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Blogs from Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 61
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September 17th 2006
Ich will gleich vorweg alle gängigen Klischees bedienen, um dann weiter hinten im Text befreit meine persönlichen Eindrücke von Kuba zu erzählen. So könnte man die nächsten Zeilen durchaus als klassischen Postkarten-Gruß verstehen ... ;-) Kuba ist tatsächlich das Land der Cocktails und Zigarren. Während ich Ersteren kaum widerstehen konnte, haben es mir die Zigarren so gar nicht angetan. Wie auch immer, sie sind allgegenwärtig: Als Exportartikel, als alltäglicher Begleiter so manchen Kubaners und sogar als Tauschobjekt für Feuerzeuge ... oft gehört: "Hola amigo, where do you come from? Want to buy cigars?". :-) Zurück zu den Cocktails ... empfehlenswert: Einen Mojito auf dem Tisch, den Rhythmus in den Hüften und die Band live auf der Bühne. Beste Voraussetzungen, um Salsa zu tanzen. Selbst als absoluter Nicht-Paar-Tänzer hab ich nach einer Stunde Salsa-Unterricht d... read more
Reunited with our bikes
Published: September 16th 2006Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Oeste » La Habana
September 14th 2006
Having got word that our bikes had arrived at Havana airport, we eagerly made our way from the west of the country back to the capital to collect them. On arrival at the Lost and Found office we were shown a large pile of luggage dumped in the main concourse of the arrivals hall. There were 4 bike boxes there in good condition, but none of them were ours! We eventually communicated this problem to the staff there and they led us into a locked storeroom containing more found luggage. At first, we didn´t recognise our boxes, then it dawned on us that the crumpled pieces of cardboard in the corner were actually ours. It looked as though the boxes had been thrown out of the plane before landing! A quick check of the contents proved ... read more
September 3rd 2006
Hola from Cuba! Three days after wearing beanies, gloves and fleeces for a hike in the Yorkshire Dales, we stumbled into the Cuban heat. The daytime temperatures are much the same as in Brisbane, but night minimums and the humidity are much more like Darwin in summer. We still have no photos, and will add some when we can get hold of them, and find a computer terminal that doesn´t have all its software locked down. This may not be until we leave Cuba. Some first impressions... Everywhere we have been we are awed and inspired by the architecture. It is, of course, heavily influenced by colonial Spanish, with Moorish touches thrown in, but with a very Cuban flavour. Even though a lot of it is crumbling, it remains stunning. In the old buildings, the ceilings ... read more
Cuba.. Dancing and music
Published: September 3rd 2006Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Oeste » La Habana
September 1st 2006
2 weeks in Cuba is definitely not enough to understand this country.. Spent most of the time in Habana, and visited Viñales region (West Cuba). Didn´t head East due to an approaching hurricane, lack of $ and lack of time! First impressions of Habana is of a beautiful old city (if very crumbling.. apparently about 300 buildings a year just fall down, which I can believe.. The old colonial buildings in Habana Vieja are in such disrepair that some are held up with scaffolding, and there are many gaps where entire buildings are missing! The streets are noisy and buzzing with life as people hang out on pavements and in doorways, and of course.. MUSIC.. blaring from every street from dawn to well past dusk! .. such a great atmosphere.. and so much energy The night ... read more
August 30th 2006
Ok, so we have lost our bikes and need to get the hang of acting like normal tourists and use public buses to get around. It´s quite unlike bus travel in Australia. For a start, the bus drivers here do quite a bit of their own business during the journey, making unscheduled stops to pick up cigars and beers for passengers, and bananas, chicas and family members. In a country where there is very little motorised transportation, it makes sense to use (value add to?) these buses that are being paid for by tourists who are rich in comparison to Cubans. Our first stop was at Sancti Spiritus, a sleepy provincial capital with quaint cobbled streets and an air-conditioned ice-cream parlour! In the heat, this was a real blessing. An eleven hour bus journey later, we ... read more
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August 4th 2006
Depart de Baracoa le 2 aout, direction Holguin. Ca a ete plutot difficile de quitter Baracoa! Un autobus par jour arrive de Santiago et dompe une cinquantaine de touristes dans la ville, mais quand il s'agit d'en sortir, c'est une autre histoire! Aucun transport (ou presque) ne se rend directement a Holguin, et nous ne voulions pas prendre 2 jours de voyage, et 2 autobus pour y aller via Santiago. Heureusement, nous avons appris, par Fernando, notre hote, qu'un minibus special se rend a Holguin, 25$ 5 heures de route CAHOTEUSE (ca ne faisait pas partie de la description du "package", c'est notre opinion post-voyage:)), c'est bon, on embarque! Mais que lastima! Pourquoi avoir quitte Baracoa quand nous y etions si bien!? On se pose la question en arrivant a Holguin! En effet, la ville est ... read more
August 1st 2006
Le 27 juillet, depart de Santiago pour Baracoa, dans un vestige d'automobile qui, a notre grande satisfaction, a reussi a nous mener a la station d'autobus. 5 heures de route a travers les montagnes qui entourent Baracoa et qui creent son microclimat, et a travers une vegetation particulierement dense, l'acceuil que nous reservent les bici-taxiset autres travailleurs (harceleurs) de l'industrie du tourisme, est digne des grandes stars de ce monde. L'accueil de nos hotes Natasha et Fernando, cependant, est tres chaleureux. Ici nous sommes restes 6 nuits dans un appartement independant de la maison des maitres, c'est donc tres relax. Nous avons escalade une montagne qui a la forme d'une enorme enclume, El Yunque, et quelle montee cefut! Chaleur, humidite, mille-pattes, moustiques et surtout boue rouge, en voulez-vous, en v'la, voila le resume de cette journee ... read more
A whistle stop tour of Cuba!
Published: August 3rd 2006Central America Caribbean » Cuba » Oeste » La Habana
July 31st 2006
Right, where to start...because of the extortionate price and interminable problems with using the internet in Cuba I will have to do my whole 10 days in one go...congratulations if you make it to the end! I left Isla Mujeres and caught my flight to Havana with no problems. Almost. In order to save $40 I had chosen to fly with Cubana, the Cuban state airline. As I ducked into the ancient plane the first thing that hit me was the fact that all the signs were in what looked at first like Greek and English. A few seconds later I realised that this was in fact of course Russian. Nice. The plane was incredibly hot, as the air conditioning doesn´t work until the engine was on. When it did come in, it also filled the ... read more
July 31st 2006
Le 22 juillet, 2006. Apres 4 heures d'avion, 6 heures d'attente a une station d'autobus et 852 km d'autobus (le trajet a dure 15h30, de nuit...assez penible), nous avons abouti a Santiago de Cuba! Chose plutot rare dans ce beau pays, toutes les reservations effetuees du Canada ont ete conservees et l'autobus est parti a l'heure! Nous sommes donc arrives a Santiago de Cuba pendant le grand carnaval qui dure une semaine et qui coincide avec les festivites du 26 juillet, journee de l'independance. Originalement, le carnaval symbolisait la fin de la zafra, la recolte de la canne a sucre, mais aujourd'hui c'est plutot une competition de congas, de costumes, et surtout une raison de faire la fete. On dit de ce carnaal qu'il est le plus important et le plus etincelant des Caraibes et qu'il ... read more
