We eventually tore ourselves away from Port Antonio, purchasing a jerk chicken to eat on passage as a reminder of Jamaica. We sailed overnight to reach the middle of a chain of Cuban Islands called the Gardens of the Queen off the south coast.
We anchored in extraordinarily clear water at Cayo Cachiboca (21º42´.0N 78º45´.4W – might as well check it out on Goggle Earth!) and dived in for a swim but exited rapidly as we discovered 3 or 4 huge Barracudas enjoying the shade under the boat! Barracudas are not meant to be dangerous ‘unless provoked’ but when they are 6 foot long and start swimming towards licking their lips you don’t hang around, anyway a pair of Boden swimming trunks may be very provoking to a Cuban Barracuda - who’s to know.
A couple of days later, we formally entered Cuba at Cienfuegos, known as the ‘Pearl of the South’. Getting through all the formalities and paperwork took about 2 hours with a total of 9 individuals and a dog visiting the boat. All the officials, especially the dog, were extremely courteous and friendly and at no time was there ever any suggestion of the requirement for a ‘little consideration’, well apart from the 2 tea bags which the dog handler wanted.
We spent a couple of days wondering round Cienfuegos, discovering that there are 2 currencies (!) the Peso and Convertible Pesos, the latter being worth 24 times the first. Things can take an interesting turn when you discover negotiations are proceeding in different currencies!
As I am sure we have said before arrival in a new port triggers the search for the decent supermarket, the laundry and an internet café, in Cuba these 3 have proved to be a bit more challenging than usual. Food shopping, once you get used to it, is actually fairly straight forward but there just isn’t any choice and it can take time to find out where the food is. Food producers and farmers are at liberty to sell their surplus once they have met their obligations to provide for their comrades under the ration system. There are therefore farmers markets where you can buy things like onions, tomatoes, bananas, strange shaped things covered in earth and pork. On a good day there will be pineapples and eggs. The boating saying is ‘if you see it buy it’ this is more than true about shopping in Cuba! The market is supplemented by the occasional entrepreneurial guy on a street corner selling stuff from his garden, sometimes as little as a bunch on spring onions but everyone seems to get by. In the market we managed with the help of numerous phrase books and lots of mime to find a bunch of fresh mint, we knew it grew in Cuba as everywhere offers Mojitos. Sophy from Sarah Grace found one better though a bunch of fresh basil supplied by the gardener from a local restaurant in Cay Largo, swopped for some clothes. (Brian your shoes found a good home!)
The towns are fascinating because of the total lack of the commercial and retail signage that spoil out towns – you have to peer in through shop doors to see what they sell. Also as all shops operate a closed door policy and you often have to queue outside and 2 or 3 are let in at a time, quite a strange concept to us western consumers!
VIEW PHOTOS:
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