Back To Reality

Well my posts kind of petered out the last couple of days because we were traveling so much and the wifi was sporadic at best.  Two days ago I was sitting in one of Ernest Hemingway's favorite bars in Havana drinking a mojito in 30 degree weather and this morning it was -22 and my truck wouldn't start.  How is that for a welcome home!!  So this is the end of the journey and I sit here at my desk thinking how lucky I am to have been born in Canada and have the opportunities I have.  Both Bolivia and Cuba have some grinding poverty and crushing bureaucracy that limit what people can do with their lives and define the experiences they will have over a life time.  Only the fortunate, educated, privileged few will escape those chains.  Here in Canada, the world is your oyster   It was a great experience with great people.  

Havana bound

Managed to get a couple of hours sleep on the plane. Not feeling too tired.  In Panama City international waiting to board the next leg.  

One of our little friends

This guy was pretty friendly.  We often found him lying on the door mat in the morning looking for attention. The owner has a yellow lab named Duke, 2 small dogs ( Michael and Angelo) and 3 cats.  Duke was pretty nice.  I wanted to take him back with me.   

Heading for Havana

It's 10:45pm and we are getting ready to head to the airport for   Our trip to Havana. The flight leaves at 2am and gets us to Havana around 10:30 am with a stop in Panama City. Tomorrow night we will spend a night in a converted monastery in old Havana. The rooms are the original monks cells. This should be interesting. 

We left Samaipata this morning around 11:30 and made a stop at a waterfall to take a few photos. Sorry nothing to post because I used my camera instead of the iPod. We missed the festival in Samaipata by hours. It started this afternoon. There was a steady stream of traffic into Samaipata and the neighbouring villages. It was like a long weekend back home with people escaping the city. We passed a couple of camp grounds that were packed with tents, not an rv to b seen. People were coming by the truck load literally. There would be a 10 ton truck like you would carry animals or produce in and it would be full of people standing in the back along with their luggage and mattresses. Yes, that's right,  mattresses.  They must just put them on the ground and crash. The festival goes on until Tuesday.  Most people have Monday and Tuesday off. There are festivals all over Bolivia right now.