A Trip in a Vintage Car to La Gaviota

Our initial plans for the day was to check out the beach close to the resort. Which we did shortly after Dhan had a fresh coconut, and some breakfast for the both of us.

Dhan went to check out the beach and look for any pieces of coral, and I looked to find a pair of available lounge seats under a cabana. I found one with a pair of unoccupied lounge seats that were closed and had the resort’s towel on it. So we proceeded to lie down for a bit and enjoy the view, the sun, and the azure blue of the Atlantic Ocean.

Maybe 20 minutes into things we were both rudely interrupted by another resident of the resort claiming that the spot was and that the generic resort towel was his. He was a real ass about it, and I gave him back the spot exactly as I had found it. He was beginning to be apologetic at the end but he pissed me off so much that it ruined any possible enjoyment we could have had by moving on to a different part of the beach. That was the only real sour experience we had at Cayo Coco the entire trip, and it figures it was from a fellow Canuck being an ass. Worth pointing out that the cabanas by the poolside have a notice on them saying that they cannot be reserved, and most sensible people will leave a personal object (a book, a distinctive towel, or a water bottle) to claim a set of lounge chairs, and this asshat and done nothing like that. I didn’t want to fight over such a small thing, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth, ditto for Dhan.

We retired to our room to recollect ourselves, and I pitched the idea about heading over to a place nearby called La Gaviota, which was a Commercial Center for selling souvenir crafts and other items. So we headed to the resort lobby to hire a cab to get there. We were lucky in that there were already a couple of cabs waiting there, both beautiful vintage cars from long before the U.S. embargo that started in the late 1950s.

The trip alone was well worth it, as the short drive to La Gaviota in the open-topped late 50s Buick was a blast. The first time either of us had ever traveled anywhere in such a vintage vehicle.

Turns out La Gaviota means “Seagull” in Spanish, and that is exactly what the building looks like from the outside.

The market at La Gaviota had a lot of variety, ranging from jewelry to t-shirts, and locally-made crafts of all sorts. Some official stores sold beach towels, rum, beer, and of course cigars. Dhan picked up a wooden blue crab and I picked up a set of fridge magnets of the iconic Che Guevara for friends and family back home.

Pleased with our purchases for ourselves and for the people back home, we made our way via the grand old Buick back to our resort.

And from there, we retired back to our room for a welcome afternoon nap.

It was close to sunset when we woke up, and we decided to stroll by the beach before dinner.

We had dinner and then retired to the lounge area for some music and drink. And my first-ever game of dominos with Dhan.