Old Havana Havana is rebuilding. Scaffolding is seen all over the old city. Some decaying buildings get restored while others are demolished and replaced with modern office and apartment blocks. Havana was once called “the city of columns”. I would call it “the city of statues” because they are everywhere. Statues can stand in the […]
New Havana, Cuba, March 2022 Read More »
The Bahamas to Cuba “Half of my heart is in Havana, ooh na-na…” It is easy to fall in love with Havana. Everyone saw photos of its picturesquely decaying old buildings. They are marvelous and disgusting at the same time because people actually live in them. Cuba is a clear example of how decades of
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The Bahamas To see Cuba was my dream of several years. In January 2021, I almost made it to there. I had a ticket to fly to Santiago de Cuba from the Dominican Republic. Cuba closed its borders due to a sudden spike in Covid cases while I was in the DR. My flight was
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Nassau, The Bahamas The plan for my last full day in the Bahamas was to see Atlantis. The famous resort is located on a separate island called Paradise and connected by a bridge to the island of New Providence where Nassau is. I went to the cruise harbor again and past it over the bridge
Paradise Island, The Bahamas, March 2022 Read More »
USA to The Bahamas My hopes for a good sleep did not materialize. I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow because of the previous sleepless night. Then a strange noise entered my dream as if water was splashing somewhere nearby. I ignored the noise unwilling to wake up and drifted back
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I had not left home for almost 5 months since October. There was a plan to go to Sudan in December 2021 and it spectacularly failed. I easily got a Sudanese visa that looked like a good omen for the trip. In order to visit the Sudanese consulate in person, I bought a ticket with
USA to The Bahamas, March 2022 Read More »
EPILOGUE So, my sailing trip got terminated early. I suspected that it might happen, mainly because of my unseaworthiness, and had a Plan B. My destination was Europe regardless of the transportation means with the final stop in Bulgaria. It did not matter how soon or late I would get there or by what route.
The Caribbean, April 2021 Read More »
On board of Elli Di The six of us, after the meeting, made another attempt to prepare for the Atlantic crossing. While the others worked on a shopping list of the necessary supplies, I took all first aid kits on board and emptied them on the cockpit table, then threw away expired medications, googled names
Phillipsburg, Sint Maarten, April 2021 Read More »
Marigot By next morning, Wednesday, things calmed down. When we got up, everyone had a different goal in mind. Presumably, the catamaran was leaving on Thursday although she was not a bit readier than the day before. Anna wanted to spend ashore as much time as possible since she may not see land for weeks.
On board of Elli Di, Saint Martin, April 2021 (continued) Read More »
On board of Elli Di In the morning on Tuesday, the 27th of April, Anna and I went to see Fort Louis in Marigot. It’s a short but steep climb up to what’s left of this once mighty fort, completed in 1789 under St-Martin’s then-governor Jean Sebastian de Durat to protect the settlement of Marigot
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