The Trip of a Lifetime: Conclusion

We went to a disco called 'The Pirate Cave' on the Wednesday Night. It was near our hotel and apparently just for tourists, but it was in a real cave - so that made it totally worth it. We went with a couple cool girls from Toronto we met at the resort - Leslie and Michelle. It was THE party night of party nights. The music was great. We found a cave kitty in the bathroom. Good times.








And now for some general thoughts on Cuba...

I can't imagine being a second class citizen in my own country. The tourists ride around in luxury coaches [far nicer than my usual ride to Toronto] and comfortable, newer model rental vehicles while the 'worthy' locals ride around in 1960s American cans, but the majority of locals hitch hike.

It's almost Disney-fied. Tourists use a separate currency than the locals [convertable pesos] and they're worth more than the Canadian dollar.

We saw families who have very little. 'Panhandling' is very common. While I was standing alone in Havana, a little girl touched my shirt and her mother said 'one dollar' and pointed to her daugher. I don't consider myself an overly materialistic person, but it makes me appreciate the things... and the relationships that I do have.

Tourists can be obnoxious. I watched this woman demand a paper towel at the bar. The bartender didn't understand. She continued her demands by speaking louder and slower. I was embarrassed for her. I don't believe Bounty - the quicker picker upper is exactly common in Cuba. Then I tripped her. Just kidding. But it would have been satisfying.

The funny thing about a resort is that you're around the same people all day long... and you begin to develop names for them because you're drunk and catty. So thank you to the following people for adding extra entertainment to the trip:

-The Aberfamily [an entire family of models... we loved to hate them]
-Tristan and his mom [a cute 5-year-old worried about looking cool and mom not embarrassing him in front of us... I was 13 when I hit that stage... what a diva]
-King Cholo, Prince Cholo and the Duke of Cho [upwardly mobile white trash]
-Dirty Hot [lowered expectations]
-Amy Shih-tzu Winehouse [the nicest bartender with the tallest hair ever]
-Caliente

Conquest vacations went under while we were there. People who travelled with them were told they had to pay $55/night to continue their stay at the resort.


This was the best feature of the resort - 'The Unnecessary Bridge'. It was a bridge over land with pathways on either side at grade. We always climbed over the bridge. It was so unnecessary.

Where am I going next?