Vinales (Cuba, Part 2)

Breakfast in Vinales

On Sunday Andrew, Michele, and I took a cab (prearranged by Yomani) from Havana to Vinales, and it turned out to be my favorite day in Cuba. And not just because it perfectly aligned with my birthday. Our driver, Bruno, was really nice and chatted with Michele on the ride out (about 1.5 to 2 hours) while Andrew and I napped in the back. We asked Bruno for a casa hookup, and he drove us right to a nice house in town with two rooms. Based on the ride in, Vinales looked pretty small and was nestled quaintly in rolling green hills. There were two parallel main streets with shops and restaurants, and side streets between them filled with vendors’ stalls. Our casa was a couple blocks off the main streets.

Vinales SUV

We left our bags in our casa and went out to a late breakfast. We told Bruno and Amaury (our casa owner) that we wanted to do a horseback tour of the valley, and they told us to be at the casa by 12. When we returned after breakfast we found a very enthusiastic lady on a scooter waiting to lead us to the stables. We walked through town and headed east toward the countryside for about 30 minutes, and the whole time she kept scooting ahead and then waiting for us to catch up, chatting with locals whenever she stopped. It was silly but it got the job done.

To the horses

Horseback riding

We made it to the stables and met our tour guide for the day, Yovani. He set us up on our horses and then we hit the trail. Our first stop was a coffee plantation that was basically an excuse to drink rum. Yovani parked our horses and a lady named Rosana came up to greet us. She took us to look at the coffee plants for a minute and then walked us to a patio to sample rum (not coffee). She gave us a few different kinds of rum and honey to try, then upsold us on a cocktail each. It wasn’t a hard sell. 

Bar pretending to be a coffee plantation

After our cocktails we hopped back on our horses and headed to the next stop, a shed on a cigar farm with Dixon, looking as iconically Cuban as I could imagine. He explained that we were at his grandfather’s farm, which is still run by his family, and that he grew up rolling cigars. He laid out tobacco leaves and explained the process of soaking leaves before rolling, and letting the cigars sit for a specific time after rolling to mature. He gave us cigars to try and then sold me and Andrew a few to take with us. He also explained how the business works: the government gets 90% of their cigars at a non-negotiable price, and the farmers keep 10% for their own use and sale to tourists like us.

Dixon rolling us a cigar

 After we said goodbye to Dixon, Yovani helped us back on our horses and we rode a short distance to a cave. I thought it was just going to be a photo op, but after we clambered around for a few minutes and started to head out, Yovani led us to a hidden crevice in the back of the cave and walked in. We were going spelunking! Okay, not really spelunking, but we did get to crawl through claustrophobic, winding passages deep in the rock. He made sure Andrew turned on his phone’s flashlight before we started and I’m so grateful. It was pitch black and I hit my head once, but it would have been so much worse without the flashlight. We crawled through the tunnel for about 20 minutes, and just before I started to get panicky about the tightening cave walls, I saw sunlight gleaming from ahead. We came out of the tunnel on the other end to find a little stand with a family waiting to collect $2 from each person who came out. We walked back to our horses and headed off to the stop. 

Into the tunnel

Cave

Farm

Between each stop we were riding through beautiful, lush woods and picturesque farmland. There were no cars but we passed other people on horseback on occasion. Our horses started climbing up a steep hill and when we reached the top we were treated to stunning views of the entire valley and a little bar. Of course we had to stop and have a Bucanero with Yovani and watch the bar chickens chase the bar kitty. Sadly that was our last stop on the tour, so we headed back to the stables. It was about 30 minutes and we took in the countryside views on the way. 

Valley view

Lookout bar

Traffic jam

After walking back to town we were ready to eat. The tour took about 4 hours, with about an hour of walking, so we didn’t feel too lame looking for dinner at 5. We picked a restaurant pretty much at random and were the only people eating on the sidewalk. After dinner we stopped at another restaurant for coffee because we a big night of dancing planned and needed a boost. Vinales is known for a nightly salsa party in the town square, but it didn’t start until 9 or 10 so we had lots of time to kill. 

