Monday 28 December 2009

The Revel Quintet - Part I



Last November I spent nearly two months in Cuba. I was working in a production called “Ian Wright – Out of Bounds”, his new gig for Travel Channel. Cool stuff. Since Ian has already travelled the world and back, in this new series he steps out of the beaten track, going to the most unusual places, like Syria, Sri Lanka, Venezuela… and, of course, Cuba. Luckily the unbeaten track in Cuba is huge, since most visitors stay in Havana, Varadero or the Capes, beside some day trips to a few other locations.

During the shoot we crossed the country inland from Havana to the eastern coast village of Baracoa, also filming in Camaguey, Trinidad, Santiago de Cuba and Guantanamo. We found one of the most fascinating stories in Sierra Maestra, a pretty inaccessible thick tropical forest National Park in the oriental part of the island, a symbol of the warfare started by Castro and his fellows against the Batista Regime during the late 50’s.



“The Revel Quintet”. This is the name given by Fidel Castro to these old geezers when they were only 15 years old, poor and analphabetic. We met them in Villa de Santo Domingo, a charming mountain lodge at the entrance of the National Park. They were dressed with the traditional army uniform of the Cuban Revels, the same Castro and Che Guevara wore while they were fighting Batista during the early years of the Revolution.

It was sunset and the light was about to vanish; the scenery along the way up to the mountains had been so beautiful we couldn’t help our selves from stopping probably too many times to film it. They were expecting us and when we arrived, they were already prepared with their instruments and as soon as we placed the camera they started the music.


http://www.box.net/shared/cmasoq9q3j
Here you can make a free a secure download of "Respect to Che Guevara", one of the "Revel Quintet" Album

It was typical Cuban guajiro music (guajiro means countryman). The lyrics and rhymes were so simple that could have been written by an 8 year old pupil. Most of them where in their 70’s and in their army uniforms they looked like beaten soldiers that fought for too long. But their voices were passionate and their feelings genuine. You could tell theirs was a great story.

                                (the rest of the story coming soon)

Thursday 24 December 2009

Surf at the Bilbao River



This is the way we promote an exhibition in the Basque Country. We are tough people...


Yesterday two friends of mine did this performance. The water was very cold and very dirty. But it looks niiiice....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OihR5AoVZOw


Wednesday 2 December 2009

I'm in London sitting in a cold hotel room. I came up for a day to record the voice over of my last Globe Trekker show in Turkey. I just had a look at an upcomig documentary trailer that some good friends of mine are producing. Not a happy story.

Check it out:
www.battleforheartsandminds.com

We've seen those images a million times on films. We've cried and shacked with so many films that tell a similar story. But this time it is different. Thit is real live.

www.danfungdennis.com - This guy has big balls.

Tuesday 1 December 2009


Hello there!!

It is 10.15 AM. I woke up at 5.30 AM this morning with a heavy jet lag. I actually love jet lag. I usually wake up really early, when the rest of the town is still sleeping and everything is so quiet. I feel fresh, active and creative.

I've been watching the pictures I did in California and taking some notes in the guidebook about the places I liked or not. Am I too organized? I was feeling very hungry and I've had a poor attempt of delighting myself with a last great American breakfast before going back to my usual toasts. I've remembered I had some pancake mix. The pancake got sticked on the pan and I tried again with a new one. Only when the pancake was finished and looking delicious I found the mix was expired since January 09. Live is cruel sometimes...

I couldn't eat my pancakes, but I started a blog!

This is not a place where to find out the hotels or sights that are nice or not. I've created this blog to share my travel experiences, my opinions and interesting facts about the countries I visit. Everybody is welcome to share his/her opinions and knowledge about the different matters exposed here.

Together I hope we have fun, we learn and we become conscious about stories, people, problems and great adventures we maybe didn't know. We might fix up the whole world!!

See you around!

P.D.: EL idioma habitual de este blog es el inglés porque quiero que sea accesible a personas de todo el mundo. En España andamos bastante retrasados con el uso del inglés, así que ¡a ponerse las pilas! Si hubiera gente que no sepa inglés y esté interesada en leer este blog, por favor, que se manifieste y haré lo que pueda. Thanks!