For March Break in 2017 our family travelled to Cuba for the week. This was the first time that the kids had ever been to a resort before. It turned out to be a week of many incredible firsts and memories for our family. The plane ride to Cuba was uneventful and we arrived late at night, so there was not a lot to see when we traveled to the resort.
Swimming in the Ocean
This was the first time that Abby & Aiden swam in the ocean and they loved it, most of the time. The waves were quite large for both of them and sometimes a wave would surprise them. That is why we had them wearing life jackets when they were in the water. If we had of let them, they would have spent every waking moment in the water. We even went in to the ocean a few of the windy days at the end of the week.
Hanging out by the Beach
When we were not swimming in the ocean we spent a lot of time on the beach, reading, making sandcastles and soaking up the sun.
Foam Party at the Pool
On one of the days there was a foam party at the pool. Abby and Aiden had a blast playing and dancing in the foam by the poolside. Almost as fun as their Dad!!!
Deep Sea Fishing
One of the first things that Aiden noticed when he got to Cuba was the Deep Sea Fishing advertised in the main lobby. While we did not plan on going Deep Sea fishing when we came to Cuba because it costs extra, Aiden asked us 5-10 times a day to reconsider. So, a few days into the trip, I talked to the tour table offering the deep sea fishing and they connected us with a father and son from Ottawa who were also going out fishing and agreed to have Aiden & I go fishing. This turned out to be a great decision as it was too windy for the rest of the other days that they offered fishing and they had to be cancelled. So, when we got out fishing, Aiden did not want to leave the mainseating area of the boat and after a 15 min, he was asking why we were going so far out into the water and when we were going back. He was not initially happy to hear that we would be out there for another couple of hours. After about a 30 min on the water, I and the nice man that had joined us from Ottawa convinced him to sit in the chair at the end of the boat. While getting him into the chair was a little tough, he was happy once he was there and he was not eager to get out. After sitting in the chair for about 15 min. we hooked onto a fish. With the help of our guides, Aiden managed to reel in a barracuda!!! He was so proud!!!
Evening Entertainment at the Resort
While we did not take in every show in the evening, we did attend one and we enjoyed it, except for the rude and drunk guests that were a few rows behind us that were making disparaging remarks about the performers. Part way through the performance we moved to a different seat to enjoy the rest of the performance. By the end of the evenings entertainment, Aiden had fallen asleep on Mom’s lap and Abby was starting to doze off because it was getting pretty late.
Food at the Resort (Aiden sleeping at the table)
Now while the beaches and people at the resort were amazing, the food in Cuba is a whole other discussion. They had all the food you could want, but it was quite bland and heavy on the meat, which was especially challenging for Melissa since she does not eat any meat. There was even one day near the end of the week where she was excited because we could see green beans and then when we got closer, we realized that the beans had been cooked in with ham and was sitting in ham juice.
Now, there was one night where we went out to a facsimile of a Mexican restaurant and we could only get reservations for 8:00pm. It had been a busy day for us already and Aiden was quite tired and had trouble getting ready for dinner. So, after he ordered his food, we let him put his head on the table to rest and in 2 min, he had fallen completely asleep and never woke up for the rest of dinner and was carried back to his room.
St. Patrick’s Day
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day while we were in Cuba by donning our green hats and going down to the beach to play and have a drink. We ended that day by going out for dinner that evening. This time Aiden stayed awake for the entire dinner 🙂
The Weather
The weather at the start of the week was a great, but a huge storm front made its way down the Eastern Seaboard and made our last few days quite windy with some rain. However, while it was windy, we still were able to spend time outdoors at the beach and when it was too windy, we spent time in the lobby or our room playing card games with the kids.
Pelicans Hunting at the Beach
On some of the days at the beach there were several pelicans who would complete would be hunting for fish in the mornings. Thanks to our waterproof camera we got some pretty good videos of them hunting. It was pretty remarkable and it was a first for both the kids and us to see a pelican hunting in person
Saying Goodbye to Cuba
On the last day of our trip to Cuba, while it was a little chilly and windy to go in the water, we went down to say goodbye to Cuba officially. Even with it being windy the kids could not help but put their feet in the water one last time. We actually had to open our suitcases when we got back to the room and get them out a new pair of clothes because they got so wet, as you will see in the video below.
On the trip back to the airport, we actually got to see some of the countryside of Cuba. It was difficult seeing how many of the citizens of Cuba actually lived after spending a week enjoying their hospitality and kindness to our family.
The Cain Family 