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They call them Almondrones (almonds) but they are more like cockroaches and their cousins, the beetles. They are all large, some are dark in color and look like they have been through a war. Others gleam and glisten, sporting brilliant colors and glossy skins. Like insects, they appear to be fixed on their destinations with a vengence. They roar about town, taking a run at even the slightest incline and they are usually carrying a full load. They are of course the cars. Pre embargo automobiles left over from a time when havana was alive with party goers, gamblers, musicians, artists and holiday makers. In Cuba there are few people who can afford their own vehicle unless they are taxi drivers in which case they provide a service by plying the main calles as public taxis. And no wonder as the public buses are always packed, nose to nose as my Cuban friend describes his daily commute.

Often these are the legendary vehicles from the 40’s and 50’s that have survived the passage of time with the greatest of loving care. To hail one of these taxi’s you stand along the curb on a main artery and stick out your arm, using your fingers to message the driver, telling him how many passengers and about where you are headed. As the taxi slows you shout out your destination and the driver will either stop for you or not. Squeezing in the long bench seats in the front and back of the taxis can bring you into some close encounters with Cubanos, generally of a friendly nature. A CUC will get you all the way form Parque Central in downtown Havana, east along Neptuno to the University of Havana. This kind of ingenuity captures the spirit of the Cuban people who have spent their lives making do and getting by without many of the simple pleasures and privileges that much of the rest of the world enjoys. Nothing is thrown away, nothing is wasted, there is a repair shop for everything and mechanical skills are at a premium.

University of Havana

I attended the university of havana for the month of February at a cost of $300.00 CUCS. The university itself is a spectacular array of classical style buildings with great columns set at the top of steep marble stairs. A friends said she thought she was in Athens on first sight of the university. Like the rest of Havana the university has seen better days and for the first three weeks of class we had to flush the toilets with buckets of water as the pipes were broken. The instructors were great, big hearted women with great senses of humour and they had plenty to laugh at with some of our language fauxpas. My class was great and had a variety of people from all over; Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, England, France and even someone from Campbell River, close to my home town on Vancouver Island.

I wrote an exam on the first day and was placed in the Elemental class with 16 others. Tom decided after a few days to opt for private tutoring made available through the owners of our casa particular. Turned out to be a good decision as his tutor became a great friend to us and I signed up for a few private remedial lessons myself. My spanish did improve but I was in over my head in terms of understanding the profesoras directions. Also for some reason the text book that was promised never appeared so studying from disorganized notes riddled with mistakes didn’t help. Eventually I was allowed to download the text to a flash drive but I only have my ipad and so will have to wait until I get back to my laptop to use it. I liked having the schedule of having a class for half a day and half a day to wander

Places of Note To Wander

Malecon

During the day and late into the night the Malecon is alive with people seeking refuge from the teaming narrow streets. Young Cubanos in particular spend time on the malecon, hanging, partying, singing, dancing, playing instruments and sometimes even fishing. The beautiful blue of the ocean water joins the sky on the far horizon and it is here that you sense that Cuba is indeed an island, set apart, different from anywhere else in the world. The rocky beach below the seawall is lost to the waves that crash up and over the malecon, sometimes right on to the avenida above. It is rumoured that American interests have pre-selected sites along the Malecon for their eventual return to Havana.

La Habana Vieja

As you can imagine, Havana is a haven for artistes and musicians of great talent. From the rubble arises great beauty and the talent and passion of Cubans is evident everywhere especially in Havana Vieja, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Safe during both the day and the evening, Vieja (old) Havana is alive with pedicabs, restuarants, bars, music, hotels, museums, impressive buildings, theatres, parks and wide avenues for strolling and people watching. Rarely do you enter a bar or restaurant but there is live music, dancing and the clatter of dishes and the murmur of people talking and laughing. It is also a tourist mecca and so can become somewhat tiresome if you are in Havana longer than a few days. There is a hop on hop off bus that has a very long three hour route that gives a great overview of Havana including Vieja and costs only 5 CUC’s. In Vieja you can visit the Museum of the Revolution a collection of sad memoriabilia, including bullet ridden uniforms, personal items of dead revolutionairies and of course depictions of and homage to the heros of the revolution most notablly, Che and Fidel. Housed in a the former presidential palace the building itself is being restored and adjascent to it is the Granma, the famous boat that brought Fidel and Che back to Cuba from Mexico in 1956, where they had formulated and consolidated their plans for the revolt against the Batista dictatorship. Among the beautiful places to wander are numerous squares, generally flanked by churches, parks, cathedrals, government buildings, museums and restaurants. They are beautiful at night lit up and aglow dating back to the 1600’s and a time when high-walled facades hid exquisite interiors behind great wooden doors.

