Before the Invasion

By Maxine Bates

My fellow Travel SIG member Helen and I visited Cuba some months ago, but it seems fitting that I finally find time to write about our trip as Fidel Castro dies. We had wanted to see more than the capital and a beach resort so opted for an eight day tour staying in four places and using casas as accommodation. These are rather like English B&Bs so we stayed with local families rather than in hotels. Some were better than others!  Upon arrival in Havana – via Madrid - we were picked up from the airport late at night and taken to Casa Dalia. Let’s just say we would never have found it on our own as located on a small street through a narrow door and up several flights of steep stairs. The owners only spoke Spanish, so there was a lot of pantomiming at breakfast the following morning!

Our first day was at leisure before meeting up with the rest of the tour group for dinner so we opted to do the hop on/off bus tour which covered most of the city. We alighted in Republic Square where two large buildings displayed the faces of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. We also spent time in the Christopher Columbus cemetery which is the third largest cemetery in the world and largest in South/Central America. We were offered a tour but declined and wandered around on our own having enquired about the highlights. They included a monument to firefighters and one for infertile women. We also saw a funeral cortege arrive during our visit. The US embassy was pointed out on the bus tour, but you probably wouldn’t know it was there otherwise. The Capitol building is based on the one in Washington DC and is surrounded by bright coloured old American cars ready to transport tourists around the capital. We found the Bacardi building where you pay a small free to ride in the elevator for views over the city. Taking a break from the heat we found Sloppy Joe’s. The bar was founded in 1917 and became our favourite as a great place to sip the Cuban cocktails of mojitos and Cuba libres.

Having met the rest of our small tour group, mostly from Australia and New Zealand, the following morning we set off for Playa Girón, otherwise known as Bay Of Pigs. This was the site of the infamous failed invasion of Cuba and now home to a museum. Then onward to the city of Cienfuegos where the architecture is heavily influenced by the French migrants who settled there in the 19th century with many buildings having been given UNESCO world heritage status. “Cienfuegos is the city I like the best,” wrote Beni More, one of Cuba’s most important musicians in the first half of the 20th century and who now has a statue on the Prado, one of the wide avenues. I had wanted to visit the Palacio De Valle and was delighted when our tour guide took us there for a free cocktail on their roof terrace accompanied by live music. Our accommodation in Cienfuegos was the lovely Ines Maria where breakfast included cereal, fruit, sausages, omelettes, cucumber, cheese and bread with coffee taken on the roof terrace. A new cruise terminal is being constructed in the city so it may not remain quite as sleepy for much longer.

En route to Trinidad, we stopped in Santa Clara which is the final resting place of Che Guevara, even though he actually spent the end of his life in Bolivia. It was in Santa Clara that Che Guevara and his rebels successfully derailed a military train carrying weapons and ammunition to be used against Fidel Castro, an act  credited with winning the revolution. The city of Trinidad was founded in 1514 and is filled with cobbled streets – do not attempt to walk in anything other than the flattest shoes! – and colourful houses. The shops were quirky, selling such items as handbags made from ring pulls - a case of waste not, want not! Although very pretty it is decidedly third world as we lost both water and electricity supply at some points during our two night stay at Hostal Rosita. Not good in sweltering temperatures when you need cold showers and air con! The evening entertainment was a traditional buffet dinner followed by group salsa dancing lesson with the option to visit The Music House for live music later. This venue turned out to be outdoor seating on concrete steps surrounding a stage.  As we started getting bitten by insects, we didn’t stay long!   

