Hola at your Amigo

Cuba- day one

We arrived in Cuba after a back breaking 32 hour voyage from The Dominican Republic. The night was stormy, and one engine and some of the electronic naviagtion gave out as we wre going past Haiti in the dark. According to everyone we met, you never enter Haiti at night, as being one of the poorest countries around, people will come on board and take everything.

The first possible port in Cuba was a place called Baracoa. From a distance the place seemed to be a bunch of style apartments, with a narrow harbour entry. We made our way in, and parked the boat behind this shipwrecked container ship, which sheltered us somewhat from the swell entering the bay.

We were contacted by the local coastguard, who said we couldnt land, as this was not an international port. Three men - the captain, a doctor and a soldier were ferried out by some local fishemen in a tiny dinghy, and they came aboard to have a brief search and do a lot of paperwork. We gave them some cordial and some salted mixed nuts. The doctor was very impressed by the mixed nuts, and commented that they were very expenisve, and asked if he could have a large bag of them to take home. An odd request from a doctor, but in Cuba the average wage, as given out by the government, is about $12-14 NZ dollars a month.

We sat out on the boat for the rest of the day, as we were very tired, and we were not allowed to go ashore until we had gone to an international port and checked in. The harbour is quite beautiful, the hills are covered with coconut palms, the larger, straighter kind, and the mountains in the background are misty.