” Behind every door or shutter are hidden from the curious passer-by centuries-old memories interrupted dreams, past loves, ambitions and sorrows that only they – the doors- have sealed, and that they will only reveal to those that have the key.” (Quote from Habaguanex, Company Turistica)

Museum of the Revolution

The former presidential palace now houses the museum of the revolution. Filled with sad reminders of the fight against Batista’s regime, heroic diaramas, bullet riddlen jackets and personal items of dead companeros are snuggled amongst a meticulous refurbishment of the palace. Central Havana And Vedado

Central Havana and Vedado around the University are great neighborhoods to wander and both lack the strong tourist presence of Viejo. A night out at the Teatro do los Americos in Centro Havana to see a comedy show was a cultural experience that if nothing else introduced us to Cuban audience behavior. The language was above our heads but we enjoyed watching the audience and since the first part of the show involved audience participation we were treated to a full array of Cuban humour and behaviors. Audience participants were given a much coveted gift of shampoo and conditioner. Walking between the univeristy and Vieja and through Havana Centro reveals a great deal about daily living, shopping, communication and just how the regular havana family lives. Family means a great deal and daily contact is the norm between generations and extended families. Families connections appear to be the key to getting what you need.

Casa Particulares – Mi Casa Es Su Casa!

Ramble in the Rubble

The neglect and disintegration of Havana is both disturbing and alluring. One can only imagine the magnitude of the architectural glory that was once Havana. Time has not been kind to the beautiful avenidas, the once lush green parks and the narrow streets. While the buildings of Havana are frozen in time, its inhabitants have continued their day to day existence. Patching and repairing where money, time and materials have allowed, they modify and compartmentalize once palatial homes to accommodate the large number of people who have migrated from rural to urban Cuba. The buildings, and whatever else remained after the last revolution, stand resolute looking as if they are patiently waiting for life to resume. Even as the buildings crumble, Havana rumbles along, propelled by human spirit and ingenuity. Almost everything in plain sight on the streets of Cuba is held together with a lick and a promise, except in the Old Quarter where the Cuban government goes to great expense to refurbish colonial buildings for the promotion of tourism. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic problems of Venezuela, Cuba no longer receives the subsidies from these two important allies and has come to rely on tourism to a large degree. And tourists there are many and they join the rivers of Cubanos that ramble through the rubble to get from one place to another.

Setting aside three nights for a longer road trip was a good decision as it gave Tom and I a chance to explore more of the Yucatan and the neighbouring state of Campeche. The first night we spent in the colonial town of Valladolid, which is half way between Merida and Cancun. On the way we stopped to visit Sotuta de Peon, a henequen plantation, about an hour and a half from Progreso via Merida. It is a “working” hacienda that goes into production twice a day for the tourists who want to see how the yucca cactus becomes the henequen rope. The hacienda tour is in English and starts in the casa de la hacienda. Beautiful tiled walls and floors are everywhere including on the veranda. High ceilings keep the haciendas cool. According to the animated tour guide these houses were rarely used by the wealthy owners who chose instead to stay in their mansions in Merida. Nevertheless they were beautifully furnished, well stocked

Managed by an overseer, haciendas were really little fiefdoms unto themselves. They had their own currency, laws, stores etc. and even a jail. Local Maya did the hard work of planting, tending and processing the cactus, living out their lives on the hacienda and in the surrounding pueblo. The machinery used in the production of henequen rope is still functional and was invented specifically for the haciendas and of course ramped up production from the earlier times when everything was done by hand.

The first step in making the rope is to remove the skin of the cactus, revealing the fiber which when dried in the sun is separated by a machine and finally it is spun into rope of varying thickness and crated for shipping. The tour at Sotuta de Peon finishes with a burro pulled train ride through the cactus fields to a typical home of a Maya worker. At the home an elder who worked at the hacienda, gave some of its history and impressed us all buy saying goodbye in about a dozen language. The grand finale of the tour is a swim in a covered cenote complete with an air/light shaft, stalagmites and stalagtites. The water is clear and cool and the limestone walls and rock formations are fun to explore.

Back in the car and on the road we reached our next destination just before dark. Valladolid is a beautiful colonial city located midway between Cancun and Merida and it has a cenote right in the heart of town and several in the surrounding areas. This is a great place to stay if you are visiting Chichan Itza or just touring the area south of Merida. It is not necessary to take the toll highway from Merida to Valladolid as there is a free alternative route which takes a little longer but gives you a good look at the countryside.

