Latin America 2018

Posting this out of order but its breaking news and I am so behind in my blogging.

Poor Marge is not recovering from her gastro issues despite resting and cutting out all potentially hazardous food so the guide and I thought it best we see a Dr in Havana before heading off into the countryside.

That means going to the designated foreigner hospital.

So at 8am we set off to beat the crowds.
We saw a Dr pretty quickly. She prescribed various medication (but didn't ask if marge had any allegries) and said to continue with the resticted diet and gastrolyte.

One of the scripts is for an antibiotic you take once a day for three days so goodness knows what it is!

Total cost - $25US for the consultation and $14 for the medication!

So back to the casa so Marge can rest.

Its pouring rain today so good day to rest. We were going to do the classic car tour but cancelled it.

My mission today is to find wet wipes! Haven't seen any in Cuba so far but I spied some yesterday but the shop was closed.

So set off and had lunch in a trendy restaurant which had its big tripadvisor banner displayed. A good trip advisor rating is gold in Cuba as thats where the tourists head for. I had an awesome chocolate milkshake and we all know how girlfriend loves her milkshakes!

Next the wipes. Shop closed for 2nd day in a row and the shop assistants are just sitting inside. And lots of people keep trying to get in. Cuba takes weird to a whole new level.

But then I found the holy grail - a shop devoted to toiletries with stock! And in the corner stacks of made in Italy wipes of different varieties! So I queue up and once in my umbrella rain jacket and handbag go in a giant heavy duty plastic bag which is locked by the security guard. I then carry that around with me! Security measures for what is basically a shampoo shop.

Then back to the casa to check on marge. The casa is well located in the old city so easy to go to and fro.

Then out again to check out some shops mentioned in a Havana guide published in Cuba. After finding the first two don't exist anymore I give up on this venture.

Next its a hotel with wifi - I planned to sit in the huge leather chairs and have some tea while listening to the live music that usually plays in the lobby catching up on my blog. But no music no tea and the lobby is hot. By now I am exhausted and hot so head back to the casa to force feed Margy rice and gastrolyte.

Next drama was tour company wanted us to change casa's for our last night in Havana. Guide had tried to fix this, I had said unless there is a good reason we should not have to move during a 3 night stay given there are so many available casas and it takes time away from our time in Havana. And on top of that its not appropriate for Mum.

And the reason - despite tour groups generally being split between casas they decided they would keep a new tour group in the one casa. Yep go figure.

So we had two days of the tour company saying we had to move.

A lot of discussion and going back and forth with the tour company through the guide and eventually I just said I am not moving an elderly women who just left the hospital in the pouring rain (yes by the time we left the hospital it was torrential) to a new casa for no good reason!

So we stayed.Read more