Picked up bright and early from hotel Tejadillo pitstop in Havana. Stopped off for quick tour of Las Terrazas and lunch at Hacienda UnÃon.
Las Terrazas houses ruins of coffee plantations and has some good walking opportunities (which we unfortunately didn’t have time for). The countryside en route beautiful. Red, fertile earth, oxen ploughing fields, horses and cart… idyllic, peaceful rural life just getting on with it all around us.
At Palma Rubia, waited for about an hour while the captain decided whether anyone else was going to turn up (sod the timetable…) for the boat crossing. Journey across the water to the Island of Cayo Levisa took about 20 mins and the views were wonderful. Finally onto terra firma the other side and a short time to settle into our lovely sea front accommodation for the next couple of days.
Dumped stuff and headed off for a walk along the beautiful long, white, sandy beach before dinner. The sea unbelievable shades of turquoise and blue… think we’re gonna like it here…
After dinner another walk along the beach in the moonlight (and extra illumination provided by head torch as required). Sea on one side, mangroves on the other. Banged on about how I was getting up before dawn to watch the sun rise (my thinking was if I say it to enough people, enough times, I might actually do it!).
Next morning dragged myself out of bed in the dark, took a lucky guess about which end of the beach the sun was gonna come up over, and was duly rewarded with the beauty of the changing light, the company of dawn creatures, a beautiful sunrise over the mangroves, and some great photo opportunities.
Weather wasn’t quite hot and sunny enough for just blobbing on a sun bed, so more and closer exploration of the beach was in order for the day.
The following day dawned perfect for sun worshipping. Needless to say we had to rise for an early breakfast, catch the early boat back to the mainland and head down to our next stop – Viñales.