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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

We travel to Havana

Sunday, September 20. Our eventual objective for the day was Havana, but of course we had much to do along the way. Our first stop was the museum at the Bay of Pigs, site of the ill-fated 1959 attempt by Cubans who had fled to America and the CIA to reclaim Cuba from Castro and the revolutionary Cuban government that succeeded Batista. This has to be one of the most stupid quasi military operations in history. The American Cubans were supposed to be secretly trained in Guatemala by the CIA, but they went to the bars and blabbed enough that even the New York Times ran an article about the operation a week or two before it was supposed to take place. They were supposed to land, go inland, where are they expected to be greeted by the local Cubans who it was assumed would embrace them with open arms. eager to join the counterrevolution. Instead, they landed in a swamp and were greeted by the Cuban army and a population that was not at all interested in what they had planned to do. All of them were killed or captured and we were left with a egg on our face. The museum was built in the early 1960s and features some pretty raw emotions and language referring to the US as capitalist pig’s, invaders, murderers, and other terms it hurts to hear but that most of us couldn't help cringing over for the truth they convey. It is hard to be proud of our country sometimes when we go stomping around the world trying to force people to do things our way. Yes, we do these things with the best of intentions, but we all know what road those pave.
Cigars for sale in the rest stop

Where we've been

An old Cuban tank

...and their air force, at the Bay of Pigs museum
 We then went to the Bay of Pigs itself, and to lunch at a beachfront paladar a few miles away from the museum. Before lunch we heard an interesting lecture about the national park wildlife in the huge Zapata Swamp here. I hadn't imagined that Cuba would have the funds much less the desire, to work on environmental issues or the restoration and preservation of their natural resources. Once again they surprised me. The Cuban government sponsors an extensive program designed to protect this huge wetland area and to educate Cubans and visitors alike. There are many many species of birds in the swamp, a great variety of plants, reptiles, and animals, and a bay filled with fish and a healthy coral reef. It is the only home of the nearly extinct Cuban crocodile, now being protected and restored. Its near extinction was not the result of man-made problems but rather mating with the American crocodile. The result was a nearly total loss of the pure version of the Cuban croc. They somehow found one pair of Cubans in a zoo somewhere and are trying to reintroduce them by keeping them separate from all other crocs. Not sure how this will work, but they are trying.

Lunch was another huge family style spread of delicious local seafood, meat, vegetables, fruits, and desserts. Way too much food but too tempting to resist. Cubans, who went through a period of near starvation in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union, now tend to be on the chubby side. It is easy to see why, based on the quantities of food we have been served everywhere. After lunch we had the opportunity to swim in the Bay of Pigs, and a few of our group did so despite the light rain that was falling.
The rooftop where we enjoyed a lecture an glimpses of the Bay

Swimming in the Bay of Pigs

 Back on the bus, we set out for Havana, a 2 1/2 hour drive away. Before arriving there, our local guide, Ilen (pronounced Elaine), told us we were going to see a memorial dedicated to the measles crisis. We looked puzzled but she assured us we knew already about the measles crisis. Gradually we realized that she was referring to the Cuban Missile Crisis. We all had a good laugh and from then on referred to this event as the measles crisis. The memorial is located near one of the very old Spanish forts that overlooks Havana. We had wonderful views of the bay and the city of Havana from the site. The pope was in town today, and all day we have seen evidence of the excitement of his visit. In the late afternoon, at least 170 buses passed us heading back the way we have come, obviously filled with people who had made the trip to Havana to see him. That confirmed our theory that the deserted market we visited yesterday was caused by his visit. Today as we left the missile site, we had a long wait to enter the tunnel to Havana. No traffic in either direction. Obviously the pope was on the move.
The Missile Crisis Memorial













The blue arch is the entrance to the tunnel to Havana. The trip now takes a minute instead of the half hour or more it takes the long way around.

Of course we saw old cars. This one is Russian-made and is called a Believers car. The "believe" they have a car.

American classics are far more popular.



View of Havana from the ancient Castle del Morro across the bay

Better shot of Havana




The seating and crowds in this photo are remnants of the papal visit







Straight out of Grease!


Another view of the top of the tunnel entrance


Traffic waiting for the tunnel to reopen
At last we arrived at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, an old grand dame of a hotel that reminded me of Raffles in Singapore, among others of that colonial era. It is fun to be here in what is surely the most famous hotel in the city even though our room is a bit musty, the hall reeks of cigarettes and mold, and the plumbing is a little under par as usual in Cuba. I was hoping we would have washcloths here, But no, they apparently don't exist in Cuba. We had dinner in the hotel’s buffet restaurant, pretty good, but not as special as paladar dinners. Like Los Caneyes, this is a government owned hotel, and everything suffers just a little bit from that. We were all tired after a long day, however, and were glad for a low key meal and a chance for an early bedtime.
The Hotel Nacional de Cuba

We have left the roosters behind, for more elegant but equally noisy birds
View across the bay from the hotel

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