Take a crazy Cuban guide, a birdwatcher from Ireland, a couple of old ladies, some fun-loving Aussies and a token Kiwi and Maltese…mixed with a few other random people and you have our amazing group of Cuba tourists!!
We did lose a passenger on day one…’Missing John’ never appeared at the meeting point on the first day and rumour has it that he changed his mind and decided to stay in Havana. He then asked Tucan Travel for a refund due to his change of mind!
Cuba is both an amazing and bizarre country. The minute I arrived I faced a wall of immigration officers, all female, wearing extremely short, tight-fitting skirts showing off their generous derrières with matching fishnet tights. They are all from mixed heritage: Spanish, African and Asian. The Cubans are a sociable, friendly and warm people and are renown for facing many difficulties with a positive attitude. Considering the country is still under government rule and people are still issued with ration books they are a very happy nation. Rations typically contain five eggs, 10kg of rice, 6kg sugar, 2 kg of meat and a packet of coffee every 10 days. But the bizarre thing is the grocery store shelves are very sparse on one side where the food supplies should be stocked and plentiful on the other side with bottles of rum! There’s always the black market too..!
We mainly stayed in Casa Particulars which were homestays with Cuban families. Basically some poor family member got kicked out of their room to accommodate the paying guests. The majority of them were really nice rooms and each casa owner also provided breakfast and dinner (at a cost of course!).
Che Guevara is still a national hero – even Alba, our tour leader was nearly in tears when telling us the story of when his remains were discovered in Bolivia and returned to Cuba. She was still at school when this happened and they all had a national holiday to celebrate his return. His picture is painted everywhere.
There were many accommodation mishaps along the way with overbooked hotels and the lack of decent meals. The most disappointing was our two day all inclusive resort at the beach which very nearly ended up being a miserable and poorly maintained former ex-soviet block. None of us got out of the bus! “This can’t be our ‘all inclusive’ hotel” was the shocked reaction. It turned out that is was thankfully not our hotel and we ended up being placed in some random units with no all inclusive food and drink….and it rained.
Even with the mishaps I loved Cuba with its big old American cars, horse and carts, cigars, Cuba Libres and Papas drinks, charming streets, beautiful beaches…so ‘Missing John’…you really did miss out on the Cuba experience!!
My travels are my life and have been for the last twenty-two years. Before the days of Instagram and Facebook my travel up-dates were always sent via email and I now write books. My second book ‘Secret Lands, Petrol Clams and a Bagful of Bolivar’ was released on 13 July 2021.
Secret Lands, Petrol Clams and a Bagful of Bolivar was released on 13 July 2021.
Pringles, Visas and a Glow in the Dark Jesus was released on 30 September 2015.
I’m now waiting for your follow-up in Poland – a crazy continuation of Cuba. Keep at it – like the read. I gave my talk to ‘Cafe International’ last week and managed to get visuals onto a USB stick – only a few of the mass!!! There was a good response.