The experience Shirley has so eloquently and elegantly captured is the roadside wait for the bus following a day at Cayo Blanco, one of the most popular daytrips offered at Club Amigo Marea del Portillo. For those who have yet to visit, the return bus typically picks you up at the edge of a farmer's field, whisking you back to the resort in air-conditioned comfort. However, there are occasions when there are too many "sun-red bodies" to fit in one bus!
Amigo Bus
By S. A. McCormick
Up the hill away from the sea we walk
Sun-baked turistas swaying to rhythmic heat
In Cuban time we wait for the bus to return
too late for cramming — we, the second round
— hats on faces, caked in salt and sweat
siesta sprawled, we rest upon the ground
Through the quiet, a brazen donkey brays
behind barbed wire. The bull noses the cow
and bellows for attention. Horses graze on
the dried blades of a too late rainy season
We hear the faint jangle of cattle bells
From a distance comes a clomp of cloven hooves
approaching at a trot along the road —
a throng of humped shoulders and curving horns
four cows and two frolicking calves
The farmer on his small horse trotting by
taps a lengthy switch upon the ground
He guides them past in unexpected haste
Their clanging bells in two-note song fade
in the horizon. We laugh and smile, recline
in shade under the prickly tree
feel the hot breezes flow
above our sun-red bodies
[For a full list of excursions and daytrips offered at Club Amigo Marea del Portillo, as well as a whole lot of other great information and photos, please visit the resort's newly launched website: http://marea.marea.co.cu]
