Jul-2012

I’ve traveled  to Cuba in the mid 90’s and although it was quite pleasant, the choice of food along with limited quantities, surely made other destinations more appealing.  Fast forward about 20 years, and seeing it was a family outing, we decided to try it again. Traveling with family is great,  add siblings and their families to the mix and one surely will get a recipe for uncontrollable laughs.

Like a herd of sheep, we all pass customs and security to ultimately sit and patiently wait for our zone to be called.  Vacationing always brings out the best in everyone and seeing the laughter and joy in our kids makes every dollar spent totally worth it.

We leave for Santa Clara and upon disembarking after a few hours of flying, we venture another 2 hours on a bus for our hotel.  Melia Las Dunas.

We quickly develop our routine, our rules and our designated meeting points and the 2012 family vacation starts.  Breakfast, beach, lunch, pool, shower, supper, night show, bed.  A routine that becomes engraved for the 7 days, albeit relaxing, can at times be repetitive.

The resort was spread along several buildings with winding paths throughout the courtyard.  At times we’d even hop on the local tram to get us around.  The sun was shining and we all head to the beach to reserve a single file of 15 chairs.

Laughs are had, stories are told and sand castles are built.  Something about sun, sand and ocean that just lowers blood pressure.  We tried to minimize what we brought to the beach as the walk was quite lengthy.

To add some activity in the mix, several of us go kayaking while others venture in sailing.

The evenings are always fun as everyone retreats back to the room and prepare for supper and night festivities.  The girls are propping themselves and watching this in the background creates a sense of accomplishment and content.  We work hard all year to accumulate enough to escape for 1 week, to escape for a family gathering that will, with no doubt, be an integral part in our later years.  Funny thing about TIME is that once it passes, you can never get it back.  Except the memory you have of that time spent.

Like an army squadron, we walk in formation around the courtyard to our destined location.  Arrive, conquer and retreat.  From supper to lounge, from night shows to lobby.  A well timed tactical bunch!

Every family trip, an incident or series of events always stand out and for some reason resonate in our minds for a very long time.  This particular trip, while playing with my nephew, I pause and direct a statement in a serious tone.   I recount that I’ve fathered 3 girls and my desire of having a boy dwindled as time went on.  As I was prolonging the speech, and seeing his interest fade away, I conclude that in my eyes, I treat Anthony as my very own son.  The son I never had! To his response after this touching speech, ” can we go in the water now”, has stuck with us forever. A second incident that happened was that Anthony unfortunately got bitten by some insect that caused his ankle to swell up.  His leg looked like an over sized wooden peg.  Surely funny today but during the moment we were all concerned.  Last event was the fact that my brother in law Tony would attract bizarre situations that made perfect candid camera shots.  The picture below is worth a thousand words. Again, one of those things you had to be there to truly capture the laughter.

Breakfasts are really enjoyable for they capture everyone’s excitement of the day’s activities.  While some are more chirpy than others, the mood eventually catches on to all and the stories of the night before are resurfaced for more laughs.  I’m sure anyone can guess what the next order of business would be, right?  Head to the beach.

More fun, more tan lines and more pages are read for some, while more sleep for others.  My brother in law Robert can sleep through anything and any time.

One night, to escape the predictable routine, we decided to visit a market area called El Galeon.  A large wooden ship was displayed in the center of the Piazza along a typical white structured lighthouse.   The place was practically deserted but a stair case circling the lighthouse gave way to a nice bird’s eye view of the surrounding area.

The pool areas were quite elaborate with palm trees all around and tanning chairs in abundance.  Despite many tourists, we were able to get pockets of chairs with huts for us all.  Pool water was clean and temperature was cool enough to refresh us while warm enough to stroll right in.

Instead of the usual buffet one evening, we opted for an Italian restaurant on the premises.  It was located in a court yard filled with ponds, gazebos and floral arrangements.  We took the opportunity for some family pictures until the rain forced us indoors.  This was in fact the day I started filling sick.  As family sticks together, after I retreated back to my room, my brother Johnny acted as my personal nurse. Not only is he an Engineer, but a Doctor as well.

You ask anyone about Cuba and they are quick to say the lack of culinary perfection is  surely substituted with their gorgeous beaches.  That can’t be any closer to the truth!  The beaches are ranked some of the best in the world.  The same cannot be said for their gastronomical delights.  We all try and avoid certain foods, limit other specialties and drink bottled water but at one point, the bacteria simply finds its way into our system.  Thankfully this happened at the tail end of the trip for many of us have caught some gastro-intestinal infection that resulted in nausea, runs and vomiting.  It’s such a shame that when a trip is affected by a state of illness, the moral and ambiance suffers a blow.   The hotel staff reported that the unseasonable monsoons from several months prior to our arrival, caused a flood that all crops were dusted with unfiltered water.

We still managed to enjoy the remaining days and the bus ride back to the hotel painted a picture of despair and hardships with the local neighborhoods.  People are still content but seem that the infrastructures have been neglected.  It clearly shows that the surrounding areas haven’t evolved and one can understand how the locals dream to flee the country.

The return flight was delayed but all went according to plan and a great trip was had by all.

Jul-2012