Only three months after my last trip to the Caribbean, an invitation from a friend, who owns a sailing yacht stationed in the area at the time, made possible an unforgettable vacation.
After some back and forth, I decided to split it between one week on the boat and one week in Cuba. Together with Monica, Boris and Steve we boarded the Oria in Martinique for a cruise to St. Lucia and back.
After that, Steve and I continued to Havana, Santiago and Baracoa for a reunion with some friends I made during my first time in Cuba.
Oria
SY Oria, London
The
Oria, registered in London, is a luxury
sailing cruiser of 53' (16.4m), the second one built by Oyster
Marine of Suffolk, England. Built in 1999, she is fitted with all the
amenities of a modern cruiser, including electric winches, an electric anchor
windlass, Leica
DGPS navigation system, satellite telephone, an onboard seawater desalinator,
two showers, a compressor and full diving equipment and even a washing machine
with dryer. While the crew thoroughly enjoyed all this luxury, our Skipper Joe called it
"a pensioner's yacht". It's true that an Oyster is much like a Jaguar
car, while Joe seems to be more the hands-on, Austin Healey type of guy.
Martinique
We
didn't actually see much of Martinique, since we left with the Oria right on the
first night and only returned a day before flying to Cuba. While a Caribbean
island, Martinique struck me as being extremely French. Except for the fact that
people are darker, the place is not much different than, say, Perpignan.
Saint Lucia
This
interesting island has changed hands between the English and the French 14 times
and today, while everybody speaks English, the names of towns, mountains and
bays are French. Saint Lucia is an extremely beautiful place and a prime
destination for Americans to get married. It is also very popular among yacht
owners. Today, you can feel a lot of influence from Jamaica. Rastas and Reggae
are commonplace. Saint Lucia is an expensive island.
Cuba
I've written a bit about Cuba on the website
of my previous visit. In the meantime I've become hooked on this country.
The people, the music, the scenery and the daily struggle of the Cubans to cope
with poverty and the double economy never cease to intrigue me. By now, I already
feel a little bit at home in Cuba and move about quite freely. My Spanish's
improved, too. This will not have been my last visit.
About this site
You can navigate these pages directly via the menu on the left or using the "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons at the bottom of each page. Clicking on images will load a larger version. Beware, as they can be fairly large.
At the end of the Oria and Cuba parts of this site, you will find two huge lists of links pertaining to the regions we visited. There is also a list of addresses of Paladares and Casas Particulares in Cuba.