In Vallodolid, there are a number of inexpensive colonial hotels right off the main square and plenty of places to walk, eat and enjoy the sights including Mayan artisan co-ops.Valladolid is a good reminder that if you don’t like noise, music or colour you won’t want to come to Mexico, but if you do you will really enjoy the atmosphere wherever you go.Among its many charms, Valladolid has great restaurants with authentic Maya food. Yucatano dishes are varied and generally feature fish, seafood, pork and chicken. Beef is not prevalent and most ingredients are local and fresh. Of course they are spiced and prepared in the Yucatano way and are really delicious. Yucatican cuisine is much lighter and the spicing more subtle than in other areas of Mexico. Cheese is used sparingly, but tomatoes, peppers and onions, along with tortillas, form the back bone of many dishes. Juices and smoothies, beer and tequila based drinks, bottled water and cafe con leche are standard.

One could easily spend two or three days in Valladolid wandering the streets and exploring the surrounding area but we had only one night before we headed in a south easterly direction for the State of Campeche and the capital city, Campeche. Although in a different state it is still on the Yucatan peninsula. Along the route we passed through the pueblos, witnessing daily life as it unfolds at a much slower pace than in the cities. The countryside was beautiful and at one point we even gained some height as the road passed over a series of hills before returning to the flats along the coast.

The city of Campeche is a UNESCO world heritage sight. A walled city it necessarily became a fortress to fend off pirates and enemy armies. We stayed in a beautiful old colonial hotel a block off the main square. Tiled floors, high ceilings, open courtyard and long slender french windows overlooking the street made for a comfortable stay. The Campeche Malecon is beautiful and since it is outside the old city walls it is much more modern area. Inside the walls is another story. On the evenings that we were in Campeche, a laser light show was beamed onto the arched walls of the colonial commisario. It told the story of Campeche from prehistoric times to modern days. The visuals were designed to fit snuggly in the arches and on the front of the building, with brilliant colors and playful transitions, it was really entertaining. Folding chairs were set out earlier for the crowd that would come to watch but by the time we arrived the first night it was standing room only.

Also in the main square we watched as a group of mainly women set up for bingo. Instead of letters they use pictures which dates back to a time when literacy rates were lower. Every bit as voracious as the bingo ladies at home, they ranand grabbed at the folding chairs and tables before the delivery man could even set them down, he looked a tad fearful as they lunged at the chairs

On night two we viewed the show from the balcony of a restaurant overlooking the square. Inside the restaurant was brimming with kitchey antiques. Later at our hotel bar we met a group of young Mexicans who were great fun and very interesting. Most of them work in health care, a doctor, nutritionist, hospital administrator with a couple of teachers and a lawyer thrown in for good luck. We have all become fast friends on facebook and will likely visit with them when we return to Mexico in April.

Ruins, cenotes, pueblos, lagoons, haciendas and miles of beautiful beaches…..

Christmas and New Years have come and gone and my friend Tom from Vancouver has arrived to join me before we fly to Havana for a month of Spanish Language classes at the University of Havana. Now an expert at renting cars and friendly enough with Louis at Avis in the Fiesta American to get a “free” second driver rate, Tom and I spread our wings and spent several days exploring the sights around Progreso. The Coast Road which runs east to west along the Gulf is a great highway that skirts the lagoon on one side and the beach on the other. In one day there are many things to see and do.

Cenote – Photo by Thomsonclair

Cenote – Photo by Thomsonclair

Do not leave your lunch unattended! – Photo by Thomsonclair

For the keener, there is an explanation of cenotes below, straight from the Frommers guide book, Cancun and the Yucatan.

Portals to the Underworld

The Yucatan Peninsula is a flat slab of limestone that Millions of years ago absorbed the force of the giant meteor thought o have extinguished the dinosaurs. The impact sent shock waves through the brittle limestone, creating an immense network of fissures that drain rainwater away from the surface. The vast subterranean basin, which stretches for miles across the peninsula, is invisible but for the areas many cenotes – sinkholes or natural wells that exist nowhere else in nature. Many are perfectly round vertical shafts, others are in caverns that retain a partial roof, often perforated by tree roots. To the Maya, they were passageways to the underworld. Indeed they look sacred. Quiet, dark and cool, they are the opposite of the warm, bright world outside.

Carrying on east along the coast highway, you will come across an observation tower built for watching the flamingos. Parading endlessly bank and forth in stick like fashion, creating great cacophony with their honking; serving a purpose known only to them. If enough of them have their head and necks extended they look musical notes prancing on a treble clef. Apparently they are pink because of the amount of shrimp they consume and the older they are the pinker they get. Of course they are not the only bird to be spotted in the mangroves; there are also heron, ibis, etc. but the flamingos seem to draw the biggest crowd.

