Blogs from Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 49

Español / Català Havana and Cadiz seem rather more than twins, as they are reflected in a mirror called Atlantic. Some have said Cadiz is Havana but with a little bit more of gracefulness. Despite the age of the three times millenary tartessian Ghadir and the relative youth of San Cristóbal de la Habana, the colonial city founded a November 16, 1519 by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, both fully developed between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, growing in parallel on both ocean shores, and currently maintaining historic old towns that have been, in both cases, declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Similar are the shielded entrance fortifications had defended the Cuban bay and those ones that protected the peninsular city from the E... read more

HAVANNA Arriving in Cuba, we jumped straight into a taxi to havana centro, where we stayed with Elsa and Julio Roque (hostelperegrino.com) in a casa particular. Since a few years they have this really cool thing in Cuba where you can stay in people’s homes and pay about 10 dollars a person a night. In most of the casas particulares you get a room with an on-suite and they are very clean and super friendly. You can get a massive breakfast for 3 dollars and dinner for 6 or 8. So we decided to stay in Havana for a few nights and check it out. Wow, what a vibrant, beautiful, busy city. Its seems like the whole population of havana is in the streets, kids playing football, oldies chilling on a little chair, women chatting away, ... read more

In March 2011, a friend and I went to Cuba for a week. I can’t remember how we got the booking but it was around $380 return per person. We flew to Santa Clara on Westjet and flew back from Santa Clara on Air Canada. I found it interesting that they do not stamp your passport when you enter or exit the country. When going through customs (entering), I observed that a lot of people had brought food and all fresh food were confiscated. I had dried fruit and nuts which I don’t think were a problem but I also had a whole bag of fresh kumquats but they didn’t find them. After we exchanged some money at the airport, we found that Santa Clara is 12 km away and that the only way to get ... read more

The Quiet Charm of Trinidad There is nothing better than exploring. There is nothing similar to the feeling of being taken by surprise. There is nothing more special than a place which challenges your expectations, puts you completely out of your comfort zone, and then finally hands you your rewards on a silver platter. I had been in Cuba for 4 days and was yet to experience a major culture shock. The country was amazing, the people were friendly enough and the food had far outweighed all my expectations. I had been in Varadero, which as anyone who has been to Cuba knows, is not the real Cuba. Cushy and relatively rich it could almost be mistaken for a part of Spain. This was not something that I knew. Rental Car picked up, we left the ... read more

Cuba De retour sur nos pas. Bienvenidos Cuba Socialista Nous retournons pour la première fois dans un pays que nous avons déjà visité. Nous avons descendu la cote ouest du nord au sud, 600 milles nautique. Nous n'avions pas faite cette partie l'an dernier. Ici pas beaucoup de voilier. C'est le désert en mer. Quelques bateaux de pêche viennent nous échanger du poisson et langouste contre des casquettes, ils ne veulent pas d'argent, a quoi bon, il n'a rien à acheter ici. Nous sommes partis d'Isla Mujeres (Mexique) jusqu'au Cayos San Felipe (Cuba) (190 milles nautique) en 38 heures. 2 belles dorades ont attaquées nos lignes à pêche, c'est toujours la fête quand ont attrape du poisson. Nous avons traversé avec nos amies du bateau Ukulu que nous avions rencontré au Mexique. Nous avons été refusés ... read more