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Published: October 5th 2012
Ella subió al avión en la mañana, después de 9 horas aterrizó en La Habana... no quiero ir en su carro a Varadero...
As the alarm went off at ridiculous o’clock, I jolted awake. My unbelievable excitement at the size of the bed in the Radisson Hotel did not even come close to the level of excitement I felt about my impending trip to Cuba. As the plane touched down, and the cabin crew sprayed bug repellent up my nose and in my eyes, I couldn’t have been happier. It was about to begin!
Varadero, 3 days, sun, beach and birthdays, the stakes were high... and let me tell you, when Fidel says the best beaches in Cuba are here, I am not one to argue.
Varadero is a town in the north west of Cuba, a town where the government likes to hide all the tourists. Characterised by all inclusive hotels and rich Russians, you might think to give Varadero a miss. However, if you have the budget (it is one of the more expensive places to go) and the time... it is worth it, even if it’s for the beaches alone. We decided to stop in Varadero simply because the cheapest flights went there; I’m kind of glad that we did, although there are many more interesting places
Out The Plane Window...
It would've been a better shot, if only airlines followed Romney's advice...to get to know the real Cuba. We stayed there for 3 days, because I, somewhat self-interestedly, didn’t want to travel on my birthday.
Our hotel was a Cuban one, not one that was used to 4 young European girls, but that would be a phenomenon that we would have to get used to. And although incomparable to the Radisson on bed comfort or the sheer amount of lizards, bugs and other undesirables, the view was something to be reckoned with. Our first afternoon in Cuba was spent on the beach, naturally, and our first night was spent in the company of Cuban cocktails and cardboard cut-outs of Al Capone, also naturally.
The Casa del Al is a Cuban restaurant in a fabulous setting, the former holiday home of the notorious Chicago gangster. It’s right on the beach and it’s kind of fascinating to glimpse into this interesting part of Cuban history. According to the sign, Capone used it as a warehouse to store contraband alcohol before it was smuggled into the states. We had been warned before we left about the dire state of Cuban food, I don’t know if it was because
we were super careful, just plain lucky or if we don’t have a decent taste bud between us, but we rarely had a bad meal, and this one was no exception. Sipping on a cocktail, eating Paella, looking out onto sea, sand and sunset, our adventure had started.
Our second day was spent in search of adventure, we accidentally ended up at a diving centre, even though none of us can dive, being chatted to by Alfredo, and suddenly ending up on a coach trip snorkelling. I don’t know if the others knew completely what was going on, but I was just going with the flow... Alfredo turned out to be the guide for this particular adventure, and he took a shine to the four young Europeans in the back, asking for kisses and giving us complements all day long despite his own admission that he was happily married with children our own age. This turns out to be pretty normal behaviour in Cuba, they do love the ladies!
The snorkel tour turned out to be pretty amazing; we had about an hour snorkelling around a coral reef (Playa Coral), with billions of jelly fish. To start with,
I was so scared they would sting me, I put my arms inside my life jacket, closed my eyes and held my breath. By the end, I was so used to them I nearly, nearly being the operative word, forgot about them. There were all sorts of wonderful fish, blue and yellow striped ones, red retro looking ones ones, big and small ones, they were all so beautiful. Only slightly ruined by the two obnoxious Canadians, who gave me no real reason to be annoyed with them, other than they kept diving right down to the bottom of the sea so I had to look at their bums rather than the beautiful surroundings. I was so annoyed; I deliberately decided not to tell the woman there was a rather big jelly fish just underneath her, and that it was probably going to sting her. Which, looking back on it now was probably the jetlag making me irritable, or that’s what I’m telling myself at least. The second part of the trip was to the Cueva de Saturno, where the water was freezing but the secret underground grotto was simply magical.
The night was spent at a lobster place (El
Rancho - where a cuban band will play a song for you at your table) and the Mansion Xanadu, the latter being another highlight of my trip. It was a house built by the millionaire Irenee Dupont. He finished building his dream house on the 30
th of December 1930, having only 30 or so years to enjoy it before the Americans left for good and the state reclaimed it. A cocktail on the terrace combined with the views over the golf course and a little bit of imagination and it’s possible to believe that you are a lucky house guest in one of the most scenic settings in the world – and I’m sure that the experience is much better than going all inclusive.
Varadero is situated on the Hicacos Peninsula, which, according to Wikipedia; the source of all knowledge, is more than 20km long, and at its widest is only 1.2km wide. At the end of the peninsula is an ecological resort and is home to many mangroves. (For anyone who studied with me last year, yes, yes we did cross the mangroves). We took an (expensive) trip on a catamaran for my birthday, but there’s
so much to say about it that I’m saving the stories to tell on a rainy day. In the evening we went to another Cuban restaurant called La Esquina - where I tried a Cuban classic (although I didn't know it at the time) Ropa Vieja or "Old Clothes". This was probably my favourite meal in Varadero, and no, there wasn't a smelly sock in sight. It was shredded steak in a tomato sauce, fried plantain chips and rice and beans on the side. Proper Cuban food.
And that was the end of Varadero; we picked up a lovely little newby while we were there, the lovely Lula, our little Kia Picanto and set off for the real adventure. Although Varadero was probably my least favourite place in Cuba, I still really enjoyed my three days there. I would say, that if you are feeling a little more adventurous to go stay in a Cuban hotel and avoid the big ones, however, having not visited any of the all-inclusives, I can’t really comment. In my humble opinion, it’s not worth it to travel all the way there and just stay in a big multi-national ibis hotel, Cuba has so much more to offer, and if you’re not interested in that, go to Spain and save yourself the time and money.
Mojito tally: IIII
Info Hotel Herrudura (Every single Cuban says this differently, so directions are difficult!) http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-Varadero---Hotel-Herradura-070505.en.htm Snorkelling - go right to the bottom of this page for the trip we went on. http://www.cuba-diving.de/DIVE-CUBA/DIVING_PLACES_CUBA/North_Coast/VARADERO_-_Cuba/Diving_Varadero/BARRACUDA-Diving/hauptteil_barracuda-diving.html
La Casa de Al http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g147275-d2458217-Reviews-La_Casa_De_Al-Varadero_Matanzas_Province_Cuba.html
Mansion Xanadu http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g147275-d273627-Reviews-Mansion_Xanadu-Varadero_Matanzas_Province_Cuba.html El Rancho http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g147275-d1767034-Reviews-El_Rancho-Varadero_Matanzas_Province_Cuba.html La Esquina http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g147275-d1050451-Reviews-La_Esquina-Varadero_Matanzas_Province_Cuba.html
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