🇨🇺 A little R&R in Guanabo
When I arrived in Havana back in mid-December, my original plan was to stay a month or two (electricity and internet access permitting) and then explore a bit of the surprisingly huge (ie 1250km long) island. However, while the electricity and internet were reliable enough in Havana, this was most definitely not the case for the rest of the island.
But luckily I discovered the existence of a town called Guanabo that's located just 25km or so to the east of Havana, which seemed to tick all the necessary boxes for me - ie reliable internet (if not electricity), idyllic white sand beaches, and (relatively) cheap accommodation. So that's where I headed at the end of February, originally only for one week, which unsurprisingly got extended to to three, and would have been even longer if I didn't have a friend coming to visit from the States.
Of course Guanabo wasn't exactly as idyllic* as it might look at first glance, but for me it was more or less perfect…
Wait, Cuba’s an island? In the Caribbean? 🤯
Prepare to have your minds blown: Turns out that Cuba is an island in the Caribbean and there have been some amazing beaches hiding in plain sight only 20km from Havana this entire time.
Oops! Better to have found this out now than never at least....
Rock lobster!
Probably not too many places in the world where you can get a fresh lobster prepared at a restaurant for less than $3. Guanabo is one of them though.
Not pictured: A very nice aged rum served in a wine glass, which was only $0.20 per 45ml.
NB: I found out later that this was one of the two government run restaurant in the town, which is why the prices are so low. Even a bottle of water costs approximately 1/3 of the price you'd pay at a shop, and the rum mentioned above - XXX XXX - is similarly much less than you'd find even by the bottle anywhere else in town. Probably also worth noting that if you're an American it's technically illegal (under American imperialist law) to dine at any government-run establishments in Cuba, including ramshackle seafood ones serving up tasty $3 lobster.
Sometimes better never than late
Finally dabbling in some local stereotypes. Although this might have been both the first and last cigar of the trip.
Feeling super cool on the rooftop at dusk was thoroughly enjoyable, but two days and countless brushes later, and you can still kinda taste it.
How do smokers do it? It's a mystery....
Hungry, hungry horses
Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Havana anymore....
Can't complain
Among other things, tropical beaches are great for teaching modal verbs.
For example, when someone asks you how it's going, a natural sounding answer (in American English) is ‘I can't complain’.
However, the more honest answer is usually going to be ‘I (really) shouldn’t complain’, while ‘I won't complain’ would be an outright lie. You definitely can and almost certainly will. It's just how it goes, and nowhere is perfect.
That said, after five days here in Guanabo, I've got very few complaints....
Afternoon rush hour on 5th Avenue
Guanabo bus station, in the late afternoon. Only thing missing is a perfectly place tumbleweed.
Ah, and this is the main street through town, whose name will likely sound familiar, even if you've never been to Guanabo (or Cuba): Quinta Avenida (Fifth Avenue)....
Best seat in town
Best seat in town! Sunrises, sunsets, seaview, shade and even some horses, as well as probably all kinds of more seedy action after dark, since it overlooks a back alley a half a block from the beach.
Just need to bring your own ladder....
Early morning fishing from the ruins of the old Hotel Gran VÃa
The most depressing thing about this shot is that a couple of power lines were more less successfully erased using Evil Uncle's Magic Eraser®. Judging by how noticeably more terrible their search and email has been getting over recent months, it seemed like the AI was heading in the less intelligent direction, which I took a bit of solace in.
But apparently I'll now have to look elsewhere for solace. This might call for another lobster lunch, followed by a long contemplative walk along the beach and a swim in the sea. To be continued....
Ain't too proud to beg
When those puppy dog eyes are begging for a bite of your breakfast sandwich, but that puppy dog nose apparently can't smell that the only spice you've managed to find in Guanabo has been salt....
NB: The sandwich was pan con tortilla a la Curmudgeon (ie bread with omelette) if anyone was curious. Lots of garlic. Not great, not terrible. But after two days of nothing but ‘No hay pan’ (‘There is no bread') signs around town, you do appreciate it regardless.
