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Wednesday November 4, 2009
After work, I picked up Marcin at Queen's and Nicole at The Sleepless Goat. I had hired myself out, through an internet ad, as taxi service to Toronto and they were to be my fares at $20 each. This would cover my gas there and back. It was an uneventful ride up. I dropped them at the Yorkville Mall. I had elected not to get a room for the night since my flight left at 6:00 am and I had to be there around 3:00 a.m. With lots of time on my hand, I took in a movie at the mall and saw "Couples Retreat" which was okay. At 11:00 I drove over to SkyParxx, left my car and was shuttled to the airport (67.46 for the week). I wandered around the terminal looking for a suitable place to spend the night. None of the chairs were particularly comfortable. Suddenly, I spotted exactly what I was looking for. Apparently a furniture company had set up a display in the middle of Terminal 3. It consisted of a mock living room with a couch, two easy chairs, a table and rug. It was cordoned off. Perfect! I slipped under the cordon, arranged my bags, set my alarm and put it on the table. Then I curled up on the couch. The next thing I knew, it was 4:00 a.m. and my alarm was going off. I should have gotten the model number of that couch as it was quite nice. I would recommend it.
Thursday November 5, 2009
Left my classy display room and checked my baggage with SkyService. As per usual, my carry on bag was subject to a search because of my harmonica which showed up in the x-ray machine. The flight left at 6:30 a.m. and arrived at the Cayo Coco Airport at 10:00 a.m. I made sure I was the last one on the bus (which would ensure that I was first off) but it turned out to be pointless as there were only 4 of us going to my resort. It was about a 50 minute ride to the Club Villa Cojimar for which I paid in total for the week of $551.25 (including flight, hotel, all taxes, meals, drinks etc). It was raining when I checked in. I was given a room and set out to find it. It was a long walk and then up some stairs to the second floor. I swiped my key, all prepared to relax. Unfortunately, when I entered, the room was already occupied by another guest. I had to return to the lobby where they apologized and told me they would have another room for me in half an hour. My second room (#60) was much closer, nicer and on ground level so that worked out well for me.
After setting up my little home, I went to the Grill and had some fries for lunch. Very good! It was sunny now so I set off exploring and took the beach to the left, walking about 3 miles until it turned into hard coral. The beach is pure white sand and you have to walk about ½ a kilometer out in the ocean before it gets deep.
Eventually I returned to my room to relax after a day of travel and to watch some satellite tv - a luxury compared to the 3 channels I get at home. For supper I wandered over to the buffet restaurant. I found it very good with lots of variety.
Later, I explored some more of the resort then played a golf putting game that the entertainment staff set up for the guests. I got 60 points but the winner beat me a 75 and took home a bottle of rum.
Friday November 6, 2009
Got up and had a hot shower. I always had hot water at this resort which isn't always the case at other resorts in Cuba. Went for breakfast at the buffet. Great omelettes. I added my own cheese from their cheese trays. They had green melons which were excellent. Prior to this, I was never a melon fan but these were really good. The papayas were excellent as well.
While looking around in the hotel stores I discovered they had a guitar for sale. I took care of that. This way, I was able to fulfill my band contract and do my required 1 hour of daily practice.
After checking out my new guitar, I filled up my insulated water bottle with pina colada from the bar and headed to the beach. I went to the right this time. I could only go about ¾ of a mile as it ended with "No Tresspassing - Military Zone" signs. Two small military dogs came out to greet me. I played with them while a soldier mowed the lawn around a military building.
I returned to meet my tour representative but apparently they had given me the wrong time so I'll have to try tomorrow.
Back at my room, Marisol, my maid had created a swan out of my blankets. She told me how impressed she was at my neatness, saying that the other guests were not like that. Of course that worked in her favour as I then had to be super neat all week to stay in her good graces.
Saturday November 7, 2009
Got up and had another hot shower. I tried unsuccessfully to duplicate a blanket swan to leave for Marisol. I finally gave up. The best I could come up with was a giant penis (just kidding).
