May 14, 2015
Facts about Guardalavaca
From Lonely Planet Guide to Cuba
In the early 20th century this region was an important cattle-rearing area and the site of a small rural village (Guardalavaca means, quite literally, ‘guard the cow’). The tourism boom moved into first gear in the late 1970s when local holguiñero Fidel Castro inaugurated Guardalavaca’s first resort – the sprawling Atlántico – by going for a quick dip in the hotel pool. Now, Guardalavaca is a string of megaresorts draped along a succession of idyllic beaches 54km northeast of Holguín. But glimmering in the background, the landscape of rough green fields and haystack-shaped hills remind you that rural Cuba is never far away.
Cycling Stats
Start point: Guardalavaca, Holguin, Cuba
Destination: Guardalavca, Holguin, Cuba
8.6 km distance, 11.2 km/h average speed, 40.2 max. speed
46 minutes riding time
What happened…
Andrew writes: We had set out to ride 50km to Gibara this morning, and even set the alarm clock. Yet, when it started chiming at 7, between the two of us, we managed to keep hitting the Snooze button until after 8am. It was pretty much decided that after 4 days of hills, we wanted a break. So we spent the day at the beach again!
Yesterday we found a cafeteria that served up full plates of food, similar to what we found near Ciego de Avila. So for breakfast we had a couple of egg sandwiches. Then we went back for lunch and they wrapped up a plate of food for us to take to the beach, and after the beach, we stopped in for dinner. Big helpings of rice, with chicken or lamb, salad, and some draft beer to wash it down, all for 25 pesos ($1CUC/USD). We had pretty much the exact same thing for dinner last night at the Casa, albeit a larger portion, and it was $6CUC ($6USD) each, plus $1.50 for a beer! We arranged to have some egg sandwiches ready for us in the morning, and know that another nearby kiosk sells coffee and fresh mango juice for pennies. Another fine example of how you don’t have to go hungry when you’re on a budget, if you can find the good spots to eat!
The evening was spent finally updating the blog, since it seemed like there hadn’t been a lot of spare time over the last few days, and otherwise just relaxing and taking it easy. Tomorrow we’re riding to Gibara, and then I think we’re done with beaches for a long while. Today is actually one month before we leave Cuba, and Amanda spent time at the beach mapping out where we want to go, and how we’re going to get there. We might end up gasp getting on a bus to skip over some sections of Central Cuba that we’ve already ridden. Stay tuned!
Today’s Photographs
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