Blogs from Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 53

Ignoring all advice to take a local (European) summer holiday we decided to make the most of free air travel for Heidi whilst we can and went long haul to Cuba! It is a destination we nearly visited during our Central America trip some years back and is somewhere we have wanted to go to for a long time. We cheated slightly by booking an all inclusive but compromised with a few nights in Havana and also some trips from our resort into the interior - not quite backpacking - but with Heidi in tow we needed a bit of luxury and organisation! So, in true form Sally spent several hours on trip advisor to work out which hotel did the best buffet, found a good deal, upgraded our flights to Virgin Atlantic - and we ... read more

As music lovers, my husband and I always wanted to experience Cuba in a more local setting. We had been to the all-inclusive resorts, which are great if you just want to lie in the sun, eat and drink. We are more adventurous than this, so we decided a week in Havana would be perfect for us. And it was! The music, the architecture, the people ... all met our expectations and more! Even the fellow travellers we met were more in tune to our way of travelling. We stayed right in Old Havana, at the Parque Central Hotel. This hotel was modern, clean, service was great and staff very helpful. We wandered the streets most of the time, map in hand, and were awed by the buildings, both restored and crumbling, that make up this ... read more

FIRST CLASS OF CUBAN PRISON CHAPLAINS GRADUATE On Thursday, 16 June 2011, a total of 87 pastors and lay leaders made up the first graduating class of prison chaplains in Cuba. Co-sponsored by the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Cuba and the Ecumenical Seminary in Matanzas, the graduation took place at the Quaker Center in Gibara, on Cuba’s northeast coast. Most of these graduates, from 26 different denominational backgrounds, have done prison visitation for years. With the Cuban government’s easing of restrictions on church contact with inmates, Dr. Francisco Rodés, retired pastor of First Baptist Church, Matanzas, saw a significant opportunity to increase the Cuban churches’ ministry among inmates. “Few of these chaplains receive economic support for this work,” said Rodés, who now serves as the Cuban Council of Churches’ national coordinator for prison ministry and ... read more

I arrived to Cuba once again with little or no idea of where I was staying or even where in Cuba I was gonna go and how long I would stay in each place. In fact, all I knew of Cuba was the information I’d managed to retain from reading another backpacker’s Lonely Planet Cuba guide for a couple of hours on the eve of the flight. I never meant to go so ill-prepared and I’d always planned to read up a bit more, but what with all the beaches to lie on and the jacuzzis to soak in I just hadn’t found the time. One thing I had found out was that it’s a hefty $25 USD taxi ride from the airport to downtown Habana. I made big efforts to save some money and come ... 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