Blogs from Cuba, Central America Caribbean - page 68

The last country in my one year trip around the world: Cuba. I had big expectations for Cuba and I really wanted to visit the country as soon as possible, and certainly before any further political changes would take place. I wanted to see Fidel Castro’s Cuba. I had already travelled through many communist countries in Eastern Europe when I was a child, back in the 80’s and early 90’s, and had been through Russia and China this time around, but Cuba is so different in its own way, socialism under palm trees and salsa rhythms already sounds much more appealing than the colder, defunct version of it. Political slogans and four names/faces can be seen everywhere around Cuba, in each city, in each village, on each motor highway, on each government building, on each and ... read more

The Cubans are engaging, generous people. Though we encountered some who work in the nascent tourist industry, mostly unofficially), the day jobs of people we met (teacher, lab technician, taxi driver, musician) pay a relative pittance monthly; approximately $360 Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUCs, tourist money); the equivalent in Monedas Nacionales (the currency the locals use to pay for goods and services) is $15 MN per month. Just to give you some perspective, on the barren shelves of one of the department stores I saw flip-flops for sale for $65 MN. Go ahead, do the math. In addition to their salaries, they receive a portion of foodstuffs for free each month. Despite this presumed lack, there's no crime to speak of, and good humor and hospitality abounds. I attribute this to Cubans' very limited exposure: there's no ... read more

Why did I find myself in Cuba? Wasn’t the plan to live and work in Colombia? Yes but I still change my mind as frequently as my undercrackers so I ended up here. The missing two months since my last blog can be summed up quickly: Colombia Ciudad Perdida trek; very very good. Barranquilla Carneval; very very very good (better than Rio in my opinion). Trying to find work, an apartment, a Spanish course in Medellin; frustrating. Costa Rica Seeing all my friends and dragging out my birthday celebrations to at least a month; really nice. Teaching again in Intercultura; fun. Making plans to go back and open a bar; ongoing. I had decided to give England a try, for the summer at least, and had arranged to go back into my old engineering job in ... read more

We met in the foyer this morning after breakfast to begin our journey. We met the rest of the people that had arrived last last night. Everyone seems really nice and friendly. We made our way out to our own little mini bus which was well cute and air conditioned! Bonus! We drove along the highway where we passed plenty of fields and lots of hitch hikers. Apparently public transport is virtually non existent so masses of people were trying to get lifts in the backs of trucks of anything they could. We stopped for a very expensive Cuban coffee in a suspiciously touristy coffee shop in the middle of the highway. Then we headed back to the bus for the remainder of the journey. When we reached Vinales we were assigned a home stay which ... read more

On our second day in Havana we got up to the sounds of the street, a very loud cockerel and a guava lorry. The lorry driver gave me and Robbyn both some guavas but when I tasted it I realised why he was giving them away! Ugh! We caught a tour bus for a city tour of Havana which then crashed into a lamp post! We then had to wait to catch another bus - very eventful! Then we took another bus which took us to the beach. The beaches were lovely and we relaxed, drank coconut juice and took in some rays. I also went paddling in the Carribean sea! That evening we headed out into Old Havana. It was beautiful and empty! Very European! We had food and my first mojito. Tasted like straight ... read more