Blogs from Centro, Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 6

There is much more to say about Cuba than old cars, cigars, salsa, Che, Fidel, Raul and socialism. I LOVED CUBA. It’s not all that scary, oppressed, and poor as some media, blogs, and tourists make it seem. It was very save and I could actually walk on the streets in the middle of the night. I don’t have to lock three doors and hide the keys in my bra like I did it in Costa Rica. It all reminded me of Ukraine: apartments, old architecture, theatres, Lada cars, white chock walls, collection of empty perfume bottles, gas stoves, and water on schedule. Instead of “Coca-Cola,” “Samsung,” “AT&T” you can see “Socialism Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” “Live Fidel,” and “Revolution.” Kids wear uniform with little red scarves. People wash bags from milk and reuse them. There ... read more

Cuba is a place like no other, a place where time has stood still since the 1950s. Memories of the past are visible everywhere you look, ancient Spanish buildings from colonial times and the best collection of classic cars you will ever see – the streets of Havana literally a classic car museum of examples from the 1940s & 50’s. Cuba is now very special for us, the longer we stayed and the deeper our knowledge became of its past and the things that make it great, the more we learned to appreciate it for what it is. In Cuba, we learned how to live back in time. We learned to make use of whatever basic facilities were available which we found difficult in the beginning. Internet is scarce and expensive, as are International phone calls ... read more

Cuba!! by Rachael Arriving in Havana!! We had visions of scary immigration control upon arriving in Cuba but as usual with most things on this trip it was a lot less daunting in reality. However we did have a bit of drama upon leaving the airport - we had booked into a hostel and were quite perturbed when none of the taxi drivers or any locals had heard of it...finally we were taken to a random house and discovered it was actually a casa particular -which is what we stayed in the entire time in Cuba, where you stay in a family´s home and they cook your meals for you, rather than staying in a touristy hotel. More complications followed as the owner Oscar unfortunately couldn´t have us to stay as his bathroom was broken or ... read more

Camaguay Friday 1st April Camaguay is Cuba’s third largest city and one of the oldest settlements on the island but I suspect that that main reason that the organised tour stops here is to break the long journey as we head to the east coast of the island. We arrive here late in the afternoon in time to settle into the Hotel Plaza and head out for a meal at a local Paladar, a family home where they have been granted a licence to serve meals to visitors. On this occasion we get served a fairly standard Cuban menu but with the inclusion of goat meat, which I haven’t seen anywhere else in Cuba yet. The Hotel Plaza has probably seen better days but it seems to be where tour parties are taken as there are ... read more

Trinidad The town of Trinidad on the South Coast is an old colonial town. Again, a lot of work has been done in co-operation with Unesco in restoring some of the older buildings and this has helped to boost the tourist trade. Trinidad seems to be a popular destination with the tourists and, I guess because it is so much smaller than Havana and because the tourists are concentrated in to a smaller space, it seems far more touristy. Certainly most of the shops in the centre of town are selling souvenirs, and the restaurants seem to be more expensive and will only accept payment in CUCs. The town still has its cobble streets and no new buildings in the town centre. Rations We stop off at a bodega, or Ration Shop. This is where Cubans ... read more