‘We are very worried. It’s chaos’: Edmonton women on vacation in Cuba waiting for flight back to Canada

A beautiful trip to Cuba became a nightmare for five Edmonton friends who have been vacationing in the island country and are now in Varadero, hoping to fly back to Canada Tuesday evening as planned.

Aysanur (Ashley) Yener and Hazime Gokce say escaping the winter with friends for some sunny weather was a wonderful week away until friends and family reached out to see if they were OK.

“We are all under extreme stress here, and no one knows what is going to happen. Our husbands and children reached out to us after seeing the news about the crisis here,” Yener told CityNews from her resort in Varadero Tuesday morning.

RELATED: Canadians awaiting flights home as U.S. oil blockade causes energy shortage in Cuba

The group arrived in Cuba last Wednesday and say one of their friends got injured and broke her shoulder. Yener says she received an email from WestJet, stating the group has now been split up, and can’t travel back together.

“Now, three of us are travelling via Toronto, and the other two will travel via Montreal, stay there for two days, then fly to Calgary and later to Edmonton,” Yener said.

“When we got to know of flights being cancelled, we ran to the reception desk to get some information from them, and we didn’t. We do hope we get to travel tonight (Tuesday),” Gokce added.

The group says their heart goes out to the Cuban people there. “They have no power. A hotel employee told us they haven’t had power in their homes for two weeks now. They have kids,” Yener said.

“I spoke to some employees at the restaurant. They don’t know what is going to happen to them, how they will go home, or even have jobs,” Gokce added.

Cuba’s energy crisis has deepened since the U.S. captured Venezuela’s then-President Nicolás Maduro in January.

The women say they want to remain positive as they eagerly wait to be transported to the airport in buses.

“If they cancel our flight tonight (Tuesday), what are we going to do, where are we going to stay? The expenses will keep adding up. There is no food, no power, and we don’t know Cuba,” Yener said.

“If the buses do not arrive, we plan to hire a taxi to get to the airport, if they have fuel,” added Gokce.

“Right now, all I am thinking about is getting Cuban drinks, some alcohol, be positive. You are in Cuba — enjoy it,” Yener said.