In an effort to get the bike lighter I have jettisoned much of my gear and politely turned away a lot of gifts.  Today I got a pound or so heavier taking on a passenger who rode shotgun for a while but ended the day up front in the tank bag.

The meeting with immigration that morning was a complete joke.  They asked me the same questions the police had the day before.  It became very apparent that their only goal was to inconvenience me and to their credit it worked.  I knew arguments weren’t going to get me any further so I told them what they wanted to hear, left the office with polite handshakes and rode west towards greener pastures.

I first thought I would go to Veradero to check out a bike rally but later decided to make my way back to the ship, regroup and decide from there.  I was outside of the city of Camaguay and riding west when I happened upon an unfortunate scene.  A litter of puppies had wandered out on the highway and all but one was struck by the vehicle in front of me.  I got stopped quickly and the driver of a large truck stopped in the lane to block traffic as I scooped the puppy up.

Puppy in a box

The pup drank a surprising amount of water so I decided to try a bit of food as well.  I went into a gas station, picked up some tuna and the tiny dog ate half the tin.  The gas station attendant chipped in giving me a box to put the puppy in which I strapped to a pannier.  I named her Cami, put her in the box and continued west towards Cienfuegos.

Cami riding shotgun

We made several stops along the way and the little dog that stumbled in the roadway hours before seemed to come around.

Cami the Cuban road dog

Cami relaxing after a big lunch

On one stop at a gas station after we shared some strawberry ice cream I started to pack her up in box.  She protested, put on a good look and found her way into the tank bag where she curled up and went to sleep.  She would poke her head outside the half open zipper when I slowed in small cities and quickly got accustomed to riding.  I pulled into town two up and asked around about a vet that might take her.

While roaming the neighborhood near the vet I stopped at a bus stop to ask a few question.  A older lady named Norca was standing there so I gave her my best Spanish, told her the story and offered her five pesos to drop the dog off at the vet on Monday morning.

Cienfuegos’ Norca taking Cami

She first said no but I pulled the dog from the tank bag, asked her to hold it for a moment and she eventually agreed to help out.

Last moment with Cami (photo by Norca)

I managed to get Norca to take one last unfocused photo of me with my new friend before riding away to find my own place to sleep the night.