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  • Day 44

    Cuba day 13 Giron: diving and museum

    January 11, 2016 in Cuba ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Up early, the diving bus was due at 8.30 to take Aleisha and I scuba diving. Luci packed us some lunch from the breakfast remains, and off we went. At the diving office were lots of foreigners, diving equipment and Cuban instructors. The experienced divers went off in a converted truck, the rest of us in the bus to shallower areas. The whole area seems to be limestone, about a metre above sea level, eroded to an overhang by the sea water, with areas of sand.

    On arrival I needed to go to the toilet (no facilities here so the portable bidet was very useful), then we were given a briefing: how to clear a mask underwater, how to remove water from the mouthpiece, th emergency mouthpiece, how to change the buoyancy of the diving vest, how to read the tank meter. Then in the water practice of these things plus communication: the OK signal, eye problems, breathing problems, up and down signals.

    Then out to the coral and although there were patches of sand and a few areas of dead coral in general it was very pretty. Fishes, seaweeds and corals of different colours and shapes. At one stage a shool of 'normal' fish included an apparently deluded pipe fish about 3 times the length of the others. Elsewhere a small white fish with a yellow face, about 75mm long and 10mm wide, swam away from me, found its hole, positioned itself vertically above the hole, and swam backwards into the hole. Long yellow-green tubes coming up from the floor were pretty too, as were the lace seaweeds. After 50 minutes the instructor steered us back to the shore, but it felt like it had been well over an hour.

    We rested a bit then they started to pack up. Concerned I asked about a second dive. They said we needed to have told them that before leaving (which I had), so they relented and Aleisha and I went again, this time I took my camera. This time we were 45 minutes, but it felt like half that. The corals and fishes were just as pretty, but taking photos made it more interesting. One photo I couldn't get was of an organisim about 2-3cm long that came out of certain corals and looked like a little Christmas tree without lights: every time I got close it ducked back inside the coral. Colour correction was a probloem with photos:everything had a blue hue here, so the best photos were with flash.

    Back at Playa Giron we went to the beach and found Luci and Mira there; they had not felt so good so had had a quiet morning and were now resting on beach chairs partially under a thatched shelter, drinking coconuts. Mira did a bit of slackline (tightrope) walking, Aleisha and I went across the malecon and continued south towards the second beach. I climbed to an old watch tower, probably from the Bay of Pigs invasion days.

    Then to the Bay of Pigs Museum, with aircraft, tanks, machine guns, canons, news clippings and other displays from the battle. It was moving stuff, though it could have been better presented. A panel showed photos and short biographies of all those who died in the attack. Interestingly many of the attackers once captured claimed to be cooks, not soldiers. Also of interest were the statistics: "an analysis of the prisoners showed that 800 of them, or their families, had owned 370,628 hectares of land, 9666 housesand buildings, 70 industries, 10 sugar mills, 5 mines and 2 banks. There were also 135 ex-Batista army soldiers and 65 delinquents" (ex-prisoners). Mira and I also saw the 1961 documentary about the invasion, very moving.

    We went back to the casa for dinner, this time bbq chicken, not a patch on last night. Then came the question of how to leave. Luci had almost got a rental car earlier in the afternoon, the car ental office in Giron (no cars of course) had found a car in Varadero we could have. The catch: we had to pick it up this evening because they don't keep reservations. And Varadero was 3 hours away and it was not possible to get there this evening. Vilma from the casa had been unable to find anything to Luci's specifications of modern and air conditioned. I suggested that any car would do, but still no availability. Luci and I went to walk and get some water, she wanted to go to Matanzas or Varadero and find a taxi or car to take us to Vinales, I wanted to go direct as it would save time and, I believed, money.
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