Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Cuban National Parks II

Desembarco del Granma National Park



Located in South East Cuba this Park is named for the boat  Revolutionaries Fidel and Raul Castro, Che Guevera and 79 of their supporters sailed from Mexico to Cuba to incite the Cuban Revolution. 



Tour

http://dai.ly/xa1jnx


https://youtu.be/7TK7O6qqjLg

The Cuban Revolution

https://youtu.be/f0952Hj4fWw

Offshore a popular diving site with a Spanish Shipwreck.


Where gold and silver Reale are sometimes still found.


The interior of the park is filled with spectacular waterfalls throughout.




Another Park in Cuba is

Guanahacabibes Peninsula

Located in the Western corner of  the island it is in Pinar del Rio Province. Very sparsely populated it is known for its fishing...mostly Red Snapper and Spiny Lobsters. It is the largest park in Cuba.




One of the better tours.

https://youtu.be/I9cOE8s4Wgw


More Anon...

Monday, January 30, 2017

Cuban National Parks

In addition to Jardins de la Reina...there are 7 National Parks in Cuba.

Alejandro de Humbolt Park


Named after a German Scientist who visited Cuba in the early 1800's.

The park covers 275 square miles of which 8 square miles is water. It is the most humid area in Cuba.




 A Tour:

https://youtu.be/FJQY0tgfsLg


The  next

Caguanes National Park 



This park is situated around the Caguanes Peninsula.  It covers roughly 79 square miles. Most of the coastal landscape consists of arches, caves, cays and niches open to the sea.



Colourful flamingoes dot the cays.



A total of 79 caves are found along the coastline. Some are accessible. Some not.



 The interior of the park is heavily forested areas and waterfalls are everywhere.



 Throughout the week we will explore

Desembarco de Grama Park

Guanahacabibes Peninsula

Sierra Cristal National Park

Turquino National Park

Vinales Valley

before we leave Virtual Cuba.



More Anon...


Saturday, January 28, 2017

A Saturday Morning Cup...

Celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year.  Today is the beginning of The Year of the Rooster!

Also observed National Chocolate Cake Day yesterday...lol!


With a single amazing slice of bakery Chocolate Layer Cake.

The caloric count said 720 calories a slice. That is nearly two whole meals worth of calories...and was completely worth it! 

But, today is a Fast Day, and I have lost 5 of the 8 pounds I have been adjusting through the AFD (Alternating Fast Days) already. Should be back where I want to be by the first or second week of February.

So yes, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Just not every day...or in addition to a meal. 

Caught up with the kids.

Tina and Chris doing well, and happily working their way through classes.


Lennon adjusting to full time and looking forward to purchasing a new car soon.He is looking forward to his yearly Girl Scout Cookie Fix that I will mail soon.



James and Nicole proceeding with their lawyer toward Modification of Custody and very hopeful. Nicole sending me THESE from one of their Nature Hikes recently







and She and I spending a "Spoil Aiden" Day together on Thursday.


He is just growing up so fast. 
He will be 3 in May!

Since she has started doing the comb over in front, he looks just like James did at that age.

We are busily planning our Spring Garden...Spring being a mere 52 days away!
Starting a few things inside soon. We found out why our Trumpet Vines didn't take off last year...the seeds need a winter freeze first...so they may cover her shed this summer if they survived the winter rains. She also found this

An Uber Electric Compost Box

Where scraps are turned to soil in 24 hours in your kitchen!

Yeah, I'm impressed~

Hoping all my roses make it through the winter, and want to add this in Spring



A Shropshire Lad (David Austin) has been on my Bucket (Life) List for a couple of seasons now...if not now...then when?

Something else that has recently joined the list but is going to be started this Spring is one of these...


While I was looking through coconut palm photos to get ideas for my Cuban Beach painting I saw several of these...sprouted coconuts...future palm tree...and realized I MUST have one!

~laughing~

Working on my painting this weekend...photos soon. Right now it is Palm Trunks. Not very exciting....shaping up though.

It is the closest thing to a beach I have right now. The weather has returned to WINTER...and pretty much hibernating this weekend. Brought supplies in on Friday to last until at least Monday.

Maybe snow tomorrow again. 
Mostly ice yesterday.

It is all good, though. This afternoon marks (hopefully) the delivery of the Grands Girl Scout Cookies!!!

(...although they are off limits until tomorrow...)

Great Cookies for a Good Cause!


Another discovery this week...although I haven't actually tried either (and probably won't be) is Limited Edition Snowball and Twinkie Ice Cream

whose motto must surely be

"Making America Fat, Again"

Which is still preferable to what this guy


has done, or talked about doing, in the first seven days of his Presidency.

OMFG!!!

If you aren't horrified...well...you haven't been paying attention!

And I am not going to do a line by line...because...I don't need that degree of stress over again. Checking the news has become a horrible

"Okay, what has he done...now" 

affair.

7 days in and spouting executive orders like some tiny-handed tin dictator. And where are all the GOP'ers who were foaming at the mouth any time President Obama issued an EO???   Strangely silent. Crickets chirping.

I am going to shed some light on that Wall he is planning to build. Why
he will just slap a 20% tariff on all Mexico's exports to pay for it...right. That is the current idea. Except...all that will accomplish is the higher costs being passed onto us...the consumer. So yeah. We will be paying the Tens of Billions they have estimated that will cost. So much more important than healthcare and education and seniors and feeding children and such.   SMH.

Even his own party is horrified. He is like a huge Rogue Elephant (dusted in Cheetos...and with really bad hair) 

Want to get REALLY nervous?

This Guy


(also not too tightly wrapped) want to meet with Our Guy.

And they BOTH have nukes.

Jesus Wept.

(Miz Cleo predicts in that the next six months he will probably be impeached, imprisoned, assassinated or resign.)

We'll see.

Until then we are just going to have to help one another through this craziness...or maybe drink heavily. 

I did see this a couple of nights ago

xXx: Return of Xander Case


and if you enjoy Vin Diesel and a brief, but outstanding, appearance by Samuel L. Jackson or just love the xXx movies-

This is definitely for you!

Action packed, sometimes funny, feel good film!


And a small milestone moment for me today as I saw that my Blog Views has now surpassed 50,000.

 (50,811 to be exact) 

I don't track my own page views- so those are all of you!!! 

Thanks for taking a moment and sharing 

"My Morning Cup".


More anon...













Friday, January 27, 2017

Pinar Del Rio & Cuban Cigars


Pinar Del Rio is the last city in Cuba to be founded by the Spanish. Snug bottom-lands amidst rugged mountainous terrain.


Tobacco for the Pinar Del Rio Cuban Cigars is grown, harvested, dried and rolled here.










And though I will not be trying one of these...

I did find this

A Cuban Sweet (dark chocolate and orange) banded and shaped like one of their famous cigars to enjoy!


More Anon...
 


Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Maria la Gorda


 
Another Cuban Diving Paradise.

The name roughly translates to Fat Mary's...

Try not to think about it!

Instead...enjoy the turquoise blue waters...and palm strewn beaches.

https://youtu.be/gQHPgs34Ymk

The clay tiled Villas that you can rent as a home away from home.


Miles of Mangroves and waterways.


and, of course, fabulous diving.



https://youtu.be/Aqf4MCxFZ-U

Just another beautiful spot in Cuba!


More anon...