Stormy Sunset
When sunsets gets all moody and serious on you, with little to no warning....
Paging Doctor Seuss
I will never see trees like these and not immediately think of Dr Seuss. It's truly a testament to the incredible power of childhood programming. Or something....
Spring break is here!
Spring break is officially here! If anyone else is currently in Guanabo, looks like K5 is gonna be the place to be tonight!
Which is ironic, because the most famous (formerly, but no longer) underground club in the city where I technically live (if anyone from various immigration or tax authorities ask) is called K4.
All this travelling and finally made it to the next level! Can't wait to see where I come across K6 - which will be in the year 2047 or thereabouts if the progression is linear....
NB: Anything's possible, but there's close to zero chance I end up at Bar K5, or anywhere else for that matter, tonight. I am staying like two blocks away though, so baring any unscheduled blackouts, there's a very good chance I'll still hear the festivities.
Cine Guanabo
Friday night at the local cinema. Unfortunately, it appeared to be closed indefinitely. Or perhaps it was just taking the night off to reflect upon its career choices. Either way, the facade is yet another retro winner on an island full of em....
Vroom, vroom!
The one and only Ferrari Beach of Guanabo! Never heard of it? Don't worry, you're in good company. It's so exclusive that not even Ferrari knows it exists.
¡Feliz DÃa Internacional de la Mujer!
Happy International Women's Day to all* the women out there!
*Unless you're American and today has already been ‘deleted’ by our totally sane and benevolent government, and such wishes are now deemed criminal. I joke, of course, but it's sadly not outside the realm of possibilities.
NB: I've been doing my best to avoid all news this year (highly recommend it!), so have missed most of these extremely constitutionally dubious executive orders. And probably loads of other unimaginably crazy nonsense. In any case, presumably topless mermaids will continue to get a free pass (if not elevated status!), even as the country descends further into the Idiocracy of Mad Max’s Handmaid's Tale territory....
To all the mothers
This was taken Friday night, but every Saturday morning there’s a small yet very popular market right in front of this monument to mothers. And this morning they must have had an amazing deal on eggs, because the queue (really more of a scrum) to buy them out of the back of a truck was pretty impressive, even by Cuban standards....
Cinco de Mayo in March
A little early Sunday morning beachcombing is bound to turn up some interesting sights and guaranteed to deliver a surprise or two. Case in point.
Oh, to be young and carefree again, back in those halcyon days of yore when you could stay up all night with your friends on the beach, taking spoon hits from a giant jar of mayo, not concerned at all with what tomorrow might bring!
That's probably what Springsteen really had in mind when he wrote ‘Glory Days’, but didn't wanna make the song too personal. Jersey Shore kid and all....
Under the stairs
Cliché photo of the midday shadow under the stairs to my roof incoming in tres, dos, uno....
Café fit for a king
Morning coffee and yet another Elvis sighting. This is actually the still functioning cafe attached to the no longer functioning (but still extremely photogenic) retro cinema posted a few days ago.
Gold mine on Sunday mornings
The weather was glorious here yesterday, which means the beach was PACKED with locals. And one thing to know about Cubans is they love their cerveza - LOVE IT! As in I've never seen more public drinking anywhere in the world, including Berlin.
Which is all to say that this morning it was a veritable gold (or literal aluminium) mine for can collectors here on the main beach in Guanabo. Nothing but shimmering cans as far as the eye could see in both directions. Almost beautiful in a certain way.
However, these can collectors are a curious lot. One of them was already violently smashing cans flat from like 330am (just outside my window!), while others didn't start making their rounds till well into the day - ie after this shot was taken around 8.28am.
No worries for the late comers though, there were more than enough cans for everyone who wanted some to schlepp them off at their leisure. It's the Caribbean after all, and things most definitely move at their own pace - even on Monday morning.
NB: So many possibilities for academic field work in one post here. It's almost enough to make you wanna take out another $200k in student loans and finally get that post-doc in anthropology. Almost....
¡Dios mio!