The area around Trinidad was once the heart of Cuba’s sugar industry and a lot of sugar cane is still processed here. We visited an old mill and sugar plantation and hiked through Parque El Cubano to a lovely waterfall. Unfortunately by the time we reached Playa Ancon, said to be one of Cuba’s best beaches, it started raining so it was a very quick dip before a cocktail in a coconut shell. La canchanchara is the famous local drink from Trinidad made with rum, honey and lemon. More like a dessert than a drink!  Our final destination was Vinales where we stayed at Casa Alvy Y Ada.  After a boat ride through the Cuevas Del Indio and a walk through the Slave Cave we visited a tobacco plantation including a demonstration of cigar rolling. The afternoon was at leisure so we found a tapas bar for lunch washed down with pina colada, where we were presented with a full size bottle of rum to add our own alcohol. I can’t ever imagine that happening in the UK! We then visited Vinales botanical gardens where, for a small donation, we were given a guide who explained the fruits and flowers and trees.  We said goodbye to our driver and guide and boarded the equivalent of a National Express coach back to Havana for my personal highlight of the tour, a ride in one of the old American cars around the capital. As our group had three cars it became somewhat of a race with horns tooting and all of us waving our arms in the air. Great fun! On our final day in Havana we visited Plaza Vieja’s camera obscura, saw the room where Ernest Hemingway stayed for six years in Hotel Ambos Mundos and took a tour of the Havana Club rum factory, rounded off with a strong Cuba libre in their bar. Too many of those and we could have been refused boarding!

I’m glad I visited Cuba before the Americans descend en masse because the island is going to change. Whether that makes things better or worse remains to be seen. And I’m glad I saw more of the island than just Havana and a beach. But would I return? Probably not as it was a bit ‘rough and ready’ and very strange having no internet access or phone signal and not seeing any Western branded products. If you’re thinking of visiting the real Cuba… go now before it changes forever.

First published in VISA 132 (April 2017)

Fifteenth Birthday, Sixteenth Century

by Anne Rothwell

I watched the young girl climb carefully out of the car and smooth down her dress. She looked stunning. I was sure she must be a bridesmaid, but there was no-one else around looking dressy. Then a photographer appeared and followed her to the centre of the beautiful square, where he proceeded to pose her to his satisfaction.

Car, Trinidad de Cuba

A local man explained to me that, when a girl reaches her 15th birthday, she officially becomes a woman. She gets dressed up, wears make-up for the first time, has her hair done and then has a photographic portfolio taken in a scenic spot.

I was in Trinidad de Cuba, a gorgeous intact 16th century Spanish city, which is a World Heritage Site. I wandered into a museum, paid to climb the rickety spiral staircase up into the tower to look at the view and was given a tiny yellow scrap of paper with strict instructions to return it when I left. Clearly, a missing slip at the end of the day could mean a suicide.

Afterwards, I strolled along the quiet street where there was no traffic, just the occasional cherished 1950s car parked, and I stopped on a corner to watch a group of men playing dominoes. This is a great country, where the people are really friendly, but give you no hassle. The only movement in the torpor of the day, where even the dogs were dozing in the shade, was the flurry of an occasional horseman riding through and showing a great deal of bravado as he saw the admiration of the watchers.

An elderly gentleman sitting in a doorway beckoned me inside his house. Instinct told me this was safe and I followed him. He indicated the bathroom and conveyed that I could use it. What a shame that I’d just used the scruffy one in the museum! He then offered me a small glass of tea from a flask (clearly prepared for the unsuspecting travellers, who were few and far between at this time of year). We chatted as best we could with his limited English and my limited Spanish, then I got up to leave and handed him a dollar; he, overwhelmed, presented me with a necklace.

I soon found the destination I’d been seeking: the Casa de la Trova or Troubadour House. These were to be found in every town and were the venue for both organised and impromptu music sessions. “Oh,” I said in disappointment as I saw that they’d just finished for the day. “No problem. Come,” said a man, welcoming me inside, where he got the other musicians together and put a chair in front of them for me, before bursting into happy sound. Before I left, one had even dragged me up to dance. I had to agree with their view that music lifts the spirit.

