Billy's Telling

Somehow it feels strange to write this and almost sad in a certain sense...I am in my last week in Cuba! Wow, what a journey it has been. Full, over-flowing with memories, emotions, friendships, heartwarming and heartbreaking stories of poverty and overcoming hardships. Many many kilometers of riding a heavily laden bicycle into winds, down beaches, up mountains. Being tanned, feeling fat, having no food or water, drinking rum with locals, eating funny food, seeing amazing sights, but most of all, the journey has healed wounds and centered me more than any journey I have taken on before. My aunt in Johannesburg, feels I have opted out of life after reading my blogs. My opinion on that is, that I am one of the few people I know who has actually opted into life, in a way most people wish they could. We can't ask for an understanding around this sort of undertaking, people either get it and most probably don't. It's not that I want everybody to experience what I have done or

Vinales and Cayo Jutias Having heard that the Cuban government had invested much time and effort in creating Vinales into their prime tourist attraction, I was sceptical about it prior to my arrival. I expected an attitude much like the other tourist spots which I had passed through in my past 6 weeks in Cuba. Alas, from the very start when we arrived in the Main Street running through the town, something felt different, almost a laid back sense of overachieved status unbeknown to the inhabitants. It's was a refreshing mix of quiet confidence about being Cuban and the fact that this really was one of the jewels in the crown of Cuba, offering much in the way of activities and food, to suit everyone's taste and proclivity. The guest casa was a traditional family house which dated back to the family as far as the owner could remember. She had inherited it as the youngest of 9 children and had kept the colonial style authenticity of furnishings and flooring. The family all live

The road to Vinales... After Eldorette's arrival in Cuba, as predicted, the dynamic of my journey has shifted slightly, not in any way negatively, just different, but such was my expectation. It is amazing how very different it is to travel with another person after being solo for almost 6 weeks without much of a conversation or sharing any of the travel stuff and experience one feels as one goes. From my side, I have had to also shift the way I operate on a daily basis, something I have had to adjust to also. Small things, much of it consideration before doing, which isn't always a bad thing to do anyway, but not always an easy adjustment to make, so perhaps I am just finding my own new rhythm? Her arrival has also brought with it a slight amount of disorganization. I think his is just down to the expectations that Cuba is similar to everywhere else visited thus far, ( which it ain't) and to find out that what was expected here, is not here. Not the right travel bags, to

When vultures go flying high above the sea and they are not sea birds, is there a reason? I was watching those vultures soaring high above and thought to myself that if there is one thing I would love to experience, it's that feeling. Maybe it's exactly that, and they do it because they can, and it isn't for the search of food, but cos it's just amazing. It's relaxation time after a hard day, so they go for a swoop in the heavens, can't say I can fault that. So, I am 37 days into my solo journey in Cuba, and all of a sudden, it's my last. I am not sure how I feel about that fact. I recall having 33 days left until Eldorette arrived, then, boom! Time literally flies, but often not when you are in it. I am so looking forward to seeing my mate and actually being able to have a conversation with someone, without needing a fucking ven- diagram and a game of charades. Quite honestly I'm over that now. The other side of the coin is I no longer have carte Blan

I am still finding it vaguely impossible that Cubano's have such little or almost no regard for littering. It's as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with throwing rubbish on the floor, anything, anytime, anywhere. Even when one talk about it, there is a sense that the other person thinks I'm completely mad. I still find myself continuing to collect rubbish, even here in Playa Jibacoa, where my tent is 40 metres from the shoreline of an intimate, immaculately small bay. As soon as I have picked up a packet or a bottle, another takes its place. I met an ex Russian, now Canadian, who reckons it's because the people have no ownership of the land so it's not in their interest to be proactive in the tidiness of it. An interesting perspective, and he went on to say it was the same in the Soviet Union, prior to the collapse of their Communist system. The place otherwise is nice and I have relocated those amazing, charming, friendly, warm locals I remember from the start