I have permission to post this 

When posted up at a bar on the town square and patiently waited until we saw people start filing into an open-air dance floor surrounded by colonnades with a bar and tables. It’s a few cents for locals and a few bucks for tourists, so there was a nice mix of people. We started by watching people who can actually salsa, and after a beer had the nerve to try it ourselves. We ran into Yovani and his friend Octavio and invited them to our table for bottles of rum and coke. It didn’t take me long to pretend it was a giant birthday party for me, and Michele got in on the game. Poor Andrew had the job of herding us back through the streets at the end of the night and making sure we got to our casa, but he couldn’t stop me from befriending a street dog who followed us home.

Salsa before the crowds hit

We only had one day and night in Vinales, but it was definitely my favorite stop on the trip. If you visit Cuba, I can't recommend Vinales enough. The setting, the horseback tour, and the dancing combined to make it the highlight, and one of my favorite birthdays too!

Caddo Lake

Flooding at Caddo Lake

I took a quickie camping trip with a few friends the other weekend and I have some photos to share, if anyone would like to see them. We drove to Shreveport, Louisiana, on Thursday night, stayed in the El Dorado (boyfriend gets free rooms because he's a regular), gambled a bit, and drove to Caddo Lake State Park (back in Texas) on Friday morning.

It rained most of the week leading up to camping, but luckily it stopped on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, the rain was enough to flood the lake, and no one was renting canoes or kayaks, which is pretty much all you do at Caddo Lake. 

We hiked the few trails they had, wandered down to the fishing pier with the hope of seeing alligators (nope), and then cooked out before an early bedtime.

The shack down by the bayou

The hiking was limited but beautiful

No gators

On Saturday our friend Joann called a bunch of rental companies in the nearby towns, but they still weren't renting canoes or kayaks. She did find a guy who offered to take us on a sunset tour of the lake, so we jumped on the opportunity. At least we'd get on the water somehow.

The tour wasn't until 6, so we had the whole day to chill. Joann, Marc, and their two kids headed into town to do some sightseeing, and Andrew and I settled into camp chairs with our books. Forced relaxation is pretty sweet. There might have been a nap in there too.

Andrew had found a restaurant that he wanted to try, so around 4:30 all six of us loaded into his car and headed off to dinner. We were the first people in the restaurant, but were shortly joined by geriatrics and other families with young kids. Fully embracing my new-found love of seafood, I ordered the fried catfish and shrimp. When in the bayou, right?

Our tour guide

After dinner we drove over to a boat dock in Uncertain, Texas, to meet our captain. He was very informative and nice, and I'd recommend anyone book with him when visiting the area. He cruised us in and out of little channels and pointed out owls and other birds. It was a nice, relaxing way to see the sunset.

There's an owl in this photo

Bayou highway

I love Spanish moss

On a boat!

Then we drove back to camp, made some s'mores, drank some beers around the fire, and went to bed by 10. We woke up early (for me) on Sunday, packed up, and drove the 5+ hours back to Austin with plenty of time to catch the season premiere of Game of Thrones.

Until next time, Caddo Lake

Planning for Tanzania

Andrew and I booked a trip to Tanzania! We’re going for the first two weeks of September to hike Mount Kilimanjaro and do a roving safari, which involves driving around every day to see the most animals possible and setting up camp at night. Seeing an elephant in the wild is one of my ultimate life goals, so fingers crossed.

As you probably know, the logistics of hiking a 20,000-foot mountain on another continent are a teensy bit complicated. It’s an eight-day trek and, like my Inca Trail experience in 2014, we’ll have porters who carry most of our stuff and set up camp for us (my first-world guilt will come back). Therefore, it’s not going to be a super-taxing endeavor for me (other than climbing 20,000 feet and not succumbing to altitude sickness), but there’s nevertheless a lot of planning involved. And we’ll be hiking in snow but safariing in equatorial heat, which means lots of clothes to pack (and buy).

