cuba – The Wanderess

Discover new countries, their cities, its people and cultures has always been my thing. There are seriously tons of stuff out there that I would like to learn about. Even though I must have walked already dozens of paths, checked out trillions of waterfalls that at some point I stopped counting and tasted so many different fruits, herbs and dishes – and trust me, it was not always that yummy as it looked like – somehow I never seem to even get close to boredom.

Time is passing seemingly quicker with every year I get older and the annual holidays in comparison have been stuck on the same number for at least a decade. And now, with a freezing winter standing on my threshold forcing me to put on some more layers to my utmost dislike, I sneak out through the back door looking for my next warm adventure. But with every mission that I proudly checked off my bucket list, believing that the big picture has been painted a little more colorful and taken more shape, somehow it always happened that at least 2 new must do´s have been added there by default.

So I can´t help but wonder, what is it that keeps me going from one place to another? And why?

Like that breathtaking waterfall you can watch from the inside while feeling the water drizzle on your face and listening to its enchanting sounds of splashing down on moss-covered rocks. I think I picked that one up from a billboard while queuing for my train ticket to Amsterdam. Or was it from a movie? Not sure…

Or that lagoon where huge flocks of flamingos come together for some time of the year to mate and breed – according to that guy´s opinion which I met at a friend´s housewarming party a couple of months back. There must be something to it if someone swears by the life of his old nana that whatever you do and wherever you gonna go, you definitely cannot miss out on this trip of your life. Not sure if his level of alcohol had a say in it. But hey, it cannot harm anyone by adding it to THE list, right? The largest flamingo lagoon of the Caribbeans…or was it the largest of the world? Anyway, it´s easier to erase it afterwards than to regret not having looked into it just to discover that he had a point. You never know…

I´ve always loved to put my feet on unknown ground since I could barely walk. The urge of satisfying my desire for new adventures, discovering new places, tracking hidden hike paths, tasting yet unknown flavours, burying my toes deep down into white, red or black sand beaches – it has been always there. The treasures of the world are hidden for the one and only reason, to be revealed by me. That´s at least what I´d like to believe. And the thought of being Indiana Jones in my personal blockbuster makes my heart jump higher. To learn about all the other ways of people seeing and doing things. To gaze at all the beautiful animals we share this planet with. To cherish every single plant mother nature created, especially those hanging trees with their long branches hanging gracefully alongside the water as if they were mourning for their dearest friend. To understand my role in this play. To be.

Call it a drug if you want, funnily enough a legal one, capable of setting free my adrenaline rush. With every time I experience it, the hunger for it grows and so do I. And the world and I become the leading characters, living happily ever after until the next chronicle.

So comes the day when the inevitable happens, as it always does. The toxic mixture of my spontaneity,curiosity and wanderlust strikes again. I choose my own poison, and I love it. I book. Cuba. A country that has been disconnected from the rest of the world for about half a century can bear only wild adventures…

…And while I am there, busy checking off my bucket list and hunting my beloved flamingos all over the island, another mission suddenly arises: Finding the smallest frog ever on the planet! Rarely and only spotted in one of Cuba´s national parks named after the great German explorer and geographer Alexander von Humboldt. I mean, if I am here already. And anyway it is just around the corner. Or how about a visit to the Che Guevara Memorial in a smoking hot and classy Chevrolet from the 50´s? Actually, each on its own is already an attraction by itself. Yeah right, why not…?