Beach to Mountains to Beach, All in a Thrill-Filled, Rain-Soaked Day

At the end of this amazing day, which we wrote about in three sections because it was long, exciting, thrill-filled, rain-soaked, and took us from the south to the north of Cuba, we arrived at our next resort. Other than our first night in Havana, we stayed at beach resorts the whole time. The reality was not quite as posh as it sounds.
 
About half of our 4-hour drive to the resort where we will stay for three nights until we leave, at Santa Maria beach to the east of Havana, was on the National Highway. 

As we drove along in the dark at 6:30, I counted the vehicles coming at us because there were so remarkably few. Total?  Only 82 in 15 minutes, on the major highway across Cuba!

Arrival at our new resort was a relief. It is quite nice, and much preferable to the Hotel Bella Habana where we had been scheduled to stay before the bug bite incident.

Lovely beach, although we didn't take time to swim. There was so much to see!

 

You can see the house in the background, and cut grass in the foreground

This resort has houses, like Hotel Playa Giron. But these are more modern and larger. As a group, we have two 3-bedroom houses here. . . as opposed to each twosome being in their own remote 'casitas' at the Playa Giron.

Our house at Santa Maria Beach has a pool. The houses are lovely on the outside. We have a refrigerator and micro, a big room with chairs and a dining table big enough for 6 people. 

The insides are a bit shabby, but have everything we need. The beds are low to the ground, have thin mattresses and thin sheets. The fixtures are rusty and we need to stage showers to have enough water.

The AC works, remarkably as you will see in the photo,  and we have no bugs so we are happy.

Breakfast was excellent- fresh fruit, good coffee, omelets and toast. It is served outside near the beach.

Next course was omelets and toast

Life is good at this resort.