Today we woke up to a rather grey day, perfect for a walk around the campismo. We started of by following the coast line and after about 20 minutes of walking we got to an all-inclusive resort, the only one in the area. After the resort we encountered some old and forgotten campismos, bit like ghost towns. We wondered around until about 2 pm and then decided to return to the resort and see if we can buy a drink at the bar. By then the weather improved significantly and we were once again grateful for any shade we could find.

We walked through the resort and it was actually a pretty nice five star place with crystal clear swimming pool and fancy bars. We sat down at the beach bar and order two bears, surprisingly enough, no bill was given to us and no one asked us for money… ;)

Hehe, it seems like they though we are guests as well. We were cheeky enough to use this opportunity and chill out on the deck chairs till dawn drinking bears and cocktails and playing volleyball in the pool. ;) It got a bit trickier when the guests started getting friendly, asking us when we got here and when we are leaving and the like, as I am not a very good lair I was bit apprehensive about mixing up my stories. Was great fun in any case!

On the way back we met our Cuban friend and finished the day together with burgers and bear on our terrace at the campismo.

Another early start to the day took us to the beach for another beautiful sunrise. The only other people we could see were fishermen on small boats traversing the coast and baby crabs nibbling on what looked like sand, but probably small pieces of bread left over by humans from the previous day.

After a very meaty breakfast we headed over to the beach where we were yesterday for a day of swimming, snorkling and chilling. When we got to the beach we found many people occupying the best spots already. Not sure what was going on as it was a Wednesday, but we assumed after someone in Havana told us that many cubans dont work on Wednesday. That might explain it. We were good enough to bring with us two pairs of swimming goggles so that we could dive with the fishes and explore some of the nearby reefs without hiring some gear. The water was crystal blue and when the sun shined through the water, it was a amazing to see the local fruits of the ocean.

We are tightening our belts at the moment, whereby we have put ourselves in a position where we need to survive on 10 CUC (€8) / Day in order to meet our budget as we cant change any more euros right here. We would have to go to the nearest town. Previously the main cost was the evening meal where we could easily spend the day budget in one shot, so we were forced to find alternatives. The other day a guy said that they sold bread in our campismo, so I went on a mission to find out. I went to the shop to ask and he didnt have any so I ended up buying a beer instead, however he did show me where I could buy it. I went over to the house where they make Hamburgesas and a fruity drink and asked how much a piece of bread was. She quoted “3 CUP” (National Cuban Pesos) which is approx €0.10!). I ordered “diez pan” (10 pieces of bread) and she went away. It was taking really long and I started to wonder, is she baking the bread… or am I getting hamburgesas? But I thought how could you make a hamburgesa for 10 euro cent? About 5 mins later she came back with a tray full of hamburgesas to my suprise. I handed over the 30 CUP and she was happy, so I quickly ran off with my 10 hamburgesas and wondered… what am I going to do with 10? We only wanted bread for making sandwiches! When I got back, Victoria laughed. We sat down on our little terrace and used the gouda and avacado that was in the fridge to make some tasty cheeseburgers :)

After stuffing down two burgers each we headed up the mountain that overlooks the campismo and the surrounding beaches. It was a very steep climb and part of the way had railings, but even those were falling apart. We eventually made it up to the top for sunset and when we got there we saw some of our neighbours who we got talking to. One girl was from Spain and was here on holiday with her cuban boyfriend. The rest of their friends were cubans. It was cloudy and not much of a sunset. It looked like it was about to rain but it held out while we were getting eaten alive by mosquitos! During the day there are basically none, but before the sun comes up and after the sun sets they all want to come out and play.

At the top we had a well deserved rum with coke and took a few pictures. I also took the opportunity to draw a circle showing where the apartment was where we were staying. We eventually headed down the mountain with Victoria’s headlight that her colleagues gave her as a leaving present. It worked really well and it guided us to safety :)

When we got back we played the game “shithead” with the playing cards we brought with us. After a few games we drunk enough confidence to go over to the campismos’ nightly entertainment, which was basically a group of all ages watching a few guys making jokes, acting and dancing. Needless to say, we had troubles understanding the fast paced spanish and evidently the humour. We stayed around for a while, but then went back to play a few more rounds of shithead before bed.

Today was our first morning at the campismo in Jibacoa, where I woke up at 07:00 by chance and then decided to go to the beach to watch the sunrise on my bill. While doing so I passed the security gate where the security guard was asleep. Great security! Anyway, I got to the beach and experienced a beautiful sunrise while still just being able to open my eyes. While I was doing so I saw a guy walking down the beach in my direction. Funny enough, it was actually the guy we met last evening while strolling eastwards down the beach. We were talking away and then out of the blue came Victoria walking down the beach in our direction. She must have guessed that I would be down the beach.

It soon struck 08:30 where breakfast was being served in the restaurant right next to us. We happened to be the only people there so we started wondering… are we the only ones who have breakfast included or are the Cubans eating somewhere else? Turns out that when we were snooping around in the evening we did indeed find another, much larger restaurant where the Cubans were eating in some kind of buffet manner. The Cubans do dine in another restaurant! We as “Non-Nationals” were being divided from all the fun and the real Cuban way. We did ask the guy if we could eat here but he opologised and made it clear that it was only for Cuban nationals. We did feel a bit upset about that as we did come to this particular campismo to meet and dine with real Cubans  Its a real shame to be secluded to a lonely restaurant.

Anyhow, after breakfast we had a knock on the door from our friend on the motorcycle who offered us a Snorkeling trip to the local reefs for 2 CUC / person (€1.60). We went with him and even got a lift to the local spot on the back of his Chinese MZ motorbike. Quite a popular make here as the Chinese communist state often do business with Cuba. We got the gear and he took us about 100m out into the ocean where we had a look at the reefs there with its coral and beautiful fish. It was great! First time I’ve been to a real reef. Its like being in a completely different world altogether.

Post experience we found a really nice spot on the nearby beach where we chilled and picked fruits from the trees. We went back and made some sandwiches for lunch with avocado, Gouda. mini peppers and black pepper. Simple but tasty! Oh and to wrap them up we used some tissues and gaffa tape to seal them up. Another great use of the ever amazing super tape. More of those examples to come :)