North America
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Waterton National Park
Where to stay in Waterton National Park Waterton is one of the most beautiful parks in Canada, and that’s saying a lot. It’s a huge area, but its townsite with rental accommodation is tiny, with only about 30 year round residents and a dozen hotel complexes. I’ve been to the park a few times before, and always stayed in campsites or lodgings at least half an hour from the park. This time I wanted to be in the town, just for convenience. I booked a hotel about a month before, and paid a little over $300 for the privilege of staying within steps of restaurants and shops. The room I…
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Whale watching tour in Banderas Bay
On whale watching day, I got an early morning taxi to the main marina of Puerto Vallarta. It’s the same marina where cruise ships dock, along with many different private cruise operators with lots of tour options. I went with Beach Boys https://www.facebook.com/crucerosbeachboy, for 1000 pesos ($63) plus a 29 peso ($2) marina fee once I got there. I booked with my hotel front desk guy, who said all the tours were the same price, but I saw more expensive ones advertised. On board the catamaran were staff to feed us breakfast and drinks, the captain of course, and a marine biologist. Whales were tracked down right away, and we…
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Puerto Vallarta
I arrived! After unorganized lineups to get out of customs, there is a huge area inside the airport lined with time share salespeople. I was curious to know what they would offer, but I ran the gauntlet with my head down and came out untouched. At the airport exit, I made a hard left, taking me over a pedestrian bridge to the other side of the road. Here I knew I would be able to get a taxi or uber for about half the price you would pay for the taxis lined up outside the airport. I ended up in a taxi for 200 pesos to my downtown hotel ($13),…
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Flight to Puerto Vallarta
Flight day My flight day came and no cancellation! (Earlier this winter, flights had been cancelled or combined often). I set off for the airport 2 hours ahead, and had plenty of time. There was a very long line of people checking in, which I was able to skip since I didn’t have a bag to check, so I thought there would be a full plane. But I would say it was only about a third full! Why aren’t more people travelling? The last Canadian government advisory to avoid international travel was put into place last fall, to stop the spread of the omicron variant. That obviously did not work.…
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Mexico and covid January 2022
Why travel now? Well, here were are in a 5th wave of covid. The omicron variant is rampant, weather has been brutally cold, and Regina feels like it’s in lockdown. The government of Canada officially advises to avoid non-essential travel internationally. This was done due to the risk of the omicron variant entering the country. Well, that didn’t work, so I take that advisory with a grain of salt. We are not in any lockdown though, unlike all the other provinces right now. There are some serious restrictions across Canada in place, but they are not stopping omicron anyway, so in Saskatchewan are trying the opposite. We are only watching…
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and more Havana
Today at dance class my Ahmed was booked so I had a new instructor, Abelardo, who couldn’t remember my name so called me Baby. (no one puts Baby in a corner – Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing). For the second hour we did Casino de Rueda with all of us, it’s a circular dance where a caller decides the moves and you switch partners all the time. The guys were performing, sliding into the middle like into home plate, shouting and singing, it was lots of fun. Back on our patio with a beer to recuperate, then lunch at a great paladar named 304 O’Reilly (pronounced oh rrelly), and a…
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more Havana
Back at the dance studio, another 2 hours of casino (Cuban salsa, named after the dance halls where it originated in the 1950s). I’m starting to get it, and got a bunch of thumbs up, Eso!s (that’s it!) and Agua!s (water?? or also good, or that’s it, apparently) and even a few I love you Lynn!s from Ahmed. Back at the casa again, we sat on the deck for a bit of sun. It was kind of cool and cloudy for the first couple of days after the tornado, but now it’s perfect sunny weather. We had lunch at a cheap corner bar, with a great salsa band, and locals…
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Havana continued
In the mornings we had breakfast on the patio. Rooms are 35 CUC per night, plus 5 CUC for a hearty breakfast. We walked a few blocks to Casa del Son for our lessons. I’m with Ahmed, and two of the others and their instructors, all in the same room. So fun, the instructors are all great, very well trained. I had to make several adjustments to my LA salsa style. After that we went back to the casa to regroup, went for a nice outdoor lunch, and stopped in the Revolution Museum and Granma memorial (the Granma was the yacht that was used by Fidel Castro to transport 82…
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Havana
I’ve been to Cuba and Havana twice before, 10 years ago and 3 years ago. I found it to be a strange place, with reliable disorganization, some really bad food, and dancing everywhere. When asked about returning, I said well it’s not my favourite place….but this time it’s a dance trip! My connecting flight to Toronto was delayed, then the flight to Havana was delayed a couple of hours, so I arrived with two friends around 3:30 am at the airport. After waiting for bags and changing money (Cuban pesos aren’t sold outside of Cuba) we found a handsome cabbie who drove us through strangely dark streets and fallen trees. …
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Mazunte
We had an 8 or 9 hour ride along winding roads through mountains to the coast to our final stop. Surprise, we are staying in Puerto Angel, a port town close to the beach towns of Zipolite and Mazunte, where we were supposed to be staying. The dive hotel here is the only accommodation for miles due to the Easter holiday and an obvious failure to book ahead by the tour company (Intrepid Travel, who has agreed to a partial refund of the tour price after a month to review my complaint). I’m pretty low maintenance, but I have my limits and this hotel went below them. In the morning…