Captivating Cuba

Cuba was beyond my expectations, somewhere I had wanted to travel to for a long time and certainly a country that has got under my skin.

Three weeks travelling in Cuba, so many experiences, learnings and laughs.

Some overall observations and questions from my eyes and ears


The people are particularly friendly, interested and can't do enough for you





There is colour and history everywhere you go













That said there is no advertising, any billboards or murals are promoting the party







The two revolutions, the second resulting in Castro coming to power in 1959, are an amazing story in themselves. The roles of the US and Russia in both revolutions is worth reading about





The basic wage in Cuba is 20 to 30 pesos for month whether you are a Doctor or factory worker. Households receive ration books based on age, gender an number of family members. Farmers have quotas to fill each season, restaurant and home stay owners pay a monthly tax the government owns most businesses and buildings.





Mind you there are some amazing government subsidies on things like housing, transport, education and ice cream!! These people are lining up for their 10cent ice-cream fix.







Most kids go to university - it's free! However after the typical five year course, you are sent to do service wherever the government chooses,for women it's three years, for men it's two years plus a years military service








Communism/Socialism appears to happily coexist with religion - in fact there has been a resurgence in the number of people attending church, particularly youth.....





Although some would say rum is the religion of Cuba




Music and dance are a huge part of the lifestyle, starting at a vey early age - and guys dance and love it!




Cuba is full of colour and has certainly captivated mr. There's so much to tell that I've written my experiences in 8 chapters, already posted - if you want to experience the trip as we did start with 'Blissful Baracoa'.


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe Harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Mark Twain

Location:Cuba

Captivating Cuba - Hypnotic Havana

Havana, what can I say? For such a long time a destination on my bucket list and now I've lived and breathed it and the city was everything and more I could have hoped for. In total was in Havana in three different occasions on my visit to Cuba and each time discovered, learnt and loved it more.

It's hard to know where to begin or what to say so think i'll let the pictures tell the story.





Colour and history everywhere











Amazing architecture and Spanish influences








The Cuban swagger and bling - like mother like daughter

















Ice cream, this coconut ice cream was voted the favourite














Live music, simply impressive











The Cuban Spanish Ballet at El Capitoila














Daiquiris of many flavours












Lunch at La Guarida - amazing









Havana an hypnotic city.....






Travelling with great friends



“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe Harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Mark Twain

Location:Havana, Cuba

Captivating Cuba - Mellow Maria La Gorda

Maria del Gorda could be considered a slice of paradise. Located in Cuba's western most tip it is very remote and stunning. Mind you the trip there was pretty bumpy so we were keen to see a slice of paradise at the end.




The location is spectacular, the hotel we stayed in has great potential....as with many places in Cuba it is owned by the government and in this case run by the military. For the people working there it appeared to be more of a function of doing your job than understanding the tourism market and potential. It as one of the most expensive places we visited in Cuba and in contrast to our home stays the accommodation reminded us very much of a communist holiday retreat. I didn't even take a photo of the place! I imagine all this is a reflection of the low wages these guys earn and the military control of the place left little room for entrepreneurship.




All that said had a great time lazing on the beach, swimming in warm, crystal clear turquoise seas and snorkelling. And of course the sensational sunsets and relaxing cocktails on the beach all added up to a pretty nice time..

Location:Maria La Gorda, Cuba

Captivating Cuba - Valley of Vinales

Following our two weeks exploring the east of Cuba and another brief sojourn in Havana we headed off to explore the east of the island. We had said farewell to five of the original group in Havana and were joined by two new travel companions for the last week of the trip.




We first stopped at Soroa a small town in the Sierra del Rosario where most of us huffed and puffed our way up a pretty steep climb to a great lookout (Laura being Laura chose to run up the hill!). We saw a few vultures playing in the thermals swooping around the top of the hill. Amazingly there was a guy at the top selling hand made souvenirs, cold drinks and fruit - not sure how he got it all up there!



We spent three nights in Vinales, a town of about 10,000 people surrounded by 'mogotes' pin cushion like hills and tobacco farms. One of the more peculiar sights we saw was after a great bike ride through the beautiful countryside only to come across a very crass mural on one of the mogotes.














Vinales was the perfect place to explore on both foot and by bike. We had a great local guide who took us on a wonderful tour of the national park and local farms.






We not only got to 'climb' over a mojote we also visited a few farms where it was certainly brought home how labour intensive farming is as we saw fields being ploughed, sweet potato being weeded and machinery being repaired. Few farmers have their own tractors, rather they borrowed them from the cooperative as they need them.









We learnt about the growing of tobacco as well as cigar making - I've always like the small of cigars but having given smoking one a go certainly don't get off on the taste!




Vinales was a very relaxing town full of bikes, horse and carts and american cars. We turned up for another salsa lesson which in fact was a photo shoot for something to do with Cuba tourism I'm not so sure we will make the brochure! I must say I did have fun having a few dancing salsa with some of the locals at the main bar in town and was most impressed that one of the bands actually had a bassoonist in it.





As is typical across Cuba there is a distinct lack of advertising rather any billboards have messages from the party - this one a quote from Che saying the most noble way to serve the party is to work!