First published in VISA issue 65 (Feb 2006)

Images of Cuba

By Wendy May

Arriving at Havana, I knew that this holiday would be an experience. After the long queue for passport control and making sure I didn’t get a stamp in my passport (not my usual behaviour!) it was off to baggage reclaim: two carousels, old and squeaky, both in use in a small room, along with helpful staff off loading cases into a corner. Not knowing where to look first I decided to change some money at the small exchange desk before the queues formed. There is dual currency in Cuba: the Convertible Pesos (which used to be $US equivalents) and the local currency peso cubana, which is worth significantly less and which can only be spent in local peso shops and markets.

I was on a walking tour from Vinales in the west of the Cuba to Baracoa in the east ending in Havana. Looking back, the highlights of the tour, and hence my images of Cuba are not necessarily the expected images of the fading grandeur of the buildings in Old Havana, but things I hadn’t expected and the little things I experienced.



American car, Vinales

Vinales is a laid back area, very beautiful, with mogotes – limestone hillocks dating back to the Jurassic period - and excellent for walking and birdwatching. It is an agricultural area: tapioca, grapefruit, pineapples, sugar cane and, of course, tobacco. Farming methods are all very primitive and I didn’t see a tractor all the time I was on the island, which was a surprise as I hadn’t expected the people to be so poor. The farmers were all very proud of their animals and their farms and were more than happy to pose with their oxen and wooden ploughs. Walking though the countryside it was a surprise to find, in the middle of nowhere, a small farm complete with hurricane shelter as well as an old American car being repaired. We received a warm welcome from the locals and were offered local coffee and the local drink made from whole pink grapefruit with the centres removed and filled with freshly crushed sugar cane (delicious!) as well as local grown tobacco, dried and locally rolled into cigars. These, apparently, have the taste of the well known Cuban cigars if not the professional finish! Visiting the Cueva del Indio was a highlight, not the daytime trip through the caves, but the return visit at dusk to see the cloud of bats leaving the cave entrance.

Arriving at La Terrazas for an early morning walk we were greeted with rather large and strong Cubre Libres, so our walk though the old French coffee terraces was a rather enjoyable experience. Apart from cigars and old American cars there is a lot of very nice rum in Cuba and, apart from the Cubre Libres, a significant number of Mohitos were consumed on the trip. That night we experienced our first experience of Castro delivering a speech on TV. There were some local musicians waiting to perform, but the hotel staff were not allowed to switch off the TV until the speech had finished. As the programme ended the electricity failed, so the rest of the evening was enjoyed by candlelight. A lack of electricity was something we got used to as we travelled around.

Travelling across the island, there were many people collecting grass from the verges to use for hay or silage so nothing is wasted. The roads are also multi-purpose as they are used as a drying area for the local rice. Driving to the Bay of Pigs we arrived in Australia, where Castro directed the operations during the Bay of Pigs operation only to find the old sugar cane steam trains being restored and repaired. At the Bay of Pigs I was surprised to find a wide bay with white sand and excellent swimming.

Our next major stop was Trinidad: a joy, with cobbled streets and a friendly village like atmosphere and well worth exploring. There is even an Afro-Cuban temple, for followers of the Santeria religion. It was in Trinidad that I first encountered the music of Cuba – lots of local bands, music and dancing in the town squares and musicians in most restaurants. Every town in Cuba has a Casa de la Trova where there is live music followed by dancing every night. Wandering round the backstreets I also found the ‘chess room’. The Cubans love playing chess and in most towns there appears to be a chess room (men only) where they play chess – all day and also through the night.

There are still food restrictions and rationing in Cuba and everyone has a ration card to make sure they get a basic diet. The ration tickets can be redeemed at an El Libre store – the only one I saw was here in Trinidad. In contrast I was also lucky enough to see a local tradition where, on a girl’s 18th birthday, she has a special treat: dressing up as a bride, hiring a large old (American) car and then having a photo shoot on the cathedral steps.

