Zub Tales

Sketches done one morning at the beach bar in Cuba:

I’m still kind of in shock at how good the resort was and how well the vacation went for such a low price. We had one day that was overcast with about 20 minutes of rain. The other days were all shimmering sunshine and unbelievable heat. The resort was about half full, making it even easier to get a seat for dinner, maximize beach space or take a dip in the pool without interference.

The buffet area we ate at most of the time had good food, though not crazy gourmet or anything. Each night had a different theme – the Mexican night was particularily good, with hand made taco shells and lots of fixin’s.

There was also an Italian and Cuban sit down restaurant you could book at in advance to enjoy a higher class meal. I ate there twice and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The drinks were plentiful. It was fun trying new cocktails or shots and not worrying about a “drink budget” or how to get home if we drank too much. There wasn’t a rushed sense of “needing to get drunk” or maximising every drink.

The staff was very friendly and helpful, with most of them speaking some degree of english. They were happy to get tips, but didn’t expect them (in fact the resort has a sign clearly stating that tips are not required). I heard from other people that some of the resorts in Veradaro are staffed a lot by students who tend to be exhausted (school all day, working all night) and desperate for tips. The Jibacoa resort was staffed by adults and almost all of them seemed quite happy with their jobs.

Even though the resort is only for people aged 14+ it wasn’t a major party spot. There’s a little dance club at the resort and the bar and pool is open 24 hours, but this wasn’t a wild of vacation place. The atmosphere is laid back, which was exactly what I needed.

The trip wasn’t perfect. I accidentally slammed my pinkie toe into a door frame mid-week and woke up to find it black and blue the next morning, so I was limping around the resort for a couple days afterwards. The tour into Havana that we took on the Friday was blisteringly hot and our tour group was swarmed by beggars, which was depressing and hard to deal with. Even still, those two things were pretty minor compared to the quality of the resort and the amazing time that encompassed the rest of the trip.

If you want any specific info about where we stayed or recommendations on what to bring to Cuba, let me know. I’m pretty serious about going again at some point and it would be kind of cool to get a gaggle of people all going at once some day.

Some cool work news and other things coming in my next post.