Category Archives: Cuba

The Western tip of Cuba angles towards the south, pointing directly across the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico at Cancun, 250 kilometers away. Twelve days on the road, 1600 kilometers total, from Baracoa at the far Eastern end of … Continue reading →

Leandro Malagon, or at least the top half of him, rose monumentally above the deserted plaza. A stray hound emerged from the base, and I squatted to get the correct perspective on the heroic statue which jutted incongruously from the … Continue reading →

Big Jim had been chuckling nervously about today’s ride for the proceeding two weeks. “ ‘Americano. A masculine name, but a bitch of a climb.’ That’s what it says on the website itinerary.” He had mentioned this almost daily, and … Continue reading →

After cycling all morning and into the afternoon from Playa Giron, along the Bay of Pigs, we headed across the swamp lands of southern Matanzas, towards the town of Australia. The odd name of this little municipality stems from the … Continue reading →

After our tour of Cienfuegos, we hopped on our bikes just outside of town,  and began a three hour, 85 kilometer cruise heading towards Playa Giron. Most of the ride was across a desolate swampy plain, along a nearly deserted … Continue reading →

Tacoma, Washington; Etzatlan, Mexico; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Kingston, Ontario; Bahia Blanca, Argentina; Saint-Nazaire, France; Contagem, Brazil. What could they possibly have in common? All are “Sister Cities” of Cienfuegos, Cuba. Which means our visit there was high on the must-see list, … Continue reading →

Cuba is an island. A very big island, sure, but it’s completely surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico, on the northwest, the Caribbean, on the south, and the Atlantic, to the northeast. That means literally thousands of miles of beaches, … Continue reading →

We left Bayamo, The City Of Horse Carriages, mid-morning after driving from the carriage factory to the outskirts of town. Juan pulled into the “terminal” – a dusty wedge in a Y intersection – of Las Mangas. We milled around, … Continue reading →

On June 16, 2017, the five-month old Republican administration announced a tightening of travel restrictions to Cuba. With the warming of US-Cuban relations in 2014 under President Obama, Americans found travel to the island a bit easier. Ever since the … Continue reading →