Back to Havana

When I woke up, I got ready to leave as we were heading back to Havana. At breakfast, I told them I wasn't feeling well and the guy in charge of the casa went and got me electrolytes, which is probably why I was sick in the first place. I'm sure I was dehydrated, although I also think something didn't agree with me. I ate a few pieces of fruit and drank some chamomile tea before needing to run back to the room to be sick again. It turns out there were 4 of us sick. The team voted to skip our trip to Santa Clara on the way to Havana as it would add a few hours of travel. I was bummed but also grateful. Orledis stopped at a drugstore on our way out of Trinidad and bought some electrolytes. He filled my water bottle up to 1 litre and gave me 4 packs of the strawberry flavoured powder. And he made me drink it. I was sick at the rest stop too and was just exhausted from being up all night. I didn't feel nauseous anymore as Drugstore Janet (she's a paramedic) had given me a nausea pill, but I felt weak and tired from not sleeping. Once we arrived in the casa and were given our rooms I asked Orledis if there was a way to get some bananas. He asked the guy at the casa who went out and got me a whole bunch and wouldn't let me pay him. I ate one and went to bed for the afternoon. I felt way better by evening, though starving. I had another banana and got ready for the farewell dinner. Orledis took us to a restaurant nearby, with air conditioning. I ordered a Sprite, white rice and some chicken that sounded pretty plain. When the food arrived, it turned out that the chicken wasn't just lemon but also coated in crunchy plantains and deep fried. They were delicious but I only had a few. After dinner we went back to the casas where we said goodbye to each other and Orledis. It was sort of a bummer ending to an awesome week as so many of us weren't feeling great. But it was an amazing time regardless. I am so grateful to have met so many wonderful people and that Orledis was our guide. He was outstanding!

Orledis and I after the farewell dinner....

Hikes, waterfalls and beaches

This morning we woke up and found out that Rebecca, from Australia had been really sick in the night and was in the clinic. Technically it was a free day for us, but we had asked if we could pay Nelson to drive us to the waterfalls instead of paying a tour and Orledis said yes and he would come and be our guide. He also offered to take us to the beach. With Rebecca in the clinic, Orledis was unable to come with us, but the rest of us went with Nelson (after a quick visit at the clinic to check on our team mate). Orledis had given us instructions to get to the waterfalls but also said that we could hire a guide and gave us some prices. When we arrived, we bought our tickets and then decided to just try it on our own. 

Check out this moth! I thought it was a bird until it landed!

We had a wonderful walk through the woods with beautiful scenery. 

We walked right past this farmer's front door!

Every seen the live version of the jungle book? These are bees nests...just, thankfully, smaller than the ones in the movie!

Even though it was shady, it was very humid and it didn't take long to be ready for a dip in the fresh water pool beneath the waterfalls. Janet and I led the pack and had a great time chatting along the way. When we arrived, it was fairly empty so we were able to get some photos of the waterfall before some of us jumped in. 

The sunscreen makes me shiny....haha

I decided to go in from the bottom and went down to take off my stuff and my shoes. The rocks were large and shot up from the ground, angling in one direction, making it awkward to walk on. I nearly slipped as I entered the cool water as the rocks there were covered in algae. A man gave me his hand and helped me in. The water was freezing and it took me awhile before I could get all the way in. I didn't go far, just enjoying the refreshing pool and chatting with those who didn't want to swim. Some of the others had gone closer to the waterfall where there were also caves and said there were bats inside, no thanks! We didn't stay too long and were all ready to head back to the bus. The walk took us about 45 minutes each way and I was glad we went early as we encountered many groups heading towards the falls as we left. 

Some sheep back at the parking lot when we returned.

We got back to our casas where some people went to rest, or use wifi, and some of us went to grab lunch and then wander around. We found a great little cafe with cheap food and AC. Afterwards, we walked around, checking out markets, but the sun was getting strong. 

If you want to know how wasteful we are in North America, check out this plastic chair that's been stitched back together!

It was extremely hot out by the time I got back, but I only had 10 minutes until the beach. Diana was in the room sleeping and when I got back and told her it was nearly time, she said she didn't feel well and was going to stay back. We drove the few minutes to the beach when Nelson pulled over. He had found a flamingo! 

We arrived at the beach and found a shady spot. 

