Rural Cuba at Jibacoa

Lori feeding sugarcane to a pig. Cuban
pork is the best fed pork in the world.

While in Cuba, we stayed at a resort near Jibacoa, about an hour east of Havana.  It was my first time in Cuba and my first time staying at an all-inclusive resort, so I don't have much to compare it to, but I was surprised by how remote the resort felt.  The resort faced the water, but was backed by a big forested hill.  We spent a bit of time hiking around the hill on guided and solo treks and got to know the farms and people in the area.

This is the view of the resort from the top of the hill.  We certainly weren't wanting for anything, but the lush, hilly countryside made us feel like we were all in the jungle and not crowded in to a tourist strip.

A half hour hike over the top of the hill took us into open fields and farm land.  The horse or cattle drawn cart is for hauling sugarcane.  

On the guided hikes, the farmers met us with sugarcane and fresh coconuts.

Lori was an old pro with coconut water, but it was my first time.

Once drained, the coconuts were split with a machete and we could scrape the white meat out to eat.

Cuban Farmhouse.

I think he sees a lot of tourists in a year.

One of the buildings on the farm is a barbershop under the veranda.  

On Boxing Day, I went back for a cut.

At some point peacocks were introduced to Cuba.  They seem to hang around anywhere that people live.  We saw them on the farms, but also throughout Havana.

By far, the most common bird we saw were the large turkey vultures that always seemed to be visible somewhere in the sky.  I don't think there was ever a moment when they weren't in sight, circling overhead or off in the distance.

One of my favourite souvenirs from the trip is this hat.  According to our tour guide, these are the type of palms used to make the hats.

This is the husband and wife team who made the hat.  He's lost his sight, but continues to braid the long strands of leaves and she sews them together.  Each hat is made as a single spiral starting at the centre and looping round and round towards the brim.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Home from Cuba

We spent an evening in Havana,
 taking in the Tropicana show.

Lori and I usually go away for Christmas at the Cabin with our friends John and Elaine.  Originally, a cabin just outside of St. John's was enough of a retreat from the holiday hustle.  Lately we've been finding cabins farther and farther afield.  This year we took "Christmas at the Cabin" to Cuba.  It was my first time in the country.  In fact, it was my first sun vacation ever.  I tried snorkeling for the first time, we made a couple trips to Havana, I bought a hat from a blind weaver and his wife who sews them, we picked up a couple pieces of art, I had the best Pina Colada's in Cuba, and read four books.

I don't know what kind of fish this is, but we called them "Banana Biters", because they went crazy for bananas.  They could smell the bananas on you fingers and would swarm all over you nipping at your fingers.  They were pretty intimidating at first because they are the size of footballs and a a dozen or more will appear out of nowhere and start a banana feeding frenzy.

The Tropicana, Havana

Our resort was about an hour east of Havana in a beautiful rural area.  A lot of the small farms were worked with cattle or horses or by hand.  This man would greet the tourists with fresh coconuts and sugar cane from his fields.

This was my first time snorkeling and I think I'm hooked.  It was incredible, I have hundreds and hundreds of photos to sort through just from the underwater camera, never mind all the pictures from Havana and the countryside.  I'm sure I'll put up more photos from the trip over the next few weeks as I get back into my workshop and office routine.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Resolute Bay Raven

Big black ravens populate Resolute Bay, Nunavut.

They don't seem to sit still for long.  They are always on the look out for their next meal.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Merry Christmas!

Dog Sled, Grise Fiord, Nunavut.

Photo Credit: Tim Rast

Beothuk Birch Bark Containers

A pair of red ochre stained Beothuk birch bark containers on display in the Mary March Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor.  I have a Beothuk birch bark reproduction on the horizon, but it will have to wait until later next year because I've missed the window for harvesting bark for this year.  The best time to harvest the bark is late spring or early summer.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Grise Fiord Monument

Overlooking Grise Fiord is a life-sized monument to the first Inuit brought to the community in 1953 and 1955.

You can read about the creation of the communities of Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord by the Canadian government in the 1950s on Wikipedia: High Arctic Relocation.

IN MEMORY OF INUIT LANDED HERE IN 1953 & 1955, AND THOSE WHO CAME AFTER.
They came to these desolate shores to pursue the Government's promise of a more prosperous life. They endured and overcame great hardship, and dedicated their lives to Canada's sovereignty in these lands and waters.
Sculptor: Looty Pijamini
Assistant Sculptor: Matthew Pijamini
Commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Unveiled September 2010

Photo Credits: Tim Rast

Heading to the hills...

I'm putting the blog on autopilot for a couple of weeks so that I can enjoy a computer free Christmas. This is a reconstruction of a Neolithic Pastoralist found in the tourist information centre and community museum in Laguardia, Spain.  Obviously we've made a lot of advances in toupee technology since then.

Photo Credit: Tim Rast