Not sure if they caught anything, but looked like some ideal fishing weather regardless yesterday....
Adios, La Habana
In search of the best pan con lechón (roasted pork sandwich) in Cuba, on foot....
Where the sidewalk ends
Much like those Dr Seuss trees from a couple days ago, I'll never see a sidewalk ending and not immediately think of Shel Silverstein*. It's just not gonna happen, ever.
This shot can also get filed away under ‘reclaimed by nature’, but this time seemingly due to poor civil engineering (and probably a hurricane or ten), rather than just the run of the mill ravages of time for which Cuba is famous....
*Fun fact: Shel Silverstein died in Key West, so just on the other side of this water here. Small world, eh?
(Formerly) the #1 pan con lechón in Cuba
This was from a few days ago, and until yesterday was by far the best pan con lechón (roasted pork sandwich) I'd had in Cuba. Not that I'd had too many of them, to be honest.
But it was still very good - fresh lettuce, a big slice of pickled, spiced cucumber and a (perhaps too) generous splash of garlic vinaigrette. And a little flag always a nice touch.
Overall, still solidly in second place after yesterday's lunchtime discovery a bit outside of town....
Via Blanca
The road doesn't look very white, but the views of Guanabo and the surrounding countryside from Via Blanca are still pretty cool, especially in late afternoon. Kinda reminded me of a place overlooking the Adriatic on the Slovene coast, just with much more exotic vegetation....
Original Evolution
Something just feels inherently contradictory about a beverage called Ener Drink Evolution having an 'original flavor'. Surely the original flavor would have evolved into something much better by now, no?
Solar eclipse
A Caribbean-style solar eclipse. Much less rare than the real thing, but no less spectacular....
Pseudobombax Ellipticum
Thought Google Lens was messing with me, but apparently this really is called a 'shaving brush tree'. Although you can bet your bottom dollar, when its mother gets upset she still uses Pseudobombax Ellipticum....
Here's a better look at the whole tree for those curious, but not curious enough to google it:
Photogenic ruins
Another shot of the very photogenic ruins (of a former hotel and still partially occupied residence) on Guanabo beach at sunrise a couple days ago.
Hat tip to Mother Nature for whipping up some of those especially glorious clouds of hers....
Cuba's favourite cerveza
Cheers to the weekend!
(Unfortunately, not sponsored by Cristal, Cuba's favourite cerveza.)
The best pan con lechón in Cuba
Behold! The best* pan con lechón (roasted pork sandwich) in Cuba! Not gonna lie, the location and view might have swayed my judgement a bit, but the sandwich itself was no slouch.
The meat had a nice smokey flavour, the bread a few notches above the usual you get here, and the hot sauce to add to taste was actually hot. Also, that view. Wow! Order a Cristal cerveza or two and you've got yourself a memorable meal (for $2).
NB: The place is called El Tito, and it's on the main road between Guanabo (and the rest of Playa del Este) and Matanzas and Varadero to the east, so seems to be one of those iconic, obligatory stops for both locals and tourists plying the route.
*Should probably add the slight caveat that I've only tried approximately 6-8 of them over the past three months, so should not be considered any type of authority on the matter.
*FYI this is that asterisk that was on the word ‘idyllic’ in the short intro text at the very top of this page. You forgot about it, didn't you? Great, because that's why it's hidden all the way down here at the bottom of the page! So while Guanabo might look pretty idyllic, and was indeed a the perfect place for me to enjoy a nice little beach holiday, it's actually notorious amongst Habaneros as the place bad people from bad neighbourhoods in the capital go to do bad things, which was something I didn't know before going there, but found out, or at least got a taste of, upon arriving, when the friendly old gentleman whose house I was staying laid out some ground rules - eg always lock your door even if you only go up to the roof for 30 seconds, never leave anything out because it will be gone in the morning, never go to the beach before 9am, after dark only walk on the main road through the town, etc etc etc - and then told me a story from the previous year that involved a couple from Sweden finding a dead body on the beach. Turns out that nowhere's perfect!