Day 2 - Cuba

My intention was to wake up at 9 am, with the help of my alarm, and take part in an orientation session at 9:30. Oops, I neglected to account for the change in time zone! We had intentionally missed the hotel breakfast, deciding that rest was a more important priority. After getting ready for the day, our second priority was getting our Canadian currency changed to CUCs - convertible Cuban currency. We asked for directions to a bank, several times actually, and were unable to find a business resembling a bank. We did find some type of money exchange place but it was closed and there was already a large group of people waiting for it to open. Some locals wanted to do business with us but we weren't interested in that type of 'deal'.

We headed off in another direction down the main street and did locate a real bank. Our debit and credit card didn't work in their machines so we got in a long line for the bank. After about 20 minutes I left Tracy in the line and headed back to our hotel to exchange some money, despite knowing their exchange rate was less advantageous. When I returned to the bank, we decided to wait some more and get the transaction done.

After that strange experience, we had lunch at our hotel. It has a patio cafe/restaurant with live entertainment. The lunch, a stuffed chicken breast, was passable. Their rum drinks were delicious but a mistake. We were soon very sleepy and went back to the room for a nap. We hadn't gotten settled yet when the hotel room telephone rang. It was two employees from the bank, in the lobby, wanting us to come down and talk with them. Apparently the teller had made a mistake and wanted some of the money back. But they were confused as to how much we owed them. It was difficult to understand with very poor Spanish, but we finally agreed on how to solve the problem. So weird!

A short nap helped a lot. We headed down the Paseo del Prada, a beautiful boulevard leading to the San Salvador Castillo and the ocean. By that time, it was cloudy yet still warm. The ocean was wild and the waves were crashing against and over the concrete walls. It was impossible to stay dry.

Crossing the street was an adventure as well. On the way back to our hotel, we stop in a little art store where we found a few nice small pieces and had an interesting conversation with the two gentlemen working there.

It got dark shortly after 6 I think and we walked a long ways looking for a recommended restaurant. It was so popular, there were line-ups there.

I refused to stand in line again for who knows how long so we headed back near our hotel. Earlier we had seen a nice pasta place. I ordered the lobster penne and strawberries, in the form of a strawberry daiquiri that is!

 I hope the bands (from above us and below us) aren't too noisy tonight!

Day 1 - Cuba

We've been in Havana less than 24 hours and what a first day! Our plane left on time and we made good time in the air. It took approximately 5 hours and 15 minutes before we arrived at the airport in Varadero, shortly after 2 am, Cuban time. First, there were long lines at customs, followed by a carry-on luggage scan, and then a longish wait for our suitcases to appear on the carousel. After that, we were directed to a waiting bus which had another couple seated. I thought there would be more passengers joining us us from the almost full charter plane but the 4 of us were the only ones headed into Havana.

It was another hour and 20 minutes until we reached our destination: the Hotel Inglaterra, the oldest hotel in the city. Check in was easy and we headed up to our room on the 3rd floor.

We were delighted that we had a balcony and even more delighted with the view - the Gran Teatro de La Habana. Despite the time, there were passersby strolling down the street.

We are pleased with our room which has 12 foot ceilings and the entry doors are at least 9 feet in height! The room is old but then this hotel dates from 1875 and is full of character. It was 5 am local time before we hit the hay.  

Day 22 Botswana , Namibia & Zambia

Today was my last early morning wake up, other than the plane home, that is. We were on the road by 7 AM and headed north. It was a combination of paved as well as gravel.

By 8 AM we were at the Namibian border crossing. Each time you come to a border between countries, you must get your passport stamped at the office of the country you are leaving. Then you get back in the vehicle, drive a few hundred yards, get out again and visit the immigration office of the country you are arriving at. We did this 6 times today!

Namibia has a long narrow section extending into the north end of Botswana and this is where we drove for much of the day. The countryside seemed similar to Botswana, but we noticed that the huts were built in a square style rather than Botswana’s round shape.

I read and slept and read and slept. Perhaps I missed villages and towns, but Namibia seemed to be more sparsely populated. We stopped at service stations a couple of times to use the toilets and buy some snacks, but we didn’t feel like our business was wanted. For lunch we had sandwiches which had been prepared for us on the houseboat, and we ate in transit.

We went through a few national parks, stopped to wet our feet at hoof and mouth disease control centers, and drove and drove. The day was a long, tedious one.

We got to the boat crossing into Zambia in good time but were delayed there a bit while we changed vehicles.

By the time we got to our hotel in Livingstone it was 5 PM – a 10 hour day. The whole group met for supper one last time and we shared our favorite experience for each of the days.

We ended the evening with a shot of amarula, a traditional drink made in South Africa from the fruit of the marula tree.

It’s been an amazing three weeks!

Day 21 Botswana - Tsodilo Hills & Bird Watching

You would think that being on holiday on a houseboat on the Okavango Delta, one would be able to sleep in but no. Our guides like getting up early. The generator started at 6 AM and that was our wake-up call. There was hot water for a morning shower too! Breakfast was at 6:30 and we were on the 15 seater speed boat by 7 AM.

Our destination was the Tsodilo Hills. After a 10 minute boat ride, we had 30 k’s of pavement, then 40 k’s on rough gravel. When we reached the gates of Tsodilo, there was another 5 kilometers of even rougher roads after which I reached for my Ibuprophen.

Tsodilo Hills is a World Heritage Site (since 2001) with the richest concentration of San Rock Paintings in the world. It has been inhabited for about 30,000 years and home to more than 4,000 San Bushman paintings.  A guide took us on a walking trail around what is known as the female mountain.

