The next day we had a driver hired to take us all the way back to our boats in Puerto de Vita, about 700 kilometers. He had a more modern vehicle with air-conditioning but the ride took from 5 am to 5 pm. A long ride over a lot of bumpy roads full of potholes and portions of the roads were missing. It was still better than the bus, more expensive, but we split it 5 ways.

We were all relieved to find the boats where just as we left them and we settled into the idea of heading back to the Bahamas. But first we had to get Bonnie on a plane so she could fly back to the States. We got her to the airport after she had gotten permission to leave from the Customs officer. He also gave us a document stating that she would not be on the boat when we left. Her flight took her to Miami and then back to Minnesota. She had two bottles of rum and one was taken at the Cuban airport and the other in Miami. Not sure why.

We listen to Chris Parker on the Single Side Band receiver (or SSB) to get weather reports as well as some internet sites. The forecast was for strong winds for at least 4 or 5 days so we had to wait. As long as we could not leave immediately we chose to tour Santiago de Cuba on the southeast end of the island. This city is known for its music and dance. It is in a beautiful setting with mountains all around and a seaport. Again we stayed in a private home. Price was around 20 CUC a room and breakfast was 5 CUC. They only offered us Cuban coffee which was very strong in a very small cup. Once again the people were so nice. The owner of the casa said it had been in his family for a couple of generations and had been built by the Spanish over a 100 years ago. We walked the street at night and felt very safe. We visited the El Morro castle built around 1638, very cool. Many of the buildings in town were in bad shape and either falling down or in need of repair, but the streets were kept clean which we noticed was often the case in most parts of Cuba. An exciting city, and we wish we could have stayed longer, especially to enjoy the music.