They have an excellent hot chocolate machine which quickly became my favourite breakfast drink. Had some guayabas which brought back memories of growing up in Mexico where I had my own guayaba tree.
It was cloudy today with rain off and on but it was still quite warm. I explored some more of the resort. They have an excellent archery range but when I inquired as to trying it out, I was informed that all the bows were broken. This is pretty typical at all the resorts so I wasn't surprised in the least.
I retuned to my room to find Marisol eyeing my new guitar. I gave it to her to play for a while. She was quite good but had problems as her nails were quite long. She left so I practiced for a while.
I met Meiti, my tour rep (from Montreal). She was quite nice and helpful. I ate at the buffet restaurant again. I think they had turkey tonight which was excellent. Their fries are also excellent. I combined the fries with some turkey gravy and then added some cheese from the cheese tray. Voila…Poutine!!
Sunday November 8, 2009
It was rainy and dull again today but still very warm. I did some reading and guitar practice. Later I went to see Meiti and talked with her for half an hour. I booked a motorboat tour through her. I asked about playing pool as they had a nice little table set up. Apparently there were no balls. Instead I played a game of bingo with the guests and entertainment staff.
For supper tonight they had a trio playing guitars to entertain me while I ate my poutine. I mentioned to the trio and also everyone else I met, that I would be interested in buying a used guitar for my collection. I put out the word, but never did get any results.
Monday November 9, 2009
Sunny today! Yipee! After breakfast, I filled up my water bottle with iced pina colada and walked down the beach to the Iberostar Resort where I laid out in the sun and read for a couple of hours. I retuned for lunch then visited Maite. She had told me that she had the use of a car occasionally. I offered to have her drive me to Moron and I would buy her supper but today was a day she didn't have the car.
I decided to go for a bike ride…but unfortunately, the bike keeper had lost the key to unlock them. It was never found during my stay. Instead I decided to rent a scooter…but they were unavailable at the time. I sauntered over to the snack bar. I met Sue Clarke from Leominster, Herefordshire, England and talked to her for a while. Mislabia (one of the entertainers) asked if she could have supper with me tonight and of course I agreed. I waited for her by the buffet restaurant at 8:00. I didn't recognize her as she was out of her hotel uniform and all dressed up. Later, she invited me to watch the entertainment show which she was in. It was well done and you could tell they put a lot of effort and practice into it. After, I met her at the disco and we sat with her 5 girlfriends from the show. Later the resort doctor joined us. Mislabia couldn't dance as she had hurt her foot. I went back to my room and got her some Ibuprofen as it was swollen and bothering her. I "bought" a few rounds of beers for the staff as they aren't allowed to get drinks from the bar. Had a good time.
Tuesday November 17, 2009
Got up and had another hot shower. Chatted with Mislabia at the entertainment hut then had breakfast. I caught my 10:30 bus to the marina (only about ½ a mile away) where I had booked my "Boat Adventure" for $45.00 U.S. The write-up stated, "Watch out James Bond!! Who hasn't dreamt of driving their own speed boat? Drive fast through the mangrove forests of Cayo Guillermo until you arrive to a snorkeling spot where you will see the most amazing exotic fish species! After snorkeling, drive your boat all the way to shore and keep your tuba as a souvenir. Fast pace guaranteed!! There were two people to every boat…but since I was the odd man out, I got a boat by myself. There were about 15 boats and we all followed the leader in a zigzag pattern. It was pretty much full throttle all the way. We were informed that they were impossible to flip over. "Oh reaaaallly" thought I remembering similar words from my brother-in-law minutes before swimming away from his overturned sailboat. However, in this case, try as I did, they were right and I was unable to flip the little boat. At one point my engine cut out and I was left behind. The guide came back and had me going in under a minute. We pulled up to a dock in the mangroves which had a family of beaver like rodents begging for food. They were quite tame. The guide said they were near-sighted so to watch out for your fingers and toes. We snorkeled against the current through a channel in the mangroves following a rope. I put my digital camera in my waterproof bag but unfortunately, when I turned it on, the lens couldn't open as it was hitting on the bag. This ended up killing my camera so I was unable to take any more photographs from this point on. All in all it was a pretty good tour. The top speed of the boat was about 25mph but it seemed fairly fast when you went through the mangroves. James Bond would probably have found it a little on the mild side, but true to the advertisement, we did get to keep our "tubas".
