Cuba Part One

********* WARNING: I LIKE TO WRITE *********

Since we had no access to the Internet for our trip, I will start from the beginning. And since we are planning a few magazine articles recapping our journey I will not be sharing all of what we discovered on the bicycle culture in Cuba. At least not yet. Maybe a little bit, maybe. I will try to focus more on the human experiences we had along the way.

I will say this, my feet did not touch the sand, feel the water or walk without shoes, but where they took me was the real Cuba. And I learned so, so much....

....As we land in Veradero, the girl in front of us comments on why she loves flying ElitePlus (yes we flew in First but I will explain, read on). She mentions to her friend that the extra weight allowance was needed as she has packed 14 pairs of shoes.

I hang my head, bite my tongue. Maybe she plans to give them away? That thought is quickly killed, cremated, and laid to rest.

Her friend is amazed, she explains, "what if you decide to go for a run? You need shoes for that. What if you go for a walk? You need walking shoes. And if we go on the Catamaran? you need shoes for that. And I brought hiking shoes, If we go on a hike, I don't want shin splints."

My head is still hung, I bite my tongue a little more.

She goes on to explain that she has packed 8 bikinis, 6 purses, and plans to change at least 3 times a day.

I can't look up, I can only bite harder and pray for her to stop talking.

It wasn't until after the trip that I realized this was the perfect narrative to begin our journey. Here we were about to embark on a journey and learn how people make do when they don't have access to the things they "need." Here was this girl who truly believed she needed all these things to get by on a beach, in a resort, on vacation. Both sides represented and we weren't even off the plane.

Speaking of the plane I have to thank Matthew Hunter at Sunwing (www.sunwing.com) who helped us out on this journey. He was able to put is in Elite Plus and work within our budget. We flew in First for the extra weight as well. Instead of shoes and purses we brought bike parts, toiletries, and candies for the kids, all to be given out along our way. Plus I had a few pounds of camera gear to deal with.

The trip begins....

Off to Cuba

Heading to Cuba tomorrow at 6am. This is my first photography trip outside of working with Free the Children. I am excited and nervous and have to say, I may have overpacked on the gear side.

We are doing a project on the bicycle culture in the country. We live in a society where if something breaks, we either pay to have it fixed, or replace it. For the DIY in the crowd, we have access to modern parts and tools to get the job done.

Because of the trade embargo, Cuba has been stuck without modern luxuries for quite sometime. People have been maintaining the same bike for decades, without any modern parts or tools. The majority of Cubans still rely on bicycles as their mode of transport and many for income. Cycling is not a recreation there, but a means. So they are left with their imagination, intuition and creativity to help get them by. We are hoping to find some interesting characters, bicycles and means of repair/maintenance on the way.

I will be trying to keep posting at least one shot a day, depending on internet access. Keeping with the cycling theme, here is a shot I took in Ecuador 2 yrs ago.

Canoa, Ecuador