Cuba

Welcome to Cuba

Country Number 11 on our big adventure

Day 1: 13/12/2018

Welcome to Cuba!

After a very weird flight we have arrived in country 11, our last stop. We thought we were missing something on the flight. Everyone on board had a ridiculous amount of stuff, many hats, bundles of umbrellas, and so much more. As it turns out it was all part of the black market trade in Cuba. Each person can bring 120kgs of stuff into the country and only pay the tax in CUP (the locals currency) instead of CUC (the official currency) once a year.

We arrived at our Casa and had a couple of hours to kill before our tour briefing, so we headed out for a snack. We ended up at the Hemmingway Hotel roof top bar drinking coffee with a view over Havana. What a way to start the trip!

We headed back to the Casa and were greated by Olexis, our tour guide for the next week. There is only one other person on our tour, a lady called Bec from Australia. She seems like a lot of fun so I think the next week is going to be a lot of fun!

Day 2: 14/12/2018

Today we start heading west!

We are starting to discover what life is like in Cuba. We had a lovely breakfast at our Casa this morning, but there is currently a flour shortage in Cuba because of the embargo. It is quite clear how much the country still suffers due to the trade embargo.

We started the day with a historical tour of downtown Cuba. Most places are named after either Manual Cesperez or Jose Marti, who were the first and second fathers of Cuba. We visited the Plaza de Armas which has been repaved with wooden slats instead of cobble stones as the lady that once lived there complained to her husband about the noise. We walked all over the city, visiting El Templete, the Old Sqaure and wandering up to Central Park, where we had a coffee at one of the only hotels in the city, the Central Park Hotel. We also visited the statue of the wanderer, where it is claimed if you stand with it in a certain pose you will return to Havana.

After our coffee we were picked up by our cab to start heading west, down to La Terrezes and Soroa. However, because it is only three of us on the tour we have a normal sedan sized cab for the next week. So between all our luggage, and the fact that Bec is taller than us, its going to be a tight squeeze. We got a history and Spanish lesson on the trip down. As it turns out Louise and I have been using the wrong word when we have been telling people we are hot, glad its taken us almost three months to discover this! We arrived in La Terrezes after an hour of driving. La Terrezes is one of the only self suffiecient communities on the island. Its a beautiful spot, but after a quick walk we were on our way west again to Soroa.

In Soroa we visited the botanical gardens, which were very beautiful. We were supposed to also visit a natural remedies garden but unfortunately they were closed for the day. After checking into our Casa (effectively a home stay) we were treated to great entertainment as Olexis tried to kill our driver, Eugine. Olexis can’t drive (cars are more expensive than houses in Cuba), but Eugine had him reverse the car out of the driveway for him and just about got runover for his troubles. The weather had turned in the evening and it got quite cold and damp, so it was reading and a nap for the rest of the day. Hopefully the weather improves for tomorrow.

Day 3: 15/12/2018

Welcome to Vinales!

We woke up to beautiful sunshine and the forests around us bright green the way they olnly do after rain. We visited a near by waterfall, which was stunning, before we srated the drive down to Vinales. We saw the Cuban Trogon, which is the national bird of Cuba, they are quite rare so I am chosing to take that as a sign of good things to come.

We all piled back in the tiny cab for the 2 hour drive down to Vinales, our home for the next few nights. The valley that Vinales is in is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is stunning. After a quick tour of the town we were told we had the afternoon for free time. We headed to a local restaurant for a pizza and a carajillo (espresso with a shot of rum, and my new favourite drink) for lunch before heading down to the Pre-Historic Mural. The mural is massive, 80m by 120m, and was painted in the 1960s depicting pre-historic life on the island. Cuba is so old that they have found human remains dating back 5000 years. We met back up with Bec for dinner and drinks. We got all dressed up and had a great meal followed by cocktails at a local bar. There was a street party going on so there were pop up bars and salsa on the streets. One of the bars we went with gave us the bottle of rum with our pina coladas, so that we could chose our strength.

Day 4: 16/12/2018

We got a bit of a sleep in this morning, but we really needed it as Louise is coming down with a cold.

This morning we were off to tour some of the farms in Vinales. Starting with a coffee farm, and then a tobacco farm. We had a home grown coffee at the first farm which was fantastic. At the second farm we learnt about the process of cigar making from seed to final product. While the governmemt takes the majority of the farmed tobacco, the farm is allowed to retain a certain percentage which they will ferment and dry in their own family traditons before hand making their cigars. Louise and I smoked half a cigar between the two of us, it was the first thing I have ever smoked in my life and was awful, but when in Cuba. The farm was a good example of Cuban math, 90% of the yield is given to the governement and 20% is kept for the farm.

After lunch we had a salsa dancing lesson. Louise wasn’t up for salsa, so she stayed at home asleep, but Bec and I had a great time! I don’t think I am any better at salsa now but I had a lot of fun trying to learn.

Day 5: 17/12/2018

Today we make the 120km round trip to Cayo Jutias to spend the day on the beach at the western most tip of Cuba. We rented sun loungers and an umbrella, had pina coladas, read our books, went swimming, and adopted a stray dog for the day who we named Audrey. The sun was shining and it was a wonderful day to chill out.

Day 6: 18/12/2018

Time to return to Havana. This morning we left Vinales to return to the capital, our time in Cuba is almost over.

On our way back to Havana we went to Fusterlandia, which was amazing. Bec is an art teacher so was able to give us a much more in depth understanding of the art.

We got back to Havana and said goodbye to Eugine and Olexis. They have been fantastic and have made our time in Cuba a blast!

Day 7: 19/12/2018

Our last day in Cuba, and the last day of our big adventure!

Had a brilliant last day in Havana. We went to the Cuban section of the Fine Arts Museum, walked around the streets of Havana and down to the harbour. We met Becs at the Hemmingway Hotel for our final night in Havana. Unfortunately the shortage in Cuba has switched from flour to pineapples, so there were no pina coladas. We moved to another restaurant for dinner and then a final one, who promised they could make us pina coladas, for drinks.

We finally got back to our Casa at midnight. Enough time to shower and pack before we are picked up to go to the airport at 3am.

The adventure has come to an end! 80 days, 25 flights, 11 countries and many ups and downs later it is time to fly to England and start the next chapter of our lives!