An invasive North American accent, which I could hear clearly across the beach, from 60 metres away, told her female companion that she was in a bad mood! I thought to myself, I actually haven't heard that expression for a long long time. Come to think of it, who's choice is it that you are in a bad mood? Nobody else's but yours. You are the only person in control of how the mood effects your day, being, existence! What the fuck is a bad mood anyway? It's like people getting offended? Grow up! If something or someone happens to annoy you, it's completely in your control to NOT get in a bad mood, especially if it's a small thing or things, like I had the other day. I actually can't remember when I let a bad mood adversely affect my day, it's somewhat juvenile actually. Get a fucking life woman, you are on a Caribbean island, on the beach in a bikini, get over yourself, how bad can life be right now? I went to the immigration office to get my tourist visa

The revelation of being grateful.. Stamps for renewal done, with the security guard asking me this time if I had my passport (funny guy), lovely sunny beach day in Varadero, and noticeably less ( not fewer, for, well, we now know who), rubbish on the beach. Has the global average temperature just dropped too? One drop can, and does start a river which can flow 4000km to the sea, so if we all do a small bit...so please do. I saw some more small fish getting filleted on the beach, there were a few which had already been done. One small sandwich for the kids at school tomorrow perhaps? I really shouldn't be so quick to judge, maybe 5 small fish can feed 1000 people, apparently it's happened before somewhere? Didn't see any loaves however. But all in all a much less frustrating day, although the check out chick in the supermarket did try and steal from me, but am not gonna go there, cos so caught her out, fucking rubbish. Luckily I'm sharp at maths...it's all the addin

The Pelican Brief...includes profanity, so if you are easily offended do not read, and shame! It's funny how things swing in roundabouts, up and downs, it's the way life goes, no matter who you are, or how fantastic you think your current position is, the universe can change that in a heart beat. Yesterday was an amazing day for me, I felt great, was in a good space and was content. I think that's an underestimated word when one is doing this sort of thing. Content. It's quite a difficult place to find when things are constantly a challenge. Yesterday I can quite safely say I was content, then today things changed. Not drastically, but enough to take me away from being content. I guess one really has to revel and appreciate those contented times. No matter where one is. Today started ok, but I have been constantly disappointed and saddened continuously by how we as humans behave and how the world in general has set out its stall. I went for a walk this morning at arou

Varadero I have mentioned before that there are two rules in Cuba, one for locals and one for tourists. There are two prices also, the same as the above applies. It seems that there is this idea that making money is on a fast track when tourists are involved. It's a bit of a piss take. I don't blame people when they have come from a suppressed place and have now found a way to tap into a venue stream which wasn't previously available. There needs to be some sort of long term vision around this stuff as tourists will spread the word when they cotton on, and this can have a negative affect in a few ways, one being that there becomes a cautious behavioral pattern towards locals, where there once was trust and pity, is replaced by belligerence and anger. That will then replicate itself back towards the tourists, and so on. Varadero is the exact epitome of all the above. It's a destination designed for tourists. Big beachfront hotels, shops which actually are shops and have

Tailwind, tailwind!! Today was an absolute pleasure and if I hadn't of only left around 11am would have done far more than the 124km I managed and that included some phaffing around a large dam, looking for some camping spots. It's amazing how a slight tailwind can elevate the spirits and course one into exploration. As I write this I actually have no idea where I am at all. After the off road, following my nose( remember I have no mapping now as my other phone broke), searching for a camping spot near a dam, I found a road and just had an educated guess which way to turn, but I still don't know which road I took, I just know I'm heading North West, which is ok. It's an island, how bad can it get? I stopped in at a town called Viana after about 75 kms and needed to eat. I got told by a lady at a cafeteria that the bar down the road had food, ( I'm not joking, one cannot take anything here for granted. Food, water, etc)so I rolled up to this bar which was essen

Heading somewhere, anywhere will do! I have to admit I was a to sad to say cheers to my hostess at Casa Mimi in Trinidad. She was a funny lady and always tried to help me with speaking better Spanish and I tried to help her with better English, if I could. She was always walking around giggling and telling me stuff and laughing away, but she knew I had no idea what she was on about, mostly. If anyone ever heads that way, give me a shout and I'll let you know where her place is, really is great with a roof terrace, really central and right next door to a really cheap and good restaurant. I headed out of town with a good feeling about being on the road again, and my idea was to go to Sanctions Spiritus, as I mentioned previously. I got 17km out of town and my attention was suddenly drawn to a really tall tower, which looked amazing and just there in the middle of nowhere, so I veered off left to go and check it out. I am always open to following signs and this turned out to be exa