If you’ve read other parts of this blog, you might remember when my hiking boot disintegrated on the Inca Trail and I received a hasty replacement pair. Well, I still haven’t bought new, good boots, so that’s at the top of my to-do list. But the company we booked the trek through (International Mountain Guides) sent Andrew and me a detailed list of gear to buy, and I need to buy more than just boots. Luckily I have a lot of stuff on the list, but I’m going to have to get at least the following:

• Padlocks for bags
• Trekking poles
• Sleeping pad
• Expedition-weight set of synthetic long john tops and bottoms
• Parka (A mid-weight down or synthetic insulated parka with a hood is what you are looking for.)
• Warm pants (Fleece is good, soft shell type pants are even better.)
• Shell Pants: Waterproof/breathable pants (full side zips are best and Gore-Tex is perfect).
• Heavy gloves or mittens: down or synthetic insulated for summit day
• Hiking boots
• Gaiters
• Naglene bottles (2)
• Chemical hand and toe warmers (6)

This is only the stuff I don’t own from the three-page list of gear. I’m concerned for the porters…

I had to get my doctor to sign a form saying I’m fit to hike the mountain (did that today!) and I need to visit a travel doctor to discuss vaccines and malaria pills (doing that Wednesday!). I know the trip isn’t until September, but I want to give myself excessive planning time. I’m maybe a little type A, I guess.

Galapagos, Part 2

Santa Cruz

While researching the Galapagos leg of our trip, Michele and I learned that there are two primary ways to visit, each with its own pros and cons: stay on the main island (Santa Cruz) and do day trips to other islands, or stay on a boat and travel among the islands the whole time. With option 1, you’re more limited to which islands you can see and I think there are fewer excursions in the same amount of time, probably because the boat has to take you home in time for dinner every night as opposed to being able to cruise the entire time. But with option 2, if you get seasick, well, that sucks. And you’re stuck with the same few people for the whole five days, which is great if you like them….. You are also limited in food choices and have less comfortable accommodations overall, because you’re on a boat. Option 2 is also a little more expensive, if I’m remembering correctly.

Hello, friend

Based on these broad-strokes differences, I liked option 1 better and Michele liked option 2 better. I’m stubborn, while Michele is easygoing. Guess which option we selected? I was able to convince her that I would get seasick and make her life miserable if we stayed on a boat for five days, plus I pointed out all the bars and restaurants we could explore at night if we stayed on Santa Cruz. (At the time I thought that was a legitimate argument.) So despite wanting to show off her amazing yacht hair for five days, she graciously accommodated my preferences. We started reviewing the day trips we could take from Santa Cruz, mainly based on what animals we could see where.

Practical Details for Future Travelers

Fish market in Puerto Ayora

We found out when we reached Santa Cruz that people can just fly in and book their excursions from Puerto Ayora very easily, despite everything we read in advance that said that approach was risky and people often spend their entire vacation stuck on the main island because all the tours are booked. We didn’t want to risk it, so we booked a package through one of the many tour companies. I’m happy with how it worked out, but the warnings were extremely overhyped; we could have saved quite a bit of money by waiting to book excursions when we arrived in Santa Cruz. For anyone willing to risk it, I’d recommend that approach.

Pinnacle Rock

We booked through Galapagos Travel Center, and we did the Island Secrets package:

Day 1: Arrive in Puerto Ayora; take a bay tour by boat; see iguanas, seals, and blue-footed boobies; snorkel with a giant turtle; and be serenaded by a crazy boat captain (unexpected bonus)

Marine iguanas

Day 2: Land tour of Santa Cruz island, including lunch at and walking tour of a giant-tortoise preserve; walk down lava tunnels; chill on an isolated beach (Garrapatero); drive around the Highlands and Cerro Mesa; see Darwin Station and a tortoise breeding center; and visit a local coffee roaster and bakery (another unexpected bonus)

Day 3: Yacht to Santa Fe (cacti and cliffs for birds)

Day 4: Yacht to Plazas and Bartolome (Pinnacle Rock and penguins, but no)

Day 5: Fly back to Quito

That's me with a giant turtle!

