.













We missed the Wednesday date, therefore we could not join the tour.

An ingenuous way of  recycling old used bottles as planters

Since we bought tickets to other show, neither were we were able to go on the Saturday tour.

We could not believe such beautiful flowers growing out of a dry branch of  a tree 

Since we like Cuba so much, if God is willing, we will revisit Cuba again.

A colorful bush on a tobacco farm where we visited.

On our second visit we will make sure that we visit a rain forest in this beautiful country.

















For now, we will  have the flowers to remind us of a most memorable trip to Cuba!

Those leaves are gigantic comparing to the size of my hand!

We were delighted that we have had this opportunity visiting such a beautiful country!




R.T.
On a recent visit to Cuba

Thank You, Cuba, for Your Excellent Medical Care

We recently vacationed in Cuba

As a retired person traveling overseas, we are careful about our unexpected medical expenses.
Therefore, before we travel, we always make sure we have purchased medical insurance prior to our travel . In fact, medical insurance coverage is a requirement for any traveler visiting Cuba.

We thank God that we never have to use the emergency medical service. I was amazed at Cuban's excellent medical care and service for me, a tourist to the country.
I had two experiences with the medical personnel while we were in Cuba.

Getting medical help was easier than I thought in Cuba

First, I had a paper cut on my thumb a couple of days prior to our arrival at our Cuban resort. It was hurting a little as it started to swell. I went to the resort's reception desk to ask for a bandage to cover this tiny cut.

To my surprise, the receptionist phoned the resort's nurse who came to fetch me. She took me to the resort's first aid station,  asked me to sit down, then she  took a close look at my thumb, proceeded to clean and sterilize the tiny cut carefully and thoroughly before she put a bandage on it. Wow! that was not what I had expected.

The second experience I had with the Cuban medical service was right at the airport on our last day in Cuba.  That day we spent a relaxing day at our resort and at 4:30pm, we boarded the shuttle bus  which took us to the Varadero Airport. There was plenty of time before our flight took off at 9pm.

Central Park, Havana, Cuba

While my husband was looking for the right counter to check in, my nose started to bleed.
I sat down on a bench and got some tissue to put over my nose. After a few minutes, my nose was still bleeding. I went into the washroom to get more paper towel.

A cleaning lady saw me with my bleeding nose; right away she called an airport personnel who escorted me to a medical clinic within the airport. A doctor and a couple of nurses were on duty that time. They asked me some very poignant medical questions, took my pulse, blood pressure and kept me calm.

With all the excitement of the day, I was quite stressed out and it showed in my blood pressure. The medical team kept me in the clinic for about an hour helping me to stop my stubborn nose bleed while monitoring my blood pressure to make sure I was well enough to board the plane.

Thank you, Cuba, for looking after me while I was visiting there!

I often have nose bleed in Canada and my family doctor does not think much of it. My husband and I were grateful and surprised that the Cuban medical team took my nose bleed so seriously and provided me with very good medical care. They discovered something about my medical health that our family doctor in Canada overlooked. For this, I am indebted to the medical team at the Varadero Airport.

Thank you, Cuba, for looking after us so well in your country! Your are awesome!

R.T.
Recently visited Cuba
From Toronto, Canada

Cuba - A Vintage Car Lover's Paradise

Love those vintage vehicles!

I don't know much about cars. For me, the most important thing about a car is getting me from A to B without any incident.

Anything else about cars does not really interest me. However, I do have a few friends who are nuts about antique cars.

They are everywhere in Cuba!

I remember my first encounter with Doug, who loves car and used to work in a Chrysler plant in a small southern Ontario town.

 I remember vividly that we were strolling down on a street. Every time, when a vehicle went by us, Doug would call out its make and model name accurately without fail.

How many orange cars have you seen 

Not only could Doug name the make and brand of the car, he could pinpoint exactly what year and which model of each car that drove past us.

His expert knowledge and passion about cars amazed us. No wonder Doug is such an excellent mechanic.

When we were in Cuba,every tine we saw a beautiful vintage car, we thought of Doug.

How we wish he could be here spending the holiday with us!  He would have loved being in Cuba - a country full of beautiful restored vintage cars.

How many pink car have you seen lately>

In fact many Cubans make a thriving business of taking tourists around to do sightseeing in these vintage vehicles that are rarely seen in North America nowadays.

I have taken a few pictures of these vintage vehicles while we were in Cuba.  I have no idea what kind, make or year of these cars are.