Another magical night of the trip was spent at a farm just out of town where we not only got to pick vegetables straight from the garden for dinner but we also helped cook the dinner on an extremely inventive barbecue made from a 44 gallon drum. Some local musicians entertained us as we sipped on mojitos and watched the sunset over the Vinales valley.


“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe Harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Mark Twain

Location:Vinales, Cuba

Captivating Cuba - Classical (Neo) Cienfuegos

Cienfuegos was a real contrast to anything else we had seen in Cuba. It's wide tree-lined boulevards and large Neo-classical buildings and houses gave it a real Parisian feel. A port town, the Harbour is it's focal point.





It was obvious as we wandered around the town that there was a little more money in this area - newer cars, bigger shops, sailing boats moored at the Marina and people dressed that little more smartly.






Possibly this was most obvious when we went to the Cienfuegos Recreation Club which although government owned (as are most establishments, businesses, restaurants and bars in Cuba) it reminded me of the CYC in Sydney - somewhere that is not really open to everyone!






There are two currencies in Cuba - the Cuban peso for the locals and the convertible peso generally used by tourists one convertible peso is equivalent to about 25 Cuban pesos. Where possible we did try to eat From local carts and in Cienfuegos we had some great pizza, equivalent to about 10cents a slice...this sign is in local currency.















Just as I had questions about how religion and socialism co-exist in Cuba I again had difficulty reconciling the apparent wealth in Cienfuegos. Without doubt the basic 20-30 convertible pesos monthly wage across the country would be impossible to live on. And for that reason people are enterprising ways to earn extra money or for many having more than one job. We take so much for granted in Australia.



The basic wage is the same for a Doctor, member of the military, architect, teacher, tour guide or government worker. Tourism is certainly a way of making extra money for many Cubans with the number of Casa Particulars growing exponentially in the last year as the government relaxed some of it's rules. This is also quite noticeable in relation to the number of small cafes and restaurants being opened up in peoples homes. (We had dinner at a small restaurant that was ridiculously cheap - about $2-3 for a main course you wonder how they make any money.)






Naturally with so little money going out at night is not something the locals do all that regularly - the entrance fee let alone buying a drink is generally not in the budget. In Cienfuegos (just like Havana) the Malecon (Harbour wall) becomes a pivotal social scene and is a meeting point and place to have a drink - there's no need for Internet dating sites here! (not that they have access to the internet.....). We joined the scene on our night in Cienfuegos and had an interesting time meeting the locals, other tourists and sharing our rum......

On our way from Cienfuegos to Havana we stopped in Santa Clara at the Che Guevara memorial. This was where the final train derailment took place, resulting in Fidel coming to power, led by Che. He is certainly held in high regard, partly to do with him being killed by the CIA in Bolivia, not too long after the revolution. It was quite reverent in the memorial, amazing the things they have on display. Viva la Revolution!












“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe Harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Mark Twain

Location:Cienfuegos, Cuba

Captivating Cuba - Tantalising Trinidad

From the minute we drove into Trinidad I had a sense this was a town I was really going to enjoy. Another UNESCO World Heritage site (Cuba has 9 world heritage sites, 5 of them cities) the town of just under 50,000 has a great ambience. Cobble stoned streets, pastel coloured buildings, horse and carts, American cars, a wide mixture of music filling the streets along with the calls of guys selling there wares from avocados to brooms!




Trinidad is about 12 kms from the Caribbean sea with mountains and valleys framing the city. They traditionally grew a large mount of sugar cane in the area so thrived off both the sugar and fishing industries. Today tourism is one of its key industries and even though it is the second most visited place in Cuba you don't really get a sense of this.




We stayed in Trinidad for three nights and could have easily stayed longer. A lot of time was spent simply walking around town checking out local handicrafts, listening to music, having drumming lessons, people watching and as taught to us by our dear friend Jock 'always looking up and in'.




Throughout Cuba many of the houses have large windows covered by decorative bars which they keep open to keep the air circulating s it is so jot. This effectively means that you are looking into people's homes the whole time but they love it and give you a friendly 'hola' as you pass by. Trinidad was of course the same and we took to sitting in the lounge area saying hi to the neighbours and people walking by at our Casa Particular.

Milagra, our host in Trinidad was a vivacious, generous hostess who cooked fantastic meals and made us feel really at home. We weren't her only famous guests - Roger ?? the guy who plays the farmer in 'The Vicar of Dibbley' was also staying there so we felt right at home!




The night life in Trinidad is centred around the stairs at the 'Casa da Musica', an open air space where we heard a great range of music from ballads to traditional music and dance to all important salsa bands. Of course at any opportunity they can find the Cubans are up dancing and as always doing it with much style and panache. Watching from the safety of being a few rows back, it was very obvious to see the difference between the natural rhythms and movements of the locals to that of the visitors who had a great time bur just didn't have "it"!




And of course being so close to the sea we spent time each day at the
beach, swimming, drinking mojitos, snorkeling, lazing and on our last night having s picnic as the sun set. It was magical.




At this point we've been in Cuba for just under two weeks and it's spirit and soul has certainly got und the skin. I already know I'm not going to have enough time here and will want to come back.....




“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe Harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. Mark Twain

Location:Trinidad, Cuba