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Published: January 6th 2010
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The resort we stayed at, Atlantico, was located in Playas Estes, Santa Maria, just 20 minutes east of Havana on the way to Guanabo. We chose it because it had three free daily shuttles going into Havana every day, allowing us the enjoy the best of both Cuban worlds: city life and the beach.
From our resort, we took a one day excursion to Vinales, Pinar del Rio and saw the magote mountains and the Cuevo del Indio. The caves were very cool, especially the boat ride in the river inside them. Somewhere around the Pinar del Rio/Vinales area, there is this huge mural on the side of a magote cliff done by a student of Diego Rivera many years ago. I expected better from a Rivera student, but it's still pretty neat just because it's so huge. It's supposed to represent prehistoric evolution.
In Vinales, we visited a rum factory, and in the countryside of Pinar del Rio we visited a tobacco farm.
One day while on the resort, we decided to walk along the beach to Guanabo, the nearest town. Many of the single men on the resort went to Guanabo at night for the prostitutes,
or to one of the bars down the street. The openness of the sex trade was a bit surprising to me, and for this reason I think the state will eventually make a show of busting some johns and doing a round-up because Cuba does not want to become known for their sex tourism. A foreigner can't even walk into a bar in that area without being swarmed by prostitutes, as the bars are packed full of them, often exclusively. It costs 30 CUC's to have sex in the bushes; anyone who wanted to bring a sex worker back to the resort had to pay the hotel workers an extra 70 CUC's. I know this because many of the people we met at the resort were doing it. Not the greatest environment if your thinking of a family vacation in that area.
The resort itself was not too shabby. Not as nice as what you'd find in Varadero, but the entertainment was decent, sometimes it even bordered on amazing. Great dancing, music, and even some synchronized swimming/water ballet. And an artist who could paint landscapes within minutes, blindfolded and with his feet! Also not as good as Varadero was
the night life. Varadero resorts have good bars and clubs that are busy and fun. Atlantico had a bar that was usually empty, and the only way to have any fun was to make friends, get drunk and talk. When we went in search of nightlife off the resort, all we found were empty bars or bars full of prostitutes. And unless that's what you're looking for, it really doesn't make any sense to hang out for the music - you'll just get constantly harassed. You really have to go into Havana for the nightlife, but then it'd cost $15 CUC's to get back by taxi. By the way, the CUC's, or convertible pesos, are roughly on par with the US dollar, so it's not cheap. To go to Cuba and spend all your time on an all inclusive resort is cheap, but to spend any time off the resort gets expensive real quick.
The food at Atlantico was hit and miss. I was thrilled to have turkey for the christmas eve dinner, and in the mornings you could get a freshly made omelet. Freshly grilled fish most days too. But beware strict vegetarians and all who can't eat
pork: they put pork in everything, even the black beans! If you are a strict vegetarian, picky eater, or on a restricted diet, I don't recommend you go to Cuba. Or, you could go and look at it as an opportunity to lose a lot of weight, because you won't have many choices of what to eat and the choices you are left with will probably taste like crap. On a high note, I had some delicious out of the shell lobster just down the street from the resort. The restaurant food we ate in Cuba was pretty good, it's just the resort food that leaves so much to be desired. You could stay at a casa particular instead, but the unlimited drinking at resorts and being right on the beach is pretty hard to resist.
One day we missed the shuttle from Havana back to the resort, so we took public transit instead - the 400 bus to Guanabo. As public transit is not meant for tourists and costs 40 centavos of the monnaie nacional (24 to 1 conversion with the CUC's tourists are supposed to use), you essentially have to bribe the transit driver by giving him
$1 or so CUC, which goes directly in their pocket. They will get mad at you if you mix it with the other currency by putting it directly into the fair box. The transit experience was neat - they blare music on the buses! It's like a party, only people rarely talk to each other.
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