I took a break from my last 2 "compilation photo posts" (markets & where are we now), to actually do some new travel. Before our Canada trip we tucked in a week in Cuba. We used CubaExplorer and chose the 7 day tour. They set up small group tours with no more than 10 people. It's the first we have traveled since we stopped road-tripping to move into our new house after the 2019 World Cruise. (Covid)
Cuba Explorer’s Western Cuba culture tour https://cubaexplorer.com/tours/affordable-western-cuba-culture-tour/
General impressions: Overall, we had a great time and
enjoyed the culture & nature of Cuba. I honestly went to Cuba with little
to no pre-conceived expectations. It’s never good to set a bar too high or have
too many pre-conceived notions. We would have preferred a small group and not
just the two of us, but due to Covid, tourism there is slow to return. It’s hard when you had to be “engaged” with the guide the
entire time. Sometimes, we just want to look out the window and take in the
sites or just be able to walk around and take photos without a guide explaining
every buildings’ type of architecture and listening to way too much history. It
is their job and some people like a lot of detail, but we all have different
touring styles. (a very experienced guide generally senses the needs of the
group, but even some experienced ones don’t catch on)
We had hoped that the cab that picked us up was only the
transportation from the airport to the hotel, but it was our transportation for
the entire trip. (almost, but I’ll get to that later) Again, with only 2 people
they can’t justify a larger vehicle, but small cars aren’t great for seeing out
of the windows and looking forward all you see is the headrest in front of you. Sitting low in the back seat was hard to get in and out of as
well. Plus, the windows were streaky, and we often do take photos through the
vehicle windows. The driver Arsenio was very nice, and everyone seemed to know him. His
car however was having overheating issues that I noticed on the second day. In these older
cars you know the smell of an overheated radiator. He stopped often to pour
water into it. (he kept bottles of water in the trunk) Honestly, that really
wasn’t that big of an issue to us. (until later)
Our guide Dario was young and well educated. (both of his parents
were English professors) He studied language (English & Italian at
University for I think 6 years) I think tourism is new for him, but he was
knowledgeable (if on script) and was very pleasant and attentive. However, I
think he was “shy” and didn’t make conversation easily. We met local guides
later in the tour that easily generated conversation with us and others.
However, we had few complaints with his guiding.
The city isn’t overly “pretty”. There were a few well
maintained buildings amongst many that had not been maintained for years. The
people there are free to speak their minds about the government and they
understand that the government has much, and they have little. (more on that
later)
The nature of our visit (that allows U.S. citizens to visit
Cuba) was “Support for the Cuban People”. Some of the examples of fulfillment
for this license are eating at a privately-owned restaurant called a paladar,
buying local art and souvenirs from a craft market, and staying at a
privately-owned home known as a casa particular instead of a hotel. Daily
agendas must include activities that emphasize contact with Cuban people.
U.S. credit/debit cards and ATMs are not allowed. So, one
had to use cash. Their currency is now the CUP (formerly, CUC). Many locals
prefer tips in USD. However, many places only take CUP. So, we brought USD for
them to convert to CUP at a very generous rate. (they also accepted CAD and
Euros) The rate of exchange the government offers is the equivalent of 24 pesos
for one US dollar. The underground exchange rate varies between 60 and 100
pesos depending on who is selling.
Our tour company exchanged at the rate of 80 per one dollar.
If we didn't spend them in Cuba, they would buy them back at the end of our
stay. We told them how many pesos in advance that we wanted to convert. For
example, $200 = 16,000 pesos. So, it really made the dollar go farther. Many
things would have been “expensive” at the regular rate, but the rate made the
pricing seem more reasonable.
As in many places around the world it’s best to avoid tap
water and we drank bottled water at all times. (including brushing our teeth) Cuba
Explorer supplied bottled water during our stay and the hotel also had bottled
water in the rooms.
