Wow Cuba!  This was certainly a memorable vacation.  Let’s see, taking a speed boat through the everglades, stopping to eat fresh fruit and then racing the tour guide – one exhilarating excursion!  A taxi ride to the local village and browsing through the market, unveiled two face masks carved from the wood of Mahagua – an erect forest tree native to Cuba and Jamaica – couldn’t resist those, which I fondly glance at on my wall back at home.

The Hotel Playa Pesquero provided great evening entertainment, plenty of dancing – only to be expected in the home of Cuban Son; good food (nice fish restaurant on the beach); 24/7 ice cream parlour.  A water shortage crisis did cause a few problems, although I think we were in the best spot, as holidaymakers from neighbouring resorts had to be accommodated, but I was glad we went with Thomas Cooke because they were quick to respond and compensate us for the inconvenience and disruption upon our return.

A great time in Holguin, didn’t realise how big Cuba was though, we were hoping to take in Havana and see the famous old cars, but we ended up at the opposite end of this large island with a two hour plane journey between us and the capital.  I didn’t think the main resort of Varadero would be our cup of tea, as it is one of the biggest resort areas in the Caribbean and looked too busy for us.  Sometimes you just can’t do everything in one visit, what a good excuse to plan the next one, Havana here we come!