Back at the resort, Mislabia talked me into entering the kayak contest. I had mentioned that I had a kayak at home. There were about 20 of us, mostly younger guys in their 20s. We had to maneuver an open kayak from one end of the pool and back. Best time would win a bottle of rum. Several people tipped over. The time to beat was 37 seconds and I came in with 34. For that I received my bottle of rum and a bonus kiss from Mislabia.
Sue invited me to sit in the lounge with her and her family and friends. We sat around talking for several hours and had a good time. She suggested having supper together but I had already accepted a supper invitation with Mislabia.
Had supper with Mislabia. One of her entertainer friends joined us as well. She complimented me on my kayaking skills saying that she didn't let anyone know that I was a professional. Afterwards I went to the disco and sat with Mislabia and her seven female entertainer friends. "Bought" a few rounds then I met Sue for a drink. We sat in the lobby and talked for a couple of hours then we went to the entertainment show which was good as usual. After we got some more drinks and went back to the lobby to talk. The lobby seems to be the only place that has little biting, flying insects. They are a little annoying to me, even though most bugs tend to leave me alone.
Wednesday November 10, 2009
At breakfast today, I ran into my friend from Kingston, Dr. Simon Ramesar. We were both surprised to find each other there. We had planned to have dinner but I didn't run into him again until I was leaving. I was supposed to meet Mislabia for lunch but couldn't find her. I did, however, find Sue so we had lunch and spent the rest of the day together. We walked up the beach to the Iberostar where she got us a couple of drinks (after covering her arm band with her towel). On returning to our resort, Sue was using the outside beach tap to wash the water off her feet. Jokingly, I asked if she wanted me to push the button beside the tap. She thought it was for the other tap and pushed it herself, thinking that it would allow me to use the other tap. It was actually for the overhead shower and it completely soaked her. She chased me to my room where I played her a couple of songs on my guitar to try and make up for my trick. She was actually supposed to have left yesterday but her flight was delayed one day. We walked back to the Iberostar later to buy a wooden cat for her friend. We hung around together all day. I saw Sue and her family and friends off on her 6:30 bus. I was sad to see her leave.
I met Mislabia for supper then joined her and her friends at the disco again. Later, I played her an hours worth of songs on my guitar. She didn't know any of them. I gave her my list of 200 songs. She was reading through and finally said excitedly, "I know this one, I know this one!!" Of course it was one by the Beatles that Lynda had told me to change the title on as a joke. Mislabia said, "I know this one - I Want To Hold Your Gland". I had to explain the joke as I didn't want her repeating it to her English clientele.
Thursday November 11, 2009
I did my packing yesterday since checkout time today was at 6:30. I spotted Dr. Ramesar and talked to him before catching my 7:30 bus to the Cayo Coco airport.
My plane left at 11:30 and I arrived back in Toronto at 2:30. Customs was a breeze. No one checked my guitar which was sealed in a box. Skyparxx picked me up within minutes of my toll free call and I was on the road headed home by 3:10. I stopped in Belleville for supper at Wendy's and arrived at Don and Wendy's in time for our 7:00pm to 1::30am band practice.
I was actually a little wary of going to this resort , as it had some extremely
bad reviews but I would have to say they were totally uncalled for. I have
nothing but good things to say about it. It was excellent and you could not
have a better staff. The entertainment staff were the best of all the resorts
I'd been to. They were very energetic and kept it up continuously all day.
I think the people who write these poor reviews must be very uppity, living
in their castles with their own personal maids and be very unsatisfied with
life. Personally, I had a great time and would go back there in a second.
Click the link below to see a slide show of the trip
