Report from Cuba

"One final demanding climb takes us up to Lake Hanabanilla with breathtaking views." 

This is from the itinerary, and was one of the bits that Vicky was NOT looking forward to. While she was training she had a problem with the uphillness of the ride, but practised by taking her bike by train into the peak district, cycling to another station and getting the train back to Manchester which she complained was too flat to prepare her for the Cuban mountains. I thought  it was real dedication, I was just tackling the little ups and downs of south Warwickshire and feeling I was doing plenty. (turned out I was right about that!)

So, on Friday evening I had a call from her- she had got to Lake Hanabanilla OK, well, she had walked the last bit which she said was rather boring, but she wasn't the only walker and I gather there were some who had to take the support vehicle. She was proud of Debby who was one of those who managed to cycle the whole way.

picture of Lake Hanabanilla taken from the internet - best I can do under the circumstances.

It appears this lake is manmade, with a dam across one end - rather like Lake Vyrnwy. Hope Vicky avoided the temptation to nip across any stepping stones.

She also told me a bit about the May Day parade in Cienfuegos. The cyclists started near the head of the parade (walking I think, not cycling) and then found themselves on the podium, being walked past. There were lots of groups parading, schools, clinics, different types of workers, mostly with rather homemade banners which she thought I'd have appreciated. I gather it went on quite a long time, during which her camera's auto setting changed from 1/250 to over 1/1000 indicating how much brighter the sun had become. Apparently she has taken a LARGE number of photos, so I had to ask her not to delete any until I'd seen them. Living vicariously.

The salsa dancing isn't going quite as well as the cycling, Vicky has decided its more to do with how you move your body than the actual steps and she doesn't think her body moves as it should. However her Spanish has enabled her to have rudimentary conversations. I have no Spanish at all, except for a tape course I borrowed from the library where I learnt that (with only about 4 exceptions) several thousand Spanish words ending in "-ion" have the same meaning as in English, you just have to pronounce them differently. Bit limiting conversations I'd be having if I was there. Should I start to learn now in preparation for next year? My problem is that I've been learning French on and off most of my life and I still don't reckon I'm fluent. How could I expect to get up to speed in Spanish in a year?

It may not have been as hot here as in Cuba but we have had unseasonably nice weather for a Bank Holiday weekend. I've done a tiny bit of gardening from my wheelchair, and spent most of the rest of the time dozing in the sun. We have my mother and our 22-month old grand daughter staying so John has been kept busy looking after 2 not very mobile adults and a very active toddler. Today he decided the ducklings needed a chance to swim so he filled up an old paddling pool and we took them out into the sunshine. They were NOT impressed and quickly had to be rescued and brought back in under the lamp to dry out and warm up. Is it because they are Indian Runner Ducks? The tiny ducklings on the canal don't make such a fuss about going in the water. 

Looking for the exit

Cold and wet - what's that about water off a duck's back?

Ah, that's better!