Do you have a relationship with the place known as Marea del Portillo?

Human relationships are remarkable things. You never know where or when you'll encounter someone who will become a friend, and you may not even know why. Nor can you predict to what degree that friendship will develop. Connections can be incredibly random, yet strong as Gorilla Glue. 

I've sometimes noticed interactions between people on Facebook that are heartwarming because I know they connected with each other at Marea del Portillo, an obscure but beloved little resort in rural Cuba. Sometimes these friendships were formed because the individuals were part of a group I organized, which is particularly gratifying to me!

As a tour leader, I've always seen a key aspect of my role as being to help people make connections – with others in the group, with members of the community we're visiting and, ultimately, with the country itself. Over the years, with or without my involvement, many visitors to Marea del Portillo have become connected to the place and its people.

As you may know, Club Amigo Marea del Portillo was closed at the start of 2020, due to COVID-19, and has not yet been reopened. Many people in that area have now been out of work for three years! Since the resort is key to the economic survival of numerous families, if not the community itself, I accepted a challenge to create a petition, urging action by those with the power to reopen the resort. It will go to Sunwing executives and others.

You can read the petition by clicking HERE. I hope you will sign it.

Even if the resort doesn't open this season, I remain confident that it will open next winter. The people in that region need the opportunity to work that tourism affords, both directly and indirectly.

Meanwhile, I'm working on putting together a little group (just a van load) that would fly into Holguin, spend a night or two there and explore the city, then wend our way through the Granma province, visiting a few historic sites along the way to Marea. If the hotel is not open, we would stay at casas particulares (Cuban B&Bs) in the area. A few people have already expressed interest in this but I need a couple more to make it viable; please contact me right away, if you might want to go along in late March.