We have finally made it to Cuba, and we have to say – it is awesome here!!! We have been told by a lot of people that we have met on the road to Cuba that it is expensive, hot, dirty, that nothing works, and our personal favourite that it is ‘frustratingly beautiful’. We can understand the perspective, however, it is not any more or less ‘difficult’ to travel through than the rest of Central America.
We arrived at around 10:00 pm, and as we had been advised, our shuttle/taxi driver was there with a sign “Laurence and Maree Bullivant” waiting for us in the arrival lounge. His first question was how I pronounced my name – he had already been working on Laurence’s and was pretty good. Within 5 minutes of leaving the airport we saw neon lights of Che and Fidel. It was an interesting drive as we were both trying to soak everything in, even though it was a bit too dark to see anything. Our first impressions were that it looked much like any other Central American city, that there was a lot of well-preserved old cars that were acting as taxi’s and that the Cuban people enjoying gathering on the side of the streets at night. We were dropped off at a guesthouse, which to be honest felt and looked better than some of the Hotels we had been staying at for the past 3 months. Our host was extremely friendly and did not seem to mind the late hour at all. We were quickly off to bed and to sleep.
The next morning, after a bit of a sleep in, we had breakfast provided to us (fruit, bread, and eggs – always eggs – I do not think that I will eat another egg after making it out of Latin America). After a quick stop at the bank to get some money out we started wondering the streets of Havana. It looks a bit like an older and unkempt version of some European towns. The appeal of Havana was immediately understood – it seemed safe, was not too hot (we caught a lucky spell for our whole trip, sunny but not hot, only rain for short periods), and the people seemed friendly and happy to see us in their city. Eventually we would figure out that the people saw us as a meal ticket, source of additional funds, but we cannot say that this was every person that we met – some seemed genuine, friendly, and eager to share their cities and history with us. We spent our first day in Havana wondering around, looking, looking, and looking. We also hired a horse and guide for a few hours and explored the ‘old town’. There are many squares names “revolution”, “arms”, and the like. The buildings are beautiful. And there is a thriving tourist market. On that first afternoon, it definitely felt like the European tourists had descended upon the old town and were drinking, smoking, and laughing their way around the town. I would have loved to have been in Cuba 5-10 years ago and to see it a bit quieter.
We did a walking tour of the old Havana before heading to a little town called Viñales. It was interesting to learn about the ration books that the Cubans have – not for a set amount of food, they can buy as much food as they can afford, but for a set amount of food that is subsidised by the state. In one of their little stores we could see that they could by 1 lb of rice for $0.25 cents. We also heard about how the Catholic faith and the faith of the African brought over to Cuba as slaves have merged together and now represent both.
In Viñales we went to a tobacco farm to learn about the process, watch the farmer roll a cigar, and to try one that he had grown and rolled. It was interesting to be shown the boundaries of the farm (which by New Zealand standards might not be considered a farm – perhaps more of a lifestyle block) and to be told that the land had been given to the family (by the state) just over 10 years ago. The family were very happy with their little farm. We then stopped off at a mural that was painted upon the wall of a rock face in 1961. They re-paint it every couple of years to ensure that it does not fade too much. Our last planned stop was the Cave of the Indians – a long cave system in which you can walk a short way, be taken by boat a little bit further, and to look at some of the rock formation that have occurred. I must say that it is a much smaller version of Waitomo Caves (without the glow worms), but it was enjoyable and the Cuban people are very proud of it. Like other Central American attractions, we had to struggle through the vendors peddling their wares. For the afternoon, we relaxed in the little town, attended a salsa lesson (of course Laurence and I carved it up), and ate at an organic form (once again, we use the term ‘farm’ loosely as to a lot of people back home it might look a bit like an oversized vegetable patch). The restaurant used the food grown on the farm and was run by the family living there (the government only allows private enterprise by self-employed workers). The food was wonderful and like all other parts of Cuba – the spirits were on free-flow. The Cuban people eat a lot of meat – fish, lamb, pork, chicken, and beef. The types of vegetables that the use are taro, beans, and sometimes salad ingredients (apparently the only grow vegetables that they can sell and they only sell vegetables that they grow). As a country, they are not big on vegetables. Like other Central American countries, they eat a lot of rice and beans.
Our next stop on the Cuba trail was Trinidad. A lovely UNESCO heritage site with cute and colourful buildings. We enjoyed the day wandering around and acting like tourists. Of the places we visited, I think that the ceramic factory was the best. It had been in production for a number of years, they even have a 1914 car parked inside their factory. We watched a man making the ceramics (with the spinning disc thing) and saw the workers loading the ceramics into the kilns. However, we also took a look at a museum which held items from the revolution, walked up a bell tower to take a look at the surrounding area, shopped at street stalls, and had a picnic dinner at the beach.
On the way to our last stop before heading back to Havana, we went to the Che museum and memorial. There were a lot of photographs and items that Che has owned or used over the years. We also watched a documentary about him on the bus on the way to the museum. I have to admit that I did not know much about him or his life, but it was interesting to see the way he fought and died for his beliefs. It was also interesting that Cuba ‘adopted’ him and obviously still love him now. They even recovered his remains in the last 1990’s to give him a proper burial. Che’s children still live in Havana, we were told that the live normal lives (not a life of a famous freedom fighter).
Our last stop was Cienfuegos, where we explored the main square and had drinks at what was once a private yacht club but is now open to the public. We also visited a place which was built by/for the Mafia when it was based in Cuba (after being expelled from New York). Although we did not have much time here (it was more a convenient place to stop to split up the driving back to Havana) we enjoyed our stay – the highlight was hot (I mean really hot) water with some pressure (not dribbling out).
Back in Havana we continued to wander the streets and explore new things. We even headed across town to a burger place that we recommended to us – they were massive and well worth the visit. As a whole, we did not seem to have any issues in Cuba, it was a wonderful visit and we would definitely return (hopefully some time soon)!!!