Island Sights

We got to snorkel for free on days 1, 3, and 4, which was a lovely surprise because the company made it sound like we’d have to pay extra for snorkel gear. I had never been snorkeling before and I’m worried that doing it in the Galapagos for the first time ruined me for all other snorkeling. Over the course of those three days, I swam with a giant turtle, saw a sleeping shark, frolicked underwater with playful seals, held a sea anemone, and followed marine iguanas as they dove down to feast on algae (the only iguanas in the whole world who go underwater for food!). The penguins weren’t on Bartolome as promised, but I was so enchanted by all the other animals I saw up close that I wasn’t too disappointed.

Sea lions and birds

We also did some very light hiking (aka walking for people who just did the Inca Trail) on Plazas and Santa Fe to see Pinnacle Rock and cliffs where a vast array of birds fly in and out (and baby birds sleep in nests on the ground! They have no native predators!). We also saw sea lions splayed out on rocks almost everywhere we went. They smelled terrible and occasionally got aggressive with each other, but I loved watching them laze around and bark like dogs. They reminded me of my Sam.

Food and Drinks

The first day we arrived, Alexandra (our intrepid tour guide/coordinator/second mother) shuttled us to the dock to meet our bay-tour captain and then ran out to get us lunch. We ate on the dock that day, and we had a fancy lunch at the giant-tortoise preserve on the second day. Days 3 and 4, when we were yachting around the Galapagos (I’ve wanted to write that phrase forever!), a cook prepared lunch for everyone and we ate in the little dining room of the yacht.

Yacht life

Breakfast was included with our hotel, but it took us a couple days to figure that out, so we a few breakfasts in town. Dinners were also included in our package, but we had to eat at the same mediocre restaurant every night. We played along the first two nights but then decided to branch out and try other places. Our waiter at the preordained restaurant kept trying to flirt with Michele, but her patchy Spanish and his age (60+) just made things awkward.

There was no veggie food here :(

Overall, the food in Ecuador was just okay. Lunch at the tortoise preserve was the highlight (no, we did not eat tortoise); the rest was really just sustenance. Honestly, we were both disappointed with Ecuadorian food, especially compared to the really good meals we had in Peru. And Ecuadorian beer was awful! We each bought one on the yacht one day­—because how do you not?—but I actually threw mine away because it was so terrible. If you know me at all, you know I don’t throw away booze easily.

Nightlife in Puerto Ayora was interesting. The city’s vibe brought to mind a place where cruise ships stop during the day and leave (with all the tourists) before nightfall. There were bars and restaurants, but not many people to visit them. And the Galapagos in general seemed like a destination for older folks, so the few bars we went to were pretty deserted. And we found only one bar/restaurant overlooking the water the whole time we were there! As native Austinites who are used to quality patios and don’t see much water, that seemed like sacrilege to us.

Puerto Ayora

Nevertheless, we valiantly attempted to barhop each night after dinner (the sacrifices you make on vacation), but the places either felt like a TGIFridays or an empty club. On the plus side, we got plenty of rest while we were there.

Retirement Already? Okay!

El Garrapatero

Overall the Galapagos were beautiful and relaxing, which is just what I needed after our slog through the Andes. I feel like I got a glimpse of what my retired vacations will be like, and not just because 75% of the other tourists were retired. We woke up at a reasonably early hour each morning, had active but easy sightseeing trips every day, ate bland dinners in mediocre restaurants every night, and were usually in bed by 10. If being retired means hanging out on beaches like Garrapatero, then sign me up.