In Havana, you’ll find people clustered here and there on the Malecón night and day. You can walk or run along the gently curving seawall, as long as the waves don’t flood the surrounding neighbourhood, as they did a week or so before I took these photos. I was going to say that you can easily walk or run the seawall but you’ll want to be aware, especially in the evening, that it’s in pretty choppy condition in many spots.

The Malecón winds eight kilometers / almost five miles, hugging Bahia de la Habana … also known as the Bay of Havana. Construction began in Old Havana in the early 1900s and ultimately extended through Centro Havana and through to Vedado, which is the university and business district.

Running or strolling the Malecón is one thing; getting there means crossing the six-lane highway that separates the bay from the neighbourhoods. You don’t have traffic lights, and the traffic moves quickly, except on those occasions when the waves are so strong that the street is closed to vehicles.

Walking from my casa particular (a private home in which the owner rents out rooms) to the Malecón before 7:00 a.m. this particular morning, traffic was less of an issue than on other occasions. The fishermen were out, staggered at different spots along the wall.

I like the shot above, with this particular fisherman and his gear silhouetted while dawn was breaking over the famous El Morro (which means “rock”), also known as Morro Castle and as Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro.

As the sun cut through the clouds, it lent gorgeous lighting to much in its path – including this boat’s masts, the pelican swooping nearby, and the fishermen below.

These pelicans were no dummies. They were constantly sweeping down to the waters where the fishermen cast their lines …

… and weren’t at all shy of those of us on land.

Here are a couple more shots of daybreak along the Malecón.