Yesterday I had chatted with a Kiwi, Greg, who owns the E-Scooter rental shop. I thought it would be fun to tour the island by motorbike and while Carl and Roxy picked a few things up from the store I made a reservation. He had a number of KTM motorcycles which led to a fun conversation talking about our shared interest.
Earlyish, I checked in with Greg and picked up a Chinese made motorbike. It look up for the trip and after a few pointed I was off. It took a lot of weaving and traffic to reach the north end of town and along the way I ended up behind a shuttle for a zipline tour company. Driving past the sign pointing to the turn off I thought to myself what the heck, hung a u-turn and headed down the road. It listed 2.4km but that was just to another turn-off. Then it was a few more km up a very steep switchback road. I guess it was good that it had two concrete paths for vehicle tires but in between were big drop-offs, adding to the concern of crashing. But I made it as was soon signed up for the ziplines with one other couple. The first five ziplines were just ho-hum. But the last zipline was over a huge valley, probably 300 meters above the ground and maybe 500 meters long. That one was a kick. There was a skybridge included with the zipline and walking across a giant swing was suspended nearby. The husband was going to add on the swing so I figured I better try it too. I’ll admit was pretty scary walking a narrow, swaying cable out to a platform and getting strapped in. But I was committed and sliding up to the edge, countdown by one of the two worked, before he gently used his knee to push me off. Two seconds of freefall before the suspension rope grew tight and the swinging began. It was a good rush and before long I was being lowered down to a platform in the bottom of the canyon.
I made my way clockwise around the island and after going up and over a hill, I descended to a beach area where I saw SV Beluga and SV Blue Beryl. Not long after, I picked up fuel in Havanna (Greg mentioned this was one of the few places for gas should I need it). With it being lunch time I began looking for a spot. But there was no where to eat. Ugh, I might be fasting today. Finally around 1:00pm, I saw a sign for “Top Rock” which listed snorkeling and a restaurant. I pulled in and then enjoyed a walk though the forest with many plants and trees having plaques listing the name and uses. Reaching the cliff where the restaurant was located I found a stunning view of limestone cliffs and rocks in the ocean. A quick lunch of stir-fried chicken and veggies and I was back on the road. I had only completed maybe 30% of the drive and the day was slipping away. I stopped a few more times, once for a cave with kayaking in the underground water (no one was there and without a headlamp it was not possible), passed a WW2 museum with a Corsair plane crash to snorkel, beaches with turquoise sand and huge breaking waves, and numerous freshwater rivers with pools for swimming. But the highlight was all of the friendly locals who would wave and say hello. Being on a motorbike makes it so much more personal than driving in a car. And the highlight of highlights was when the children would rush out into the street and line up to high-five me as I rode pass. Cheering and screaming if our hand smacked each other. I am pretty sure my smiles were just as big as theirs.
The last 40% was a bit of grind with not much other than farms and it being more inland. The excitement came in the fuel gauge going lower and lower. I stopped at one point to see how much further (11km). I did make it to the fuel station and even found the shop to return the scooter, all without crashing. A huge success.
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