Tourists can easily hail a yellow cab on the streets of Havana

 But I know when Doug comes to visit us, he will be tickled pink when I show him my pictures.

Not sure what this is called as we saw it for the first time

He will be able to tell me exactly what each car is.

I remembered riding in one of these vehicle when I was a kid .

I know my friend, the car lover, will be all googly eyes when he sees the pictures of my vintage cars from Cuba.

He will think that he has gone to heaven!

We went on a carriage ride in Old Havana too!

We are looking forward to have him share his expert knowledge of cars with us so that I can label each one in my blog!

R.T.

Cuba

Week of Jan 16, 2017

Choosing the Right Resort to Experience the Best of Both Worlds in Cuba !

A private beach at our resort

Today is our last day of our Cuban holiday.

For the last week and more, things went much better than we have expected.

Staying at our resort, we enjoyed both the sun,beach and the cultural life of Cuba 

A quiet oceanfront sport for guests to relax at our resort

We have had a fantastic time in Cuba and there were very few complaints.

Before we came to Cuba, we heard many horror stories from our friends and colleagues who visited Cuba before.

We bought an all inclusive package for our Cuban vacation. 

They always complained about the food, the lack of activities to do or being bored at their resorts.

An outdoor cafe in Old Havana

Therefore, I was quite skeptical about how our Cuban vacation would go. I am happy to say that our Cuban holiday has gone far beyond our expectation!

We love history, architecture and learning about different cultures, therefore visiting museums, famous historical sites and places are important to us on our travels.

We informed our travel agent about our desire to experience both the beach and the cultural/ historical part of Cuba. Our agent did a great job recommending us a resort close to Havana.













Our holiday in Cuba was a great experience as we have experienced the best of both worlds in this beautiful country!

Not only did we enjoy the beach, the fine weather at our resort, we appreciated the friendly service, good meals and accommodation including free daily dance lessons and nightly entertainment after dinner.

The other important part for us was spending a few days in Havana
and other region of Cuba.

View of Havana from a church tower

We loved learning about Cuban history, its people and visiting some fabulous buildings and important architecture.

Visiting art studios and galleries are a must on our  travel itinerary

The best part about our resort was its close proximity to the city and its free daily shuttle bus to Havana - a city full of arts and history with so much to see and do.

Instead of being cooped up in a resort, we could visit Havana any day during our holiday within a 20 minute car ride, without any extra cost.

The free shuttle bus  picks us up and takes us to Havana 

For retired people like us, the free shuttle service to Havana was an important consideration. It saved us a lot of time and money on transportation.

For tourists staying at a resort far from a city, each side excursion could easily cost between 50 to 100 pesos per person per day.

Magnificent architecture abound in Havana 

Though without any value outside of Cuba, the value of the Cuban peso is pretty high within its borders, for example, one American or Canadian dollar is worth only around .70 to .80 pesos.

When we exchanged a $20.00 Canadian bill at our resort, we only got back  14.00 pesos and some change.
We got a better exchange rate at the Cuban bank.

No wonder many of our friends and colleagues complained about being bored in Cuba.

Havana has many great restaurants and cultural activities

It would have costed them between Can.$80- 150 per day per person to get out of their resort and go to Havana or somewhere else for sightseeing and other cultural activities.

We were glad that we made the right decision of staying close to Havana as we spent very little time and money on additional transportation or package tour charges.

We enjoyed the food at our resort,

Today, being our last day, we thanked the resort recreational and dining room staff members who served us. We said good bye and expressed our appreciation through tipping to them.

Tipping is greatly appreciated in Cuba

Those who got tips from us were grateful and delighted that their services were recognized and appreciated.

Most Cubans make a meager monthly wage, therefore tipping is important to them to help supplement their income.

Outdoor cafe in Old Havana

Unfortunately, some tourists from certain countries do not believe in tipping. Regardless what great services they have received, some would never give out any tips to service personnel.

I do hope that as westerners vacationing in third world countries, we would have an appreciation of how fortunate we are and compassion for the less fortunate in the countries we are visiting.

Beautiful buildings everywhere in Havana!

We stayed at this beach resort and  enjoyed the best of what Cuba offers 

It is my sincere wish that if we can spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars travelling, we can demonstrate a spirit of generosity to share a tiny bit of our wealth by tipping those working hard to serve us and helping us to have a good time.

R.T.
Cuba