Cayo Santa Maria was a fishing island until a 48 km causeway linking it to the mainland was completed in 1999. The first hotel opened in 2001 and was followed by 16 others. No one lives on the island; it is home to hotels and resorts only. All the workers are bused in and out daily.
Our flight left at 6 am, which meant a super early wake up. Who thought this was a good idea? The flights to Cuba leave once a week from Fredericton, so that's your choice. Take it or leave it! We're taking it!
A lovely day for flying...
Flying past the Bahamas...
The islands that make up Cuba...
The Santa Clara airport...it took a while to get our bags, but relax...you're now on Cuba time!
Slightly giddy...waiting for the rest of the passengers to take the 90 minute drive to the resort.
Nice houses...
And some not so nice residences...our guide told us that even the poorest child in the smallest village has an opportunity to attend school and even university for free. If someone wants to go to university in Havana, everything is paid for, including rent, food, books, tuition. Sadly, once they graduate the jobs do not pay well.
Old cars! We had been to Cuba about 20 years ago, and I had forgotten how many antique cars there are. After coming to power in 1959, Fidel Castro banned imports of foreign cars and car parts. It's like being in time warp.
The city of Remedios with the church in the background...it's one of the earliest Spanish settlements in Cuba dating back to the 1500s. You could take a day trip here from the resort. Bare streets...hardly anyone owns a car.
Old cars!
You could buy two beer on the bus for $5 Canadian. There was a group of people who were making it their mission to help our guide beat his previous record for beer sold on the ride to the resort. They bought him out of the 94 beer he had. Thank heavens, we stopped at this train museum for a washroom break.
Let's get going! There is a beach and a resort waiting for us!
Old cars!
An interesting balcony or lookout...
Old cars!
Onto to the 48 km causeway to take us to Cayo Santa Maria. In 2017, hurricane Irma caused extensive damage to the causeway and to the resorts.
A bird's eye view of the causeway...
We would go by the dolphinarium several times during our stay...
And we've arrived! There are three separate hotels on the resort. Grand Paraiso, Grand Memories, which is the largest, and the adults-only Sanctuary, where we were staying.
Heading in...
It was about 1 pm by now. We were happy to arrive!
The rooms were nice...not fancy, but they were clean...
And we quickly figured out how to operate the air conditioning. Not too humid, right?
View from the balcony...
My first gecko...I've come a long way from freaking out when I first saw one of these years ago.
Crazy cactus...
Signs, signs, everywhere signs ♫
The three hotels...I could see some steps in my future! The Sanctuary, on the right, had a buffet and a restaurant, adults-only beach and pool, so really there was no need to leave if you didn't want to.
We were in Block 59...
We decided to explore a bit and get the lay of the land...
It was all downhill to the Grand Memories part of the resort, so you know what that meant coming back. These steps appeared to go...nowhere.
This purple heart wandering Jew reminded me of Dad. He used to make us laugh with his crazy names for things. He called this Creeping Jesus...close enough!
A stop we would make many times over the next two weeks...waiting in line at the bank.
The Canada flag! Most of the guests are Canadian. I don't think we came across one American in our stay. Canadians are very much appreciated in Cuba.
The bar at Grand Memories...we might have spent an hour or two here.
Old cars!
And the sun set on our first day...
Tomorrow...to the beach...or pool. Big decisions!
1 comment:
I absolutely love your blogs! Great descriptions and photos!
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