On our way out of Camagüey we discovered the cathedral was open and in service. This morning we drove through the flatlands, formerly grand sugar plantations which are now all government farms. We made a rest stop with a chance to view some state sanctioned books. Continuing on our way we noticed buildings and factories now idle or uncompleted. With a U.S. embargo and the collapse of Russian aid times are not good. But to cheer things up there is always a visit to Mirador de Mayabe resort on top of a hill that, like a natural balcony, overlooks a beautiful Cuban landscape — the Mayabe Valley with its fruit orchards. Here, we met Cuba's famous beer drinking donkey and visited an open air museum illustrating farm life in a small Cuban village.

Continuing eight kilometres to our destination of Holguin, we went for lunch then stopped at the statue of Galixto Garcia , the general who liberated the city from the Spanish in 1872. Across the way we toured the The Periquera, a National Monument, built between 1860 and 1868. Now a provincial museum, rooms illustrate Holquin history including archaeological relics of the Taino Indians who lived in the area from the 8th to 15th centuries. The most famous item in the collection is the Hatchet of Holguin, a stoneaxe head carved as a human figure. It was found by a Spanish official in 1860 and is now the symbol of the city. Included in our explorations were visits to the San Isadoro Cathedral built in 1720 on the site of the first mass, and the art gallery. We were also fascinated with the bicycle sidecars so prevelent in this city. After visiting the natural history museum where we viewed samples of the rare and beautiful Polymita snail shells from the beaches of Baracoa. We returned to the Periquera area to wait for our bus to take us to our hotel.

The city has a large area, designed by Demitrov, a Bulgarian architect. It feels strangely like entering an Eastern Block country. Soviet style housing and much of it crumbling we were told because the concrete was mistakenly made with salt sea water. The hotel, also designed by Demitrov, was an experience — no hot water but I got a fine picture of a cockroach and the view was great. That evening our guide Victor entertained the troops, followed by supper and a poolside show.