Arriving in Bayamo in the early evening, we were greeted by a gently illuminated marble square full of families taking an evening stroll and with children enjoying a goat-drawn cart ride around the square. This was a delightful town to wander round at night. As well as the lively square, there is a pedestrian area with local art including giant paint brushes and paint tubes. This town is the birthplace of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, a key figure in the war of independence, as well as Perucho Figurerdo who wrote the poem that was adopted for the national anthem. At 8.30 in the morning the national anthem was played and everyone stopped and stood still, which gave us a real indication of Cuban pride. Everywhere you go in Cuba there are paintings and murals of Che Guevara, and in every village there is a small monument to the ‘Five Heroes’, although posters and placards of Castro are less obvious.

Moving towards the east of the Island, via the obligatory view (with permit) over Guantanamo Bay, the population showed a greater Caribbean influence, due to the use of Caribbean workers during the sugar cane era. In Guantanamo itself we stopped to look at the small cathedral which was decorated for Christmas, only to find the recorded music was not Christmas carols but The Red Flag! It was interesting to note that, in Guantanamo, we were served tinned pineapple rather than the usual fresh fruit we had elsewhere, so perhaps there is some local trade with the American base!

Travelling over the spectacular Cuchillas de Baracoa we reached the most easterly town, Baracoa, the site of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in 1492, complete with a statue of Columbus. Baracoa was cut off from the rest of Cuba until the road through the mountains was completed after the Revolution and was only accessible by sea. There were three forts here built to protect the town from pirates and from sea attacks by the English. In Cuba the standard fare is rice and beans but, here in Baracoa, there is some welcome variation as coconut seems to be the main ingredient – fish fried in coconut oil and the local speciality cucurucho – coconut, orange, guava and sugar wrapped in a palm leaf. Even the local murals of Che Guevara show the local flavour of Baracoa with depictions of the local buildings and crops. Other local treats are chocolate (though not quite as we know it!) and Pru – a fermented drink with spices meant to having healing and cleansing properties.

Our route back to Havana was via Santiago de Cuba with a fascinating old colonial centre and the first place I encountered the Coco cab – the Cuban equivalent of the tuk-tuk – competing for trade with the old American cars. At the Cementerio Santa Ifigenia we visited the mausoleum of Jose Marti (who founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party) and were lucky enough to witness the changing of the guard – no music - just a loud beat, like a metronome, which was rather eerie. Then a visit to the Castillo del Morro – the fortress perched on the high cliffs and apparently impregnable but easily overcome by the English pirate Christopher Myngs in 1662. In the bay I spied my first ship. Any ships that berth in Cuba are not allowed to visit the USA for six months which means that Cuba is effectively isolated. The wide natural harbours of the south coast of Cuba are all empty.

The last leg of the journey back to Havana involved an unexpected visit to Holguin as the flight from Santiago had been cancelled. However, the flight from Holguin was also cancelled so we ended up sleeping at the airport until a plane arrived for us. My memories of arriving in Havana are of wheeling my bag along the cobbled streets as the sun was beginning to rise.

Old Havana lived up to all my expectations – atmospheric with crumbling and faded buildings as well as those that have been beautifully restored. I hadn’t expected the old city to be so heavily populated and the backstreets were bustling with life. I managed to see most of the sights before the cruise ship groups arrived (the Saga Rose had docked during the night) so was pleased I’d gone out early. I managed to talk my way into the Old Parliament Building (using basic Spanish and saying I was a teacher) and the cleaner proudly showed me the original Cuban Flag. I also found a quiet place of solace, behind the Convent de San Fransisco de Asis, in a small garden dedicated to Mother Theresa, complete with statue. My biggest surprise came after walking up the Paseo del Prado towards the seafront. The Paseo is a huge walkway fringed with trees used by local residents, many of whom were sitting around or in groups having talks or lectures. As I reached the Malecon – the seawall and a promenade area - a vista of modern Havana came into view – tall skyscrapers and modern buildings – from a distance like any modern city!


First published in VISA 80A (Aug 2008)