1 month alone in cuba

1, guy 3o y old, if i go, i will most likely go in january

1. given that the accomodation situation involves staying in casa particulares instead of hostels, im wondering how i will meet other travellers?

2. given that i do speak spanish and also like salsa dancing though im not good at it... any insights into what i might expect in terms of meeting cuban people?

3. would it be better to drag a friend along to fill the gaps?

oh and , 4. internet? any point to bringing a laptop to cuba in 2010 ? Reply to this

I was just there less than a month ago. Meeting people is fairly easy in Cuba, the question is who you´re going to meet. Fellow travelers are easy to spot on the streets and at tourist attraction and all are friendly. In terms of locals, you´ll surely find new friends just by hangin around the Casa, neighbors and such. You´re also quite certain to be solicited for some sort of ´sponsorship´ from these new friends. That´s just how it goes.

People are quite friendly on the street but they will want to sell you something. You just have to sharpen your character judgement skills, in order not to get enticed into unfavorable situations.

Plenty of places to dance.

Laptop is absolutely useless in all of Cuba. There is no such thing as WiFi. The only internet access you´ll get is extremely overpriced and dreadfully slow from the big hotels. Most of these are in Havana Historic Center: Inglaterra, Telegraph, Parque Central.

Bring plenty of cash (if your plastic is from US banks). Cuba is extremely expensive for a budget traveler.

Really, bring your A-game, Cuba will test you on many levels.

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Hey Matt, My friend Oliver and I are planning to head to Cuba early Jan 2010 for about 2 weeks. I'm meant to be buying the tickets in the morning. If you fancy meeting up or anything let me know.


Matt Kelly

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hi cabochick, thankyou !!

well the laptop is because i always like to write my thaughts and experiences in a blog format, so i was hoping to do this as a passtime and upload onto the net via USB stick or so, when i come accross a internet connection somewhere. i just find that its the best way for me to catalogue my photos with text. and if i try to keep this up with pen & paper its just not gonna happen, my writing is not good. the laptop itself is a less than perfect 9" eeePC which weighs less than a kilo.

They feed you for so cheap

how cheap??

Each town has a 'house of music' or Trova where you can see live music almost any day of the week with locals. Nightclubs and dancehalls everywhere. Just follow the music sounds when you are in town! I actually got to see Van Van live. Expect late nights as nothing gets really going before midnight.

this is music to my ears, i already love cuban music! i cant wait!!


17 days to go :-)




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oh sorry I didn't see your question 'how cheap'?...Casa Particulars are about 12-30 cuc a night depending on town. They charged 2 cuc for breakfast 2 cuc for lunch and 10 cuc for dinners at most. Did laundry for you at 4cuc. Like I said you will get a bedroom and bathroom for yourself with airconditioning and shower in most. One star hotels can be as cheap as 14cuc a night with breakfast (the one we stayed in at Camaguey was interesting - not sure what was more alarming -- dogs barking in hallways or lack of toilet seats and paper)

Cuba was extremely expensive for me as a Canadian. Our dollar was .84 to the cuc (cuban convertable peso) pronounced kook. A bottle of water 1cuc at a store. a beer or drink could be up to 4 cuc.

If you can get things in Cuban Pesos on the street, then everything suddenly is cheap. same bottle of water or a slice of pizza 20pesos (1/4 of 1 cuc) Reply to this

hi im just back from cuba.

thankyou all for your support,

i loved it!!

the best thing was the people and friendships i made there, i cannot imagine not going back to see them.
and i was really impressed with the music.

yes fantastic!



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Hola! So glad you enjoyed your trip! It is fantastico! I can't wait to go back. Looking forward to reading your blogs about your experiences. Via con dias Matty! Reply to this

hi yema!

they dont have safes in the casas,

i broaght some money with me in a belt with secret compartment inside it that i baught in ecuador. and just took it around on my person. when it ran out i had to get more out of the bank, this was possible thankfully but a pain in the neck because i got charged 10%!t(MISSING)ax on the conversion from euros.

obviously like anywhere theres no guarantee you wont be robbed .. but the chance is a good deal slimmer in cuba because the authorities come down extremely hard on cubans who mess with tourists in any way. i heard a storey from a cuban friend there, about a guy who was given 15 years for hitting a tourist lady and running away with her handbag. and 15 years in cuba is hard labour, not lazing around in a cell.

the casas might lose their licence if anything 'bad' were to happen with their guests and belongings, and they would never get it back, so the casa owners are very protective , they will most likely not steal anything from you. but they dont have any lockers . if you ask they will tell you, stuff doesnt get robbed around here. but still i would recommend you use reasonable caution dont leave everything lying around, tuck away your belongings in a bag or whatever so as not to tempt fate.



walking around at night is quite safe to me, compared to other latin countries though the streets are poorly lit in havana and it does feel kinda dodgy, there are often police not too far away and people dont seem to want to mess with you for reasons i mentioned. cuba does not have many drug or gun problems like just about anywhere else in the world, and so this contributes to the sense of security. however some cubans did mention to me that some streets are not really safe, so again i would recommend that you do keep your eyes open!

there are plenty of casas in havana that are in close proximity to the nightclubs so you probably dont need to take a taxi. the nightclubs always seem to have plenty of police nearby. i would sooner take taxi out of laziness rather than safety reasons.


im afraid i cannot comment on how you will be treated as a young women as i am not one of those. im a young man, so i hope a young woman can elaborate ,

but im confident that you will fall in love with cuba and its wonderful people as i have :-)

oh im so jealous! hehehe have a great trip




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well if i did know a secret place, i would have to tell you in secret :-) however unfortunatly i dont know any.



though, i can say that probably the best experiences you have will be unpredictable, and with cubans! they will tell you the secrets!

i was rather lucky to meet a cuban family who needed to visit their family down the south of the country and we travelled 2000km down the centre of the country and back which was nice, i payed for the petrol of course, which came to about 150 dollars but it was a good deal for me because they really showed me around. it was unforgettable really , i was very sad to say goodbye in the airport.

in the centre, away from the beaches there are not as many tourists,you could go to a small town and be lucky to find that its the festival week there. then you will see how the cubans party. also i was invited to a family party with some cubans in havana, where they did some unusual religious ceremony, i would recommend this kind of stuff.

as for landscape and beaches i didnt delve to far, i liked guardalavaca. and i had heard about cayo jutias, a remote paradise beach that apparently has no buildings or anything like that around, you can camp there apparently, i was on my way when a cold front came over cuba (mid january) and it was cloudy for a few days so i opted not to bother, as i think you really need the blue sky to show up the lovely blue waters.


i had done absolutely no research before going and had just heard a little about trinidads salsa scene and saw some pictures of piñar del rio area, so natrually i went to visit. trinidad though nice indeed, was not really what i had hoped, tourism is really the only thing propping up the place,and i get a little bored in places like that,

its true you can dance salsa 7 nights a weekin trinidad , however the main salsa venue though great fun is populated mainly by foreigners, while all the cubans actually party out the back to regaeton. but i would still recommend a visit, many repeat visitors will go literally straight there when they get to cuba and straight back.

one of the most enjoyable experiences for me was discovering a new incredibly talented bunch of musicians almost every day playing in some bar or on the street. i sat for hours on end listening and baught lots of cds, but thats just my kind of thing.

the best experiences will probably come un planned i guess, thats the excitement of travel.

you will love it Reply to this

beautiful photos! Reply to this