We decided to get some beach chairs and those were brought over. Three of us girls went in to check out the ocean. There was quite a bit of debris in the water but it was a beautiful colour. The ocean was really warm though so didn't feel refreshing until we go out and the breeze hit our wet skin. We sat around chatting when Ralph told us the best story. I won't give too much detail because it's not my story and I know I can't tell it as well as he does, but on his first day he found a park dedicated to ice cream, he went in, after waiting in line for an hour and was taken from a seat outside to an air conditioned room on the second floor by himself. When he was done eating his ice cream, he went to the bathroom, despite two people trying to tell him not to. When he went inside, and did his thing, he noticed a man in there, a very dirty man who looked like a chimney sweep, only wearing an undershirt. He was standing in front of the only sink, washing his personals. While that may sound disturbing, the funniest part (and I'm laughing even now writing this) is how Ralph describes it. The man was well endowed and not well kept, to put it mildly. Anyways, Ralph was a by traumatized by the whole thing, and when he left the bathroom, both people who had tried to tell him not to go in, gave him a knowing look. We all laughed until we cried as he recounted his experience. After a few hours at the beach, we headed back so Orledis could check on his patients. He was taking us out for dinner at 7 so I had a couple of hours to do some laundry and shower. Diana wasn't feeling well at all so Orledis got her a Sprite and before I went for dinner I popped out to get her a new water. 

Dinner was in another hotbox. It also had a fan which blew warm air. We were in a back room which didn't help so there was no fresh air. I wasn't that hungry and dinner included a starter and salad so I ordered the vegetable Paella. Once it came, I could barely eat as I was already full, and probably the heat didn't help. Dessert came and I passed mine on to Ralph as I wasn't feeling it but ate some pineapple garnishes instead. After we left, I felt a bit sick to my stomach, but figured it had to be the hot restaurant. I got back to the room and got ready for bed quickly as I was exhausted. I took some pepto as I was still queasy. I fell asleep right away, and a short while later, maybe an hour or two, I woke up really nauseous. I went to the bathroom where I threw up, several times. I felt much better but also worse. I went to bed after taking some more pepto first. After that, I woke up every hour, feeling like I was going to be sick or just feeling achy. 

All the way to Trinidad

We woke up early and had the most amazing, fresh mango for breakfast. No eggs, but we did have ham and cheese grilled sandwiches. There was also fresh buns and turnovers. Lily had once again made mango juice. Orledis and Nelson joined us for breakfast before we did the city tour of Cienfuegos. Nelson took our bags on the bus and we walked from the casas to explore the city.

Orledis told us some of the history of the city. This town was founded by the French and you can see the influence in the buildings and the style of streets and parks. 

We walked through a "thrift" shop used by local Cubans and saw different markets. 

Check out the size of that mango!

We walked along through a street market and saw the bay there. 

I tired to bend down in front so you could see more of the car but it looks like I have a huge bubble butt instead!

It was extremely hot so it was a relief to get on the bus. We drove along and saw some of the larger homes of the area. We then stopped at a beautiful restaurant that was inspired by Alahambra in Spain. We went to the rooftop to get some nice views and enjoyed a free cocktail. 

Orledis loved jumping in front of our pictures!

We had to pay for the rooftop view but it came with a free drink! And Orledis ordered and delivered them! Those are lemondas with rum!

 Afterwards we were on our way to Trinidad. Along the road we passed a shrimp farm and we stopped to get some photos. 

Just before arriving in Trinidad, we stopped in to the home of a man who does pottery. We saw him working at the spinning wheel, on a hat. 

He had a really old Ford there as well which was pretty cool.

This poor parrot had no feet! :( It lived in the pottery store.

After wards we went to lunch.

Orledis liked to goof off!

It was so grossly hot. The restaurant had an outside patio which was covered with what looked like terra cotta tiles but I think were actually metal. It trapped the heat, causing it to be extremely hot. They put in some fans, but it was just blowing hot air. Our choices of meals were slim and nothing that really interested me but I chose the garlic shrimp. It was expensive too. More than I've paid for any other meal. As we waited for food, we all watched this beautiful blue and green lizard try to eat another poor lizard. It actually looked like it was in his mouth but he just had the little guy by the throat. At one point, he dropped it and it hit the floor with a thud. Well, the little guy was alive and made a run for it but big blue pounced off the wall to the floor and got him again. Again, he fell to the floor and we really all thought he was dead. But big blue was farther up the wall and he managed to escape. After we ate we saw the same thing happen with two different lizards. 

These parrots looked so hot... :(

The plan was to do a city orientation tour and then go to our casas but we asked if we could go to the casas first because we were all extremely hot and uncomfortable. We had an hour before the walk and I had a quick snooze with the AC and fan going. 

We went on our little walk, of this beautiful colonial city. 

We stopped in this cool bar for a Mojito! When in Cuba...

This bar is called Yesterday! Haha There's a theme....

Original, old cobblestone which was really hard to walk on.

This place said it was open 24 hours! Yikes!

By then it was almost 7 so we went straight to dinner. The restaurant was really cool except that we waited over an hour for our food. Orledis and Nelson joined us just before the food all came, even theirs! At the end, we surprised Orledis with dessert and we all sang Happy BIrthday to him, guitar players and everything!

Since it's mom's birthday today I went to find wifi. I managed a few messages but the connection was terrible. Back to the room to wash clothes, shower and write this and now I'm off to bed. Tomorrow, we have waterfalls and the beach!