We saw about 25-30 of the paintings as well as some caves where the San people slept and used as living quarters. The rocks were quite beautiful, even the ones without paintings because of their natural coloring.

The paintings were red and done with a combination of blood, animal fat and urine. Yikes! Who concocted that recipe?! Remarkably they have lasted for 3,000 years. Newer, white paintings have been done over top of some of the older ones.

After our hour and a half walk we went thru their museum, then headed to a place in the village where women sell crafts. Anton, our guide, suggested we patronize them because selling crafts is their primary source of income. We drove through the village and down a road to a fenced group of traditional buildings. Very soon, several women were there with some blankets and proceeded to display their crafts.

There were lots of beautiful necklaces and I purchased 2 of them as well as a keychain. It is made from coconut and an elephant, giraffe, acacia tree and an aboriginal hunter carved into it.

Soon more women came and many children gathered around. Someone asked for permission to take a photo and when it was granted, I followed suit. One little girl in particular, was not camera shy at all and managed to be in every one of my photos! I always show the photo to my subjects after shooting and they were tickled pink! I would have liked to stay longer but it we had to go.

We stopped in Shakawe at a grocery store for some snacks then went back to our houseboat via speedboat for lunch. After lunch, the houseboat headed back to where we first started from. At 4PM we got on board the speedboat once again for a bird watching excursion.

We saw a good variety of birds as well as crocodiles and hippos in the water.

With a moving boat and flighty birds, it was difficult to get good clear photos.

Oh well. I enjoyed the warm breeze, the peace and quiet, and the beautiful blue of the water and sky.

Although our guides said it was guinea fowl, supper was chicken I think. It is a warm evening but I expect it will cool off during the night again.

Day 20 - Shakawe Houseboat

We left Maun at 8:30 AM and headed north along black top. Today we have a nice van instead of our open safari vehicle. What comfort compared to other days. There were plenty of potholes but at least there was no wind blowing in my face and I was able to read my Kindle and snooze.

It was a long drive – about 5.5 hours. We had to stop to clean our shoes at a ‘Hoof and Mouth’ checkpoint again. And we had to stop and/or slow down at least a dozen times for animals crossing the road. They weren’t exciting sightings like giraffe or elephants, but cattle, mules, goats and horses. I thought we were going to hit some on occasion but we didn’t of course.

We arrived at our destination, Shakawe, at 2 PM and boarded our accommodation for the next 2 nights. We are travelling by houseboat down the Okavango Delta. The water where we flew over yesterday would have been impossible to navigate with a large craft. Further north, the channels are much wider and deeper. Our group of 9 plus 2 guides are only guests on this houseboat, which goes by the name of ‘Kabbo’.

After we put our stuff in our cabins we were served a nice lunch of spaghetti, meat sauce and salad. Another gal and I went for walk nearby before the boat took off but there really wasn’t much to see. On shore, there was a wooden canoe which I was hoping we were going to use but they have a larger craft for excursions. I sat in the canoe anyway, just for the experience.

Around 3:30 we left where we were moored and headed out at an easy pace. The grass along the banks is incredibly tall, perhaps 10-12 feet. There are quite a few birds in and around the water of course. We also saw crocodiles and even elephants.

I was in the middle of a great story on my Kindle and anxious to continue, so I found a quiet spot at the rear of the boat. It was most enjoyable sitting in the shade with a glass of wine. However when the sun came around, the heat in combination with the wine, made me quite sleepy so I lay down for a nap.

I was woken up by my roommate who came to tell me the sun was setting. It was beautiful and clear. We’ve noticed how perfectly blue the skies are here in Botswana, particularly in the Maun area. We have moored for the night and the mosquitoes and bugs are out in full force.

Supper was some kind of steak, noodles, veggies and a delicious coleslaw. It is very dark out there and much to our surprise we have an early morning tomorrow. It’s not 9 PM yet and many have gone to bed. I’m headed there soon. This is so not me!

Day 19 Botswana - Maun

We didn’t have to leave until 8 AM today so the alarm wasn’t set for 5:30 AM. We left the bush lodge we’ve been at for the past 2 nights and headed into Maun, Botswana. It was about an hour on the rough highway, followed by another hour on black top – hurray!

We arrived at our hotel by 10 and went for a coffee break. Then a group of us went in search of some stores for Botswana souvenirs. We took a taxi because our hotel was quite a ways out of town. Although Maun is the country’s 5th largest city with a population of 60,000, there really isn’t much for shopping. When we got back to the hotel we had lunch in their restaurant.

At 3 PM our guide took us to the Maun Airport where we got checked in for our scenic 45 minute flight over the Okavango Delta. It is one of the world’s largest inland deltas and is considered one of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders. They weren’t ready for us until 4:30 PM.

I was excited when got to sit in the front seat again! But it really was of no advantage. Unlike a helicopter, you can’t even see out of the front windshield of a small 6 seater plane because the dash is so high up. Oh well, it was fun sitting beside the cute pilot!

I was amazed at the size and scope of the delta. I am anxious to learn more about it in the days ahead. I was able to spot elephants, giraffe, kudo or impala perhaps, and several other herds of I-don’t-know-what.

The ground and the water make for an interesting patchwork of greens, browns and blues. I can hardly wait to examine my photos in detail. I’ve got some great abstracts!

After the flight we were whisked off to another activity – a Botswana cultural presentation and dinner. We learned about the work the director is trying to do with disadvantaged, unemployed youth, and watched them perform traditional singing, drumming and dancing.

We learned about their clothing, ceremonies and then had a delicious traditional meal.

My favorite was the pounded beef, made by boiling the beef for hours until it is tender, then pounding it as the name suggests. Yum!

Back late; bed late. I hope I can sleep on the long drive tomorrow.