This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the LG contest or to a vans demo in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I choose the Demo. This is a place in the world that not just anybody can visit, Its a military base in central America on the south east coast of Cuba.
The US government leased the 45 square miles of land in 1903 and its become famous lately because in 2002, the U.S brought Al Queda and Taliban prisoners to GTMO to prevent access to the American court system. At one point there were over 600 prisoners, and on our visit we were informed that just over 200 prisoners remain.
Why was I there? Well, there is a supermarket similar to a Walmart on the navy base, and once a year they do a customer appreciation day. The Shop sells VANS Shoes and invited some of the team to do a demo(Harrington, Whitton and myself). We had a box jump and 1/4 pipe set up and we rode 2 demos on the Saturday. A Filmer from VANS is putting together a video of the shows that should be up soon enough...
We were really busy the whole time, Bus trips, history lessons, bowling, partying...
One thing that was strict was picture taking, Its a prison, and everything that looked great to snap pics of, was off limits.
Overall it was one of the best experiences Ive had on the road it was a real eye opener to see how life is over there.
Mackay...
Pictures.
1. Jacksonville FL. Navy Base. Departure to GTMO on a Navy plane.
2. Lee Ermey Actor from Full Metal Jacket and Texas Chainsaw Massacre was my neighbor.
3. Iguana's everywhere.
4. The Cuba/USA Border. The white line is where US guards hand over illegal imagrants back to Cuba
5. The Demo Flyer.
6. Humvee. These vehicles get around protecting the boarders.
7. We spent the 31st of Oct there which was Halloween!
8. Camp America.
9. Navy Base in Jacksonville FL, we woke up at 6am, and didnt leave till 2pm. Delays!
