“Brief encounters can result in long relationships.” ― Cuban Proverb
As a child, I remember hearing "Lucy, I'm home!" singingly said in a thick cuban accent by Desi Arnaz, who co-starred on the popular show I Love Lucy. It seemed like Desi was dancing the Conga and/or singing a spicy, latin number with a full band at some swanky joint in every episode. I often wondered what it would be like to visit "Desi's" Cuba. Like many of us, I was fascinated and intrigued with Cuba's romantic culture and was only able to explore the country in the pages of magazines, on movie screens and on TV. I thought that Cuba would forever be out of my reach.
However, over the last few years, relations have warmed with the US and Cuba and travel restrictions have loosened. Because of this, Leila and I recently decided to take advantage of the reduced impediments and visit before something happened that would frost relations and roll back regulations to the way they were in recent years. Hopefully the U.S. and Cuba relationship continues to grow and improve over time.
Our preparing for Cuba was done mostly on the computer reading blogs, watching videos and reaching out to others who had traveled to Cuba. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I thought it would be best that I just link you to one of my favorite blogs, which is Two Scots Abroad - Cuba. I thought their articles were thorough and really helped us out with our preparations. I enjoyed Rick Steven' Guide to Cuba video as well. I also recommend downloading the Stay app and their offline map of Cuba. It came it handy many times. I feel that that a little prep work and research will help calm your nerves, keep you safer and make your overall trip more enjoyable.
Most of the photos below are from Havana, Viñales and Playa Larga. In Havana, the street performers where everywhere. There was a "hustle and bustle" energy throughout the streets and at every corner as well. Havana is very tourist driven and that is apparent. Viñales is where Cuba's famous tobacco farms are located. We took a guided walk throughout the countryside that ended at one of the many tobacco farms. Of course this was the same farm that all of the other tours visited as well so we decided to trek off the beaten path to a "real" working farm and not the "tourist" farm. I'm glad we did because we found some farmers transplanting baby tobacco plants from one field to another. I was really impressed to see one of them working the fields while also smoking a cigar. Leila and I met one farmer name Millo (Mee-yo) who invited us onto his farm to pick Yucca together. He took the Yucca we picked and fed all of his livestock with it. Millo became a great friend and helped us find accommodations at Casa Particulars in Viñales and also in Playa Larga. We noticed that people were friendlier and more welcoming the farther away from Havana we traveled.
A trip to Cuba is not a easy one for it can be challenging at times. We enjoyed ourselves but noticed that the Embargo has negatively affected Cuba pretty harshly. It is a 3rd World Country so I recommend planning accordingly. Traveling to Cuba is an adventure rather than a vacation, at least if you travel anywhere other than one of their resorts. Many travelers will take a break from the hustle and bustle of Cuba to lounge at their all inclusive resorts. When we got home from our trip we felt like we needed a vacation from our vacation. If we return, I think we will fly to Santiago in the East and then make our way West to depart out of Havana. I've heard stories of others doing exactly that and loved it.
A few tips for traveling to Cuba:
1. Bring extra cash with you. Cuba is not as inexpensive as you would think.
2. Stay in Casa Particulars and not hotels. It's the best way to meet new friends and experience "real" Cuba. Plus, I think the accommodations are nicer. We used Airbnb for most of ours.
3. Buy cigars in Viñales rather than Havana.
4. Read up on possible scams. The Two Scots Abroad blog has a great article on these. A few were tried on us but we were aware of them because we read their blog and a few others.
5. Try not to travel during high peak tourist season. This will make life much easier for you.
6. There are two types of currency, CUC's and CUP's. CUP's are worth 1/24th of a CUC. Someone may try to give you a CUP instead of a CUC. (This never happened to us but it can happen.)
6. Make sure you discuss pricing before you do an activity or stay somewhere. You will become a good bargainer in Cuba.
7. Have fun. Be prepared for your trip but don't let it keep you from enjoying yourself. Cuba is beautiful and so are the Cubans. The Country has a lot to offer, you just might have to be willing to work a little more for it!
