World Cuba Havana

110 Degrees with Pete and Cath

Cuba Jun 9, 2009

Havana: After much drama with cancelled flights between Mexico and Cuba and the need to buy new tickets via Panama, it was an uneventful flight to Havana right up until the immigration check where Pete found that the difference between his passport photo and his now hairy face was starting to raise concerns from the officials! Eventually we all collected our bags and caught a taxi to downtown Havana where we arrived at our Casa Particulares around midnight. Our hosts, Maria and Manuel were there to greet us with a warm Cuban smile. Staying in Casa’s in Cuba is an absolute treat. We were welcomed into their home, told to take a seat in their living room while they poured some juice and fixed up our rooms, all of this communicated via broken Spanglish. We hadn’t realised that for most Casa owners, they often move themselves and their children out of their rooms to make space for tourists; it’s a truly humbling experience.

It was with much excitement that Cath and I woke the following morning and walked to Hotel Nacional de Cuba where Lisa, Steve, Chris and Jawbone were staying. More squeals of excitement from the girls (now two Benoni cronies in Ol’ Havana!) and the joy of travelling struck me again – a few emails and a flight and you can meet some of your oldest friends in the most unlikely places on earth. Or as Jawbone, an aviation enthusiast will tell you: “a mile of road will take you a mile, a mile of runway will take you anywhere!”

Not to waste any time we caught the nearest open-top bus to the Historical District and a visit to the Revolution Museum. Cath and I kicked ourselves for not reading up more about Cuban history and tried to make up for it by reading all the captions in the museum. We needn’t have worried however because we were later to find out that statues and memorabilia of the revolution; the heroes and the victims are all but inescapable while travelling through this island.

Around 11am we could resist the urge for mojitos and authentic Cuban cigars no longer so we settled into the Bacardi bar near the Capital buildings. For the rest of that day we strolled through the once beautiful streets of Havana. The buildings are dilapidated but one can imagine what it must have been like in its heyday; incredible hotels, cabaret shows, salsa and festivals. Now unfortunately it smells of a city whose infrastructure is crumbling and the locals pester you to buy cigars or anything else that they think you might be looking for. In an attempt to find a cigar shop that Jawbone had read about, I was sidetracked by a guy insisting that he knew the place. A few kilometers later and all 8 of us realised we were nowhere near where we should be and our patience for chatting to the locals was running thin. In response to a reprimand from Cath for drifting off on my own I may have said, “This is not Sandton City!”

Puddles and Leigh arrived that evening and it was really great to catch up with them again and to have our party of ten now complete. We all met early on Sunday morning to organise a rental car that could fit ten people plus bags. All credit must go to Jawbone and John who snatched up a Peugeot delivery van with enough space for us all. The only instruction from the rental company was this: “In Cuba, drink and drive no problem; drink and crash BIG problem!” So with those wise words we crammed in and with music blaring, camera’s flashing and spirits at an all time high; we left the capital and hit the highway towards the beaches of Varadero.

Varadero: A quote from one of the guys straight out of Londres was that we should expect to see some of the English “unsavouries” that have been known to visit these parts. Arriving at our hotel, Sun Beach, we couldn’t have been further from the truth – the “chav’s” from the UK wouldn’t be seen dead in that place! An interior decorator in the 1950’s undoubtedly high on a concoction of sorts had performed his masterpiece in this hotel as the clash of colours is described by one guidebook as, “an eyesore on the beach of Varadero!” Our laughter at the sight of our hotel soon dwindled as the hotel concierge informed us that our booking was for the incorrect date and that we were only due to arrive a week later. Not so funny now hey? Thankfully we had our very own Charlize Theron in our group and with a wink from Lisa she began her Oscar-winning performance by opening up the floodgates and a teary explanation of how we had all planned this holiday for so long, etc etc! A hug from the hotel manager and we were settling into the buffet lunch! Banto, you’re a legend amongst blonde bombshells from Benoni!

We spent two fun-filled days on this peninsula’s beautiful beach and made full use of the all-inclusive package. Back into the fun bus for a 7 hour drive to Trinidad on the southern coast via Santa Clara, the home of Che Guevara’s memorial. It was on this drive that we saw billboards of President Bush’s face with the word, “Terrorista!” painted below it. The drive up and over the Sierra del Escambray mountains was quite incredible and we pictured the guerrilla’s as they must have climbed through this humid jungle.

Trinidad: The town of Trinidad was perhaps Cath and my favourite. It is now a world-heritage site and a photographer’s paradise. Multicoloured houses line the cobblestone streets all with their own rooftop terraces where the owners enjoy a quiet Caribbean sun-downer. The roads are teeming with scooters, horse-drawn carts, bicycles and the occasional stray animal. Locals while away the day sitting on their front porch with a cigar and watch their world go by in front of them. It is an unbelievable place so backward, peaceful and friendly that we could have stayed there for a week. Unfortunately we only had two nights but we made the most of our time by booking our first evening at one of the town’s better restaurants called Sol y Sol. On our way to meet up with the others John, T, Cath and I were caught in an absolute downpour. The girls, at first upset over their running makeup, soon joined John and I in the street completely drenched but soaking up the experience!

The following day was spent aboard a catamaran sailing from Trinidad to Cayo Blanco doing what one normally does on a Wednesday in Cuba: snorkelling, drinking out of coco nuts, playing lie dice and eating paella! For most of us we completely overcooked the suntan and ten slightly burnt and inebriated travellers left the boat that afternoon.

After dinner on both nights in Trinidad we all sat on the roof of one of the casa’s smoking cigars and listening to the beats from Jawbone’s laptop, what happy times.

Cayo Coco: From Trinidad it was a 5 hour drive north across Cuba to Cayo Coco and Cayo Guillermo, the last 30km or so on a causeway that cuts through the blue seas to the mangrove swamps of these small islands. It was in the Cayo’s that we, and 10 000 mosquitoes celebrated Cath’s 27th birthday with a massive party, a big chocolate cake and a lazy day spent in the beautiful Caribbean! There are certainly worse places in the world to celebrate a birthday.

It was a sad goodbye in Havana on Saturday as Lisa, Steve, Jawbone and Chris made their way to the airport in an old pink Cadillac convertible and began their trip back to the UK, how could a week have gone so quickly?

Vinales Valley: The Lakes, Holleys and Goldies woke early to catch our bus to the incredibly beautiful Vinales Valley to the west of Havana. Home of 60% of the tobacco growing farms; the lush fertile valleys and green hills were yet another highlight. A walk through the countryside, smoking (and buying) cigars with the local farmers and being caught in the afternoon thunderstorm was a fitting end to our time in this country.

We leave with a profound sense of political effect. Whether Cuba remains an advert for socialism is up for debate but we take away fond memories of this colourful and proud nation and most importantly, the opportunity to enjoy it with mates.