Claire’s Cuban Adventure for Children on the Edge

In 2019 Body Shop at Home Consultant Claire Martin decided that she wanted to push herself out of her comfort zone, so booked a charity trekking challenge to Jordan for the following year. The trek involved lots of walking, camping (which is not something she is passionate about) and would also be the first time that she had travelled alone. When the pandemic hit, the trek was cancelled and rearranged,then cancelled a second time so Clare decided to switch to another adventure, this time in Sri Lanka but due to the political unrest in the country her trip was cancelled yet again. In spite of all this, Claire was determined to complete her challenge, so with just one month’s notice she set her sights on Cuba. 

 This new plan wasn’t without its own obstacles as, the week before Claire was due to fly, the country was hit by a hurricane. Luckily the organisation running the challenge were able to adjust the itinerary so that it could still go ahead. After waiting so long, Claire was determined to make sure that she would remember everything about the trip, so she kept a diary for each day of her adventure and sent us some snippets. Read on to find out about Claire’s Cuban Adventure … 

Day 1: Walking tour of Havana
On our first day we acclimatised with a walking tour around Havana. Our guide Tony was very knowledgeable. We saw the people of Havana queuing around the block just to buy bread and using ration books for other staples such as milk, eggs and rice.

Day 2: Our ‘warm-up’ day
On a day that was supposed to be our warm up day, we ended up on an 18 km trek around lake Hanabanilla and up a mountain to visit a coffee farmer. Everyone was very welcoming and the farmer greeted us with freshly brewed coffee.
 
Day 3: Climbing our second mountain
On day three we got a boat from one end of the lake to the other to climb another mountain. After trekking up the mountain we got to swim in a waterfall which relieved our tired, weary feet. The views were stunning.

Day 4: Elephant Rock and salsa dancing! 
Day 4 was relentless. It started out manageable, with some amazing scenery such as ‘Elephant Rock’, but when we had to take our boots off to cross the river I lost my head a bit. I was towards the back of the group so the water was churned up and murky making it hard to see where to safely put my feet in to get across. It knocked my confidence and slowed me down a bit and although I made it to the waterfall I chose not to swim that day as I wanted to take a breath and gather myself. Once we left the waterfall, the terrain was steep and we continued to climb without levelling off or stopping. I found it challenging going uphill continually without getting to come back down. I may have had a little moan, but I got there in the end. Before dinner our guide taught us how to salsa dance which was fun after a difficult day. 

Day 5: The last trekking day
Day 5 was our last official day trekking in the mountains. It started out with an uphill trek, which was a struggle. By this point in the trek I wasn't replacing the salts quick enough due to such heavy sweating so was continually dehydrated and feeling dizzy. I took my time and made it to our break stop, where I got water and sugar on board to get me going again. From there on it was mostly downhill. You can’t imagine the cheer I gave when that information was announced by the guide! Although it was downhill, we needed a machete to clear a pathway as the paths were overgrown. Our trek was complete with a final bridge crossing where we were presented with a medal.

After waiting nearly three years and countless cancellations, Claire was delighted to have pushed herself out of her comfort zone and complete her cuban challenge, raising an incredible £690 for Children on the Edge! 
 
Claire said, “The trip was amazing and definitely challenging. I certainly came out of my comfort zone, travelling by myself, meeting new people and making friends for life! I’m already starting to plan my next challenge.” ​