About 36 km down the highway is the turn off to Xcambo, a Maya ruin; and right at the turn is a natural salt deposit in the bottom of the lagoon. You can wade into the lagoon, bend down, dig into the sandy bottom and grab a fist full of pink salt. Xcambo which in Maya means “the place of the crabs or crocodiles” is a large ruin but has only been partially restored so seems much smaller than it really is. To complement the pyramids and to give a touch of irony, there is a Catholic chapel. Xcombo was occupied from 150 to 300 AD according to archaeologists and was important because it provided salt to the surrounding Maya cities. Not one of the more famous ruins it is a pleasure to visit because you can get up close to everything and do not have to fight the crowds or the hawkers.

Back in the car and back to the highway, we continued east to the small Port of Telchac just in time for lunch. A favorite outdoor restaurant, with somewhat fading Christmas decorations, serves ceviche de camarones and cold beer. After lunch its a good idea to beat the heat with a swim at the beautiful white sand beach just a few streets behind the restaurant which is often deserted except for the seabirds. 

The highway back to Progreso has a turn in for Chicxulub, the small town east of Progreso. It is known for its large market on Thursdays, beautiful beaches, a colorful pier and being the site of the meteorite strike some 65 million years ago. In fact Chicxulub is Maya for “tail of the devil”.

In the other direction from Progreso along the Coast Highway are fishing villages of Chuburna and Chelum. On the way you will see the harbour with its many marinas and a large bridge over the Laguna Chelem. Rents are a little cheaper on this side of Progreso so there are lots of expats who buy or rent the pretty brightly coloured casas that line the beaches.

Celestun is a good two hour drive from Progreso and if done right takes a whole day. You can take a bus from Merida but since we had the rental car, we drove southwest from Merida through the pueblos of Uman and Kinchil. I love the pueblos. Although everyone of them has a main square with a park, a church, a commisario, schools and a commercial area they are decidedly unique and each one has a look that distinguishes it from the next.Sometimes it’s the colours, the state of the streets and buildings, sometimes it’s the people and sometimes it’s the church. In everyone of them, you will see people going about their business, children coming and going from school, teens playing soccer or basketball and if you drive through at night you will see the pueblos come to life with light, sound and people walking and visiting. Must not forget the peros, for the dogs are as much a part of the scenery as the people and on close observation appear to have purposeful pursuits just like their human counterparts. It is well worth stopping, parking and walking around the square in the pueblos, often you will be asked where you are from or you will find a unique little shop or a cafe with delicious Yucatano food that you might not otherwise have discovered. Of course any semblance of main road dissolves as you enter the pueblo and soon you are driving circles around the square looking for the way out of town as signage is sometimes at a minimum.

Main Square – Pueblo Convent  Photo by Thompsonclair

Pueblo Tiendas – Photo by Thompsonclair

Setting up the fair in a Pueblo – Photo by Thompsonclair

Climbing the walls – Photo by Thompsonclair

Schools Out in the Pueblo – Photo by Thompsonclair

Delivery truck in the Pueblo – Photo by Thompsonclair

Old Convent Walls in Pueblo – Photo by Thompsonclair

Every Pueblo has a Church – Photo by Thompsonclair

Every Church has a Jesus… – Photo by Thompsonclair

…And a Mary – Photo by Thompsonclair

A Deluxe Taxi – Photo by Thompsonclair

If the walls could talk On to Celestun, slowed only by curiosity and the multitude of  topes (speed bumps) and what awaits when you arrive is worth any effort to get there. Celestun is in the Parque Natural Ria Celestun and is where you head for a really close up look at the flamingos as the park is a nesting grounds. When you drive into Celestun if is easy to find the beach where you can have lunch at a beach cafe and where you can find a boat to take you down the coast a ways and into the ria to visit the mangroves. The boat trip is not expensive if you wait to get to the beach in the main town and you are willing to go with five or six others to see the ria.

Flamingos in Parque Natural Ria Celestun – Photo by Thompsonclair

 Along the way bird life abounds so bird-lovers are going to like this trip. In addition to beautiful scenery and lots of birds we were lucky enough to see a crocodile, camouflaged and snuggled up against a mangrove tree. He hung about for some minutes before he decided to pay us any attention, even though we were feet away in the safety of the boat. When we finally did seep into his awareness he causally gave a look and slid away into the water.

Pelicanos – Photo by Thompsonclair

Crocodile in Mangroves – Photo by Thompsonclair

Sliding Away – Photo by Thompsonclair

Celestun Shore – Photo by Thompsonclair

A Post for Everyone – Photo by Thompsonclair

Flamingos in Flight – Photo by Thompsonclair

Pink Reflections – Photo by Thompsonclair

Boats of Celestun – Photo by Thompsonclair

Dutch Friends from Boat Trip – Photo by Thompsonclair