Soggy Moose Travels : Havana to Cienfuegos

12/10

Here is the CV of one of our Cuban Hosts:

Elio Cordero

Cultural Specialist

A native of Havana, Elio grew up in the island nation of Cuba. His father, now retired, was a Russian translator, and his mother still works in the Cuban Ministry of Culture’s photo archive. From an early age, Elio always had a strong aptitude for languages, and he graduated with a degree in English language teaching from the Language Faculty in Havana. He taught English briefly, before joining Cuba’s then-nascent tourism industry over 20 years ago. In the years since, he has accompanied many visitors and organizations of note on their journeys through Cuba.Elio has studied Cuban history independently, and has a strong passion for the subject. He is also very interested in Cuba’s nature and has accompanied travelers on natural history journeys. Elio is a certified diver who enjoys exploring Cuba’s rich undersea life.

He is married with three children, and still lives in Havana. Between journeys, Elio enjoys spending time with his extended family.

Today we are to travel to Cienfuegos and board our ship the Panorama II. We were up early and fairly well packed. The skies were still grey yet just as I was about to start breakfast the sun broke through. I grabbed the camera and headed out to see what I could capture. It was an interesting sunrise and there was a rainbow.

When we finished breakfast, we made our way to the Malecon. Here we took photos of old cars as they passed as well as the Memorial to the Main. We then walked along the Malecon trying not to get sprayed by the crashing waves. I stopped In a perfectly dry spot to chat with a local gentleman, as we were chatting. a large wave came over the sea wall and we both got drenched. We laughed and went on our way. The people in Cuba are very approachable and friendly.

Making our way back to the hotel we explored the gardens. During the Cuban Missile Crises there were Artillery placements at the hotel along with trenches and tunnels. A nice gentleman was in the bunker and he opened the doors to the trenches and tunnels and we were allowed to explore these features. I was amazed as to how extensive these were. One must remember the Cuban people believed they were going to be invaded by the US. So our hotel was a first line of defense during those 13 days in October of 1962.

At 1100 we loaded the busses and made our way to Cienfuegos. During the drive we saw a documentary on The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crises. Fabio also spoke to us about some underwater discoveries off the northern coast of Cuba, where there are many unknowns about a wreck which he was part of the team which discovered this wreck. The dating of the wood was prior to Columbus’ discovery of the New World.

We stopped for lunch at an area which can best be described as a rest area dedicated for tour busses. Here we had a great buffet and were entertained by a 4 person group. This was the first stop where we found where trinkets could be purchased. Lynn found a few things to purchase.

We next stopped in central Plaza of Cienfuegos. We had a few minutes to explore the Plaza before we were entertained by The Cienfuegos Choir. To say the least they were simply fantastic. Fabio shared with me his girlfriend was a member of this choir and last year when they were traveling to Missoula for an International Choir Festival she defected to the USA. About 1/2 of the choir had defected during this trip. Yes they leave family and friends behind.

From there we made our way to the ship the Panorama II.

We boarded the ship settled into our room and attended the safety briefing.