A snorkeling morning. Sea was pretty calm and we caught a taxi for Playa Coral, a place 30 k south of Veradero where there is a reef right near shore. We arrived ahead of the crowd, got our gear, entered the water, and swam out to the reef, then followed it for about 100 yards, weaving in and out of huge crevices, and over shallow areas where the fish were almost in our faces. D spotted a lion fish, with its winglike appendages extended, and we watched it swim about for awhile, an amazing sight. We think we may never have seen one in the wild before. The coral was very impressive, though sandy in spots, possibly due to occasional strong north winds (Veradero is on the north side of the island, facing the Atlantic - the south side faces the Carribean), and they get El Nortes (north winds) from time to time.
There were not huge schools of fish, but looking carefully one could see quite a variety. We swam for about an hour and a half without realizing it, a common experience when the snorkeling is good, and when we came back to the dive center the water and shore was swarming with tour groups (mostly Canadian, I think, word is they stay at the all-inclusive hotels and tend to venture out in groups only, except for using the internet at Etecsa - to D's dismay - because they don't want to spend the higher fees at their hotels).
Fortunately, with all the coral the area was a little intimidating for beginners, and so they stuck pretty close to their guides, in small groups, and were not in the water for long, so their presence was not a problem. We came out for a break to lie in the sun, and then went back in for another 45 minutes. For some reason I saw more fish types then, even though the water was getting a little rougher, as it does in the afternoons when the wind picks up. When we came out our taxi was back and so we returned to our place.
After showering, I went to have lunch while D intrepidly continued her attempts to get off an email at Etecsa to her cousin in Cancun about our schedule change (which I'm sure those of you on her email list will hear about as only she can tell it). The short version is that she's been trying to do that for three days, and has been encountering problems that cannot possibly be duplicated outside of Cuba, involving shortages, infrastructure problems and queue idiosyncrasies.
Due to a shortage of vacancies in Havana, it looks like we'll be staying here until making a dash to the airport on Monday. That's a bit of a downer, since there is not that much to do here if your favorite passtimes do not include drinking rum and forming a sun-burned blob on a beach recliner. I was grousing about that waiting for my half chicken when I got hit by a gratitude moment, and did a little video to remind myself of that.
Veradero 2
Veradero has an open-top hop-on, hop-off tourist bus that runs the length of the spit, and we'll probably do that tomorrow after D takes an early shot at Etecsa. There actually are a couple of things of interest to see here besides sun-burned Canadians - hey I love 'em, they're the nicest people, like the guy in the queue at the bank today who shared some of his dearest family secrets with me.
Great dinner tonight at a surprisingly nouveau restaurant, about as far from Moros yi Cristianos as one can get, with smartly uniformed waitresses, tablecloths, and an amazing menu - I had little albacore steaks in a chimichurri sauce that was terrific, better than D's swordfish, by her admission.
And an inspiration, we will go back to Quivican on Sunday and spend the night with D's student's parents, from where it will be a short taxi ride to the airport. A little more of the really real Cuba with some very nice people. Hopefully, my Cuban Spanish comprehension has improved to the point that I won't be a complete idiot.
Location:Veradero
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