You might remember that the eye of Hurricane Irma hit Cayo Coco directly at the end of September 2017 and to say that the area sustained extensive damage would be putting it mildly. The airport at Cayo Coco was extremely damaged, and in fact closed for over two months. The resorts at Cayo Coco all tried to reopen as soon as possible although even now, 6 months later, most are only operating at about one-third capacity. The resort I go to fared better than some others because many of its buildings were older and made out of concrete whereas anything made out of wood was destroyed, as was just about everything close to the beach.
Of course, what was the most noticeable was the destruction of vegetation!! Whereas previously you could be on the beach and barely able to see into the resorts behind all the trees and shrubs along the beach, now everything is totally wide open. A few of the most sturdy palm trees are still standing like sentinels spaced along the beach...and that's all there is.
That being said, I still had a wonderful week!! Many of the staff at the resort that I've come to know over the years were there and it was lovely to see them again - and of course that's one of the main reasons why I keep returning year after year. And although the visual reminders of the hurricane were everywhere you looked, a week on the beach with a mojito in hand can't be anything but lovely!
Sunrises as seen from the balcony of my room
And this was the view from my room
A sunset from the top of my favourite bar - the "Tower Bar", overlooking the little lake beside the resort
As I said, there's no overlooking the damage to the vegetation that the hurricane caused:
This little structure has been rebuilt - housing the windsurfers and pedal boats
As I said, you can see right into the resorts now when you're on the beach...
The main reception building - missing lots of vegetation in its gardens now but overall the building wasn't too badly damaged
"Hemingway's" the beachside bar, has also been rebuilt
And even away from the beach area, still lots of dead vegetation
Something that was quite interesting this trip that I've not seen before along this stretch of beach was the number of conch shells:
Despite the hurricane, some things in Cuba just never change:
Quintessential Cuba - if you enlarge the photo a bit you'll see the signs say the Medical Centre is open 24h except for now because it's breakfast time. There was a similar sign on the door at lunch time too.
Watching the cruise ships going to and from Havana
Yes there were lots of signs of destruction but there were also places where you could see the vegetation starting to regrow.
And of course when buildings and structures have been damaged, they need to be rebuilt too. This is the freshwater pool area which has been completely rebuilt:
And the salt water pool has been all cleaned up too
And of course you can't go to Cuba and not get involved in dancing somehow, whether you're doing it on the beach or watching the shows in the evening, it's always lots of fun!
And you know life is good when you're travelling with a friend who brings you coffee to your room every morning:
As always, all trips must end... and it's definitely different landing back in Toronto than it is landing in Cayo Coco:
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