Due to various reasons (pandemic, Cuban government, and
Trump embargos) there were extreme shortages of everything. The Cuban people
are great at rising to the challenge and very innovative in making a lot with
what they can get. When traveling to Cuba (and many other places around the
world) it always best to go with an open mind and not expect things to be “like
back home”.
Lastly, Covid policies. Masks were worn by everyone at all
times. (except when eating and drinking) Even people riding a bike or
motorcycle were wearing them. (except at the last hotel which was an all-inclusive
and no one wore them and it was crowded)
Day 1 - Saturday May 21, 2022 - Bienvenido a La Habana
While a 10:30 flight seemed civilized enough, it was a 2
hour drive to the Miami airport and we needed to be at the airport 3 hours prior
to the flight. So, we were up at 4:15. Yikes! We needed every second of the 3
hours ahead of the flight. We spent a long time trying to get a parking space
and finally got one on the uncovered roof. Cuba has a special check-in area and
2 people told us the wrong location. We kept looking and finally found the
correct place. They made sure that everyone was going to Cuba before entering
the line. Carryon items were checked to be correct size and we checked our 1
bag. That line took way over an hour. Lots of Cubans come back to the States
and bring empty suitcases to fill up with things they can’t get at home. Lots
more bring in items they bought, and it’s then encased in a blue plastic and
checked that way. Many were trying to bring way more things than were allowed
so lots of people prioritizing items to take or leave or rearrange. One took
ages trying to figure out how to cram stuff inside of the pressure cooker so
everything they brought could go. I think they took at least 15 minutes taking
everything out of their carryon’s and rearranging many times. Only 1 checked
bag per person and no you couldn’t just pay for it and check more. We finally
made it through that line and then headed for security which all in all went quickly.
We had time to wolf down an egg & cheese bagel sandwich before boarding.
(the only other choice would have been pizza. Not that we haven’t eaten pizza
for breakfast in younger days)
The flight is only about an hour in the air, and we arrived
at Havana’s José Martí International airport on time. We collected our bag
after going through immigration and were met by our guide and led to our taxi.
Our guide was Dario and our driver was Arsenio. The drive to the hotel felt a
bit like we made a wrong turn and ended up in the 1950’s with the many classic
cars still driven today and there were no strip malls, billboards, neon lights,
McDonald, or Starbucks. One-in-ten cars
are more than 60 years old.
We were taken to the Grand Aston La Habana Hotel which was newly opened around the first of the year. We were greeted with a pretty and very tasty welcome cocktail. Dario left us after we got checked in and told us he would pick us up the next morning for our tour. We had to wait until almost 4:00 for the room to be ready. (despite, our guide calling and was told everything was ready for us) We stored our luggage and went to explore the area.
We were supposed to have a “group welcome dinner with our
guide and tourmates”. Well, the Pandemic of course has slowed tourism and we
were a party of just us. So, our dinner
was at the hotel with just us. It was a decent meal and not
exactly “meeting our tourmates with our guide”. The dinner was included in our
tour, but we had no idea how to pay and decided to just “charge it to the
room”. The poor server comes running down the hall after us saying we needed to
come back with her as we didn’t pay and we didn’t have a credit card on file.
(U.S. credit/debit cards can’t be used in Cuba) We had left her a cash tip but
hadn’t paid the bill. So, we went back and told the bartender we were part of a
“group” and he checked and found us there and all was well. When we checked in
the front desk acknowledged and confirmed that our dinner was included, but the
server of course didn’t know that. Normally, the guide would have been with us,
and he did vouchers for everywhere else that we ate that were included in our tour.
Then, the program states “Evening exploration with tourmates and time to meet
Cubans.” We were nowhere close to downtown without a cab that we would go out
and explore, so we went back to the room.
We were given a time to meet Dario the next morning after
breakfast in the hotel.
Lots of photos to go through so be patient with my day to
day posts.
For larger photos: Cuba Day 1 https://photos.app.goo.gl/ye1x4NffYxgPnB749
Tomorrow is a walking tour of Havana.
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