On the beach in Varadero

Headed out first thing (after we´d waited for one of the girls to get her card from the bank where she left it in the machine!!!). We travelled to Varadero which is one of the nicer beach areas and hence has loads of tourists and all inclusive resorts. On our way we stopped at some caves and had a tour (nothing on Waitomo!). Saw plenty of billboards along the way to remind us of the revolution and other interesting sights such as the organised hitchhiking / car pooling and a bit of the countryside.

Arrived in the afternoon with plenty of time to get some beach in which we did. First swim of the summer and it was all good.

Salsa lesson before dinner, Nicola missed it and I suck :)

The next day was much the same beach, lunch at an italian restaurant where garlic bread is toast with oil and a tiny amount of garlic on it, dinner at a seafood place which the tour leader organised me a special meal and the chef came out twice and checked it was ok which it was.

Found out that Fidel had announced he would be standing down and someone else would be voted in on the 24th when the general assembly meets. Very big news and all of the tv channels both local, latin and international. Plenty of speculation what´s going to happen, though fairly likely Raul will be the man on the spot.

Best price $0.70 convertible pesos for water (grande 1.5l), which Tracy managed. One of the quirks of Cuba is the pricing fluctuates somewhat between locals, tourists, time of the day, alignment of stars or just plain dumb luck. You can always bargain or head around the corner for a better deal (well if there is more than one shop). It´s not dependant on having a monopoly as some of the towns we´ve been to there´s been one shop and it´s been priced reasonably!