9 Décember 2004, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

I only spent one night in La Havana but it was quite entertaining! I took part in a small reception at the Presidential Palace along with Jack, who landed here a few days ago. We had the opportunity to shake hands with Castro himself, and some Cuban “journalists” were also on site. Canadians spend lots of money in Cuba each year, and I was welcomed with both class and respect.  

After the reception, me and Jack had a lot of catching up to do! We did it the only way we knew how: by looking for beer! Since Castro had insisted we use an official car to travel in Havana , and one “guide” (actually, it should read two guides, but since my wife might read this and ignores all about my fantasies about redheads…) the night was… marvellous. Like keep it short: beer, rum, cigars, meringue!  

Needless to say, I woke up with the sound of the engine of my Grand Caravan… turning in my head. I figured that if I stayed here another night, it’s to the AA I would be telling my life story, and not to you good readers! I decided to “be the man” and called reception to arrange transportation to MUHA. I just had to fly today.  

I reached the airport in one piece, but with my hands still somewhat shaky. There was no way I ould be able to file a flight plan, so I opted for a simple VFR flight, following the Southern coast of Cuba .  

I quickly made the final arrangements with the local authorities (my reputation with the Six Pack helped speed that up a lot) and decided to decline to ride in the airport truck and opted to walk towards the “General Aviacion” parking and settle in my faithful Caravan.  

After topping off the fuel and completing the appropriate checklists, I was instructed to taxi to runway 24. From there, it should be a nice flight to the beautiful Santiago Del Cuba , on the opposite side of the island. Just in case, I have a nice “little bag” close to me…  

As I expected, this was a wonderful flight. Under a perfect sky, I followed the Cuban coast until I approached Santiago . Feeling better, I decided to follow some of the valleys in the numerous mountains surrounding the city, instead of the easy way in.  

After a 2:30 flight, I landed at Antonio Macéo airport, where I plan to spend the night. Tomorrow, it’s off to Jamaica to catch up with John.