Canadian_Guy1000

We visited Guardalavaca twice, in 2013 and in 2015. Each time we stayed at the Club Amigo Atlantico, in the same room in a Villa.

The hotel itself was quite nice, we often used the small Colon beach and sometimes the beach in the adjacent Brisas and tried to have our meals at various restaurants—our favourite place to have breakfast was the Benny More Restaurant. We also enjoyed spending time at Ashley Café, named after a Canadian girl, Ashley Anna Schlag (March 12, 1995-August 28, 2012. She enjoyed spending time with her family and many close friends at Club Amigo, the place she called her 'home'”. Sadly, she died in a car accident in Canada in 2012.

We took advantage of free bikes and several times we rode to the village just across from the hotel where we talked to Cubans and visited their homes and farms. Each year we also took the tourist bus that went to the Museo Chorro de Maita and a 15th century Arawakan Indian village. We visited a farm with an amazing view of the ocean, where a very nice Cuban woman cut sugar can which we slowly chewed. We also visited an English speaking Cuban who invited us to his home up the road (damaged in the hurricane Sandy-he was building a new one next to it) and served us very black, sweet and freshly brewed coffee which had just been roasted over open fire. We saw him again during our second stay in the hotel and gave him some useful gift.

We hired a taxi for the whole day; its owner & driver, Efren, was a former university professor of the English language, so we also had an excellent and knowledgeable guide. We drove to the town of Gibara, where we spent a few hours wandering about the town’s narrow streets and had a dinner at the Los Hermanos, a private restaurant. Then we went to Holguin and drove to the Hill of the Cross, from where we could admire a breathtaking view of the town and adjoining area. We also saw a very interesting “mural”, showing the history of Holguin and Cuba.

During our second trip to the Club Amigo Atlantico we hired a taxi and went to the town of Banes. An English-speaking Cuban approached us and eventually became our guide. He took us to the church of Nuestra Señora de la Caridad and even got the custodian to open it for us. It was in this church that on October 11, 1948 Fidel Castro married his first wife, Birta Díaz Balart (and divorced her in 1955). Her father was a prominent Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes. Cuban president Fulgencio Batista (who was born in Banes in 1901) gave the newlyweds US$500 gift for their honeymoon!

Then we spent several hours just exploring Banes by foot, while being entertained by our guide. We visited an archaeological museum which had artifacts from 7000 years ago, of the Siboney Indians, and 1000 years ago, of the Taino Indians. We also saw the world-famous pre-Columbian pure gold idol.

Even though it would be difficult to compare Banes’ architecture and atmosphere with that of, say, Holguin, Camagüey or Trinidad, but we enjoyed our trip very much and even wished we could have stayed longer than 3 hours.

CubanWaters

Thanks for that detailed report Canadian_Guy1000. Welcome!
Gheeesh, you and SimonT give the small city of Banes a lot more credit than I did. Maybe I just didn't have the time to spare to give it a fair shake. If it's on the way to anywhere, I shall possibly stop in there again someday.
I stayed at the Club Amigo Atlantico in 2011. Back then it was known as the best 3-star resort in Cuba. A large resort that was considered good bang for buck.
I think that member Candysita has some sort of connection to Los Hermanos in Gibara.


PS - How did Wessislander (post 20) get his font to be soooo big!

Canadian_Guy1000

The Club Amigo Atlantico was a very nice resort, yet it was important to pick the right section—the “barrack” section, next to the swimming pool (yes, the same pool Fidel Castro had swum in when the hotel was opened in the mid-1970s – rumor had it that the sacred water in the pool has not been changed since then…) was the least desirable.

Unfortunately, during our second visit in 2015 the hotel so so overcrowded that there were long lineups to restaurants, our “breakfast” restaurant was understaffed and we ended up waiting for a very long time for meals, some tourists, after 45 minutes or so just left and we ended up skipping a few meals due to such problems. A friend of mine, who went there just one week later, experienced the same issues.

In addition to Banes, I also visited Ciego de Avila and Moron; although for some people those towns offer very few attractions, we enjoyed just walking there and talking to Cubans. Our guide (who used to be a boxer and had visited the USA) turned out to be a very friendly fellow. Of course, I posted extensive blogs with many photos from both trips.

You’re totally correct about Candysita! In fact, it was she who recommended the driver and the restaurant in Gibara. She lived in the Los Hermanos casa particular and we met her at that time.

Canadian_Guy1000

I wanted to post several photos from our trips to the Guardalavaca area, but apparently I have not earned such privileges yet--I got the following message: "You are not allowed to post URLs until you have at least 10 posts." OK, perhaps I'll do it in the future!

Beansntoast

I missed you Chip. Tell me another story about Larry's uncle.

Wessislander

Hi all, would like to post some pics of our stay at Gran Muthu Almirante Beach Resort in Guardalavaca earlier this year. 2024.

Guardalavaca

Pool

Lobby

Vintage auto

Room

Beach

Local town apartments

Beach scene while hiking

Johnabbotsford

Thanks for the fotos!