Blogs from La Habana, Oeste, Cuba, Central America Caribbean

1.5.2012 Met up with other crew last night, we are 3 aussies and 3 New Zealanders, all 45 plus, nice bunch. Then had dinner together at a gorgeous restaurant we found on HGT prices fantastic – 2 mains, 2 starters, 2 Mojitas, 2 coffees $26. Today was May Day here as well hundreds of thousands of people marched on Revolution Square, very interesting, took us 1.1/2 hrs to walk to the square just to see the end of it. No tours today as our tour guide JJ was day off because of May day, most things closed but a lot opened after 12.00. We have walked for hours in this city and it has such a good feel about it. 2.5.2012 Walking tour in the morning with JJ, to the old Havana, many buildings are condemned ... read more

There are two biggest challenges that really make me get out of my comfort zone: buying and riding. It involves taking to local strangers to get places and to eat. On my second day of living in Havana, I took a public transportation and bought a loaf of bread in a National Cuban Bakery! ATACA!!!! PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION It’s the most challenging system in Central and Latin America. There are rarely schedules or exact routes. YOU JUST HAVE TO ASK. In Cuba, the buses are overloaded with crowds and you have to ask where they go. The best way is to take one of those old Chevrolets for 10 pesos. I just love it! When I climb one of those I feel like back in the days when we had old cars. I am not sure how ... read more

Hello, Sorry for the delay and this being brief ... Cuba was a very interesting country to visit. I was with a fantastic group of people and made friends from Oz and NZ who I hope to keep in touch with. We started in Havana, and headed East as far as Baracoa. The history was evident everywhere and we were able to visit many historical sites from the revolution. It was interesting to be in a communist country. There was no advertising other than government propaganda. No McDonalds and no Starbucks! The supermarket shelves were fairly empty and there was not much available to purchase. Internet was scarce and slow and it was actually quite expensive to be there as a tourist. They have two currencies and the Peso that the locals use allows their minute ... read more

PHOTOS ! ! ! I think, at this Picassa link: You may have to copy and paste to your internet browser(Explorer , Safari, or whatever) https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?q=picasa&hl=en&rlz=1R2ACAW_enCA350&biw=1024&bih=480&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&wrapid=tlif132666331259310&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wq#photos/109724096736643982140/albums Well Wednesday morning and another nice buffet breakfast in the sunshine on the patio. It really is quite nice. Anyhow, today was our first day on our own so to speak after our “orientation” tour of Old Havana with our guide Anna Lise yesterday. Before we ventured out on our own though we had another orientation to attend with the tour operator. Basically it was an hour to tell us our transfer to the airport in Veraderro was 5 hours before the scheduled departure of the return flight on Monday. So that means our return trip will begin at 2... read more

Seems my photo uploads are re-directed to another server and re-directs are not permitted. I'll try another way, maybe Picassa or Flickr and provide a link. Hopefully I'll be able to share photos that way.... read more

My second time in this Caribbean island! What can I say, sometimes I love it here and sometimes I feel so frustrated that I can’t wait to leave. But I keep coming back – can’t explain. Since my last visit here (last year March), things seem to have changed or maybe I just didn’t pay attention before. Seem that that are (1) more new car models on the streets; (2) more begging; (3) folks are more vocal about their dissatisfaction with the government; (4) Cuban men are way too sexual and direct. Don’t get me wrong, there are still lots of veryyyy old car model around, but more new car model as well especially Kia and Volkswagen are on the road. More begging in that once they know you are a tourist, they ask if you ... read more

After struggling with the Cuban Spanish of our taxi driver, we arrived in Habana Vieja and found a “casa particular”. These are homes where local families rent rooms to tourists and are where most people stay unless they are in one of the island's huge hotels which are dotted along the coast. Our first casa particular was run by a lovely woman called Gloria and her mother, who explained to us vital information such as where to find the best mojitos. The city itself is incredible. The beautiful colonial style houses are everywhere you turn, often with a part collapsed interior or missing a section of roof and always with an old or young Cuban sat in the doorway or leaning out of a top floor window having a conversation with someone in the street ... read more