Impressions of a long trip to Cuba by Ton van Zutphen and Biya Han (19 November 2019 – 8 January 2020) : Havana, Santiago de Cuba, all-inclusive beach
resort Brisas Covarrubias, Trinidad, Playa Giron and Cienfuegos.
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| Along the Malecon in Havana / the boulevard along the sea |
My wife Biya and I had planned this trip reasonably
well with the following objectives: be happy ‘feliz‘ with each other as a
couple; learn how to speak Spanish at
intermediate level, this meaning to speak comfortably about what comes along on
a day to day basis; learn to dance some
salsa; and of course drink-in the atmosphere
of this Caribbean island with its unusual history and people.
Drinking by the way proved to be an excellent pastime
on this tropical island…our favorites were the national cocktails Pina Colada,
Daiquiri, Mojito (the original one with guerba verde (spelling?) I was told in
Cienfuegos, not with mint!)), and of course Cuba Libre and ‘ron a la roca’
(preferably with Havana Club white rum anejo 3 anos / for sale in the NL for
less than 20 bucks a bottle). Beer was at times difficult to get but Crystal is
a straightforward and good ‘pilsner’/ lager, and Buccanero a somewhat darker
and stronger, but tasty beer. No Coca Cola of course in Cuba…they have Tu-Kola
(tasted good in the Cuba Libre). The intense pleasure of sipping a cool Pina Colada at the beach in the resort
Brisas Covarrubias at 10 o’clock in the morning whilst overlooking the white beach and azul
colored sea is not something to forget so easily….carpe diem and dolce far
niente ! Believe me, we were then studying Spanish with our grammar books as
well!
We decided to stay a week or more in about 5 to 6
locations which we had not planned from the beginning, except for Havana and
Santiago de Cuba. And we stayed in ‘Casas Particulares’ the Cuban equivalent to
B@B in the UK, and ‘Zimmer frei’ in Germany and Austria. One thing for certain
is that in Cuba it is not necessary to plan anything ahead of time except your
inland travel. When taking a long distance bus, make your reservation at the
counter of the ‘Viazul’ company at least 24 hours before, to assure a seat.
Passport is needed to reserve and pay. In Cuba we utilized the following transport: flying into
Havana from Miami with American Airlines, taxis, horse drawn coaches, buses, JAWA
motor cycle side-cars and Biya with helmet smiling in the side-car; what a
sight!, transportes collectivos, pedi-cycles…we missed out on the train
unfortunately. For internal flights one has to reserve a ticket most of the
times 3 weeks in advance…so don’t bother is my advice.
Because of the slow but steady liberalization of the
economy, Cubans these days are allowed to start up small businesses and offer
their homes and kitchens as a place to sleep and eat. Obviously there are strict rules for the
Casas Particulares and there is healthy competition. The investments the owners
make seem quite high (most have to use funds they receive from the millions of
emigrated Cubans in the Americas and Europe!). Another feature of this
liberalization process is the appearance of thousands of small hole-in-the-wall shops selling anything as little as 50 home-made peanut cakes
a day, or delicious coco milk-shakes…well, these can be found everywhere now. Then
there is the simple street trade by
individual ‘entrepreneurs‘ playing an essential role in providing people with
basic necessities at free market prices. From our Casas we saw hawkers or
‘vendadores ambulantes‘ selling a
limited range of vegetables / mainly tomatoes, sweet potatoes, yuca,
peppers…not much more, but also (boiled) eggs, large chunks of mantequila, bread rolls (1 national peso
buys 1 small round bread roll = 1 eurocent!); others loudly tried to sell red onions and garlic carried in strings
around their neck, early morning saw the old hawker selling chloride to clean
the house; ‘tamale’ (tasty boiled maize paste), peanuts, pig feet, empty glass bottles,
empty plastic bottles and empty cans…everything has a price in a country where
in monetary terms and compared to the Netherlands and Korea 99% of the
population is poor.
When I was in Cuba with my World Vision colleague and friend Dwayne Sedig in 2011 we stayed only 5 days and then in the chique colonial style
Central Park Hotel in Havana, next to the historical quarter…the hawker
business then had not developed and most shops were still government managed. We
had no idea about the real Cuba….and we were only relaxing (rest and
recuperation) from our ‘terra moto’ earthquake emergency work in Haiti.
Biya and I simply booked the first Casas Particulares
in Havana and in Santiago de Cuba through internet and a 20 seconds phone call;
after that by word of mouth we easily found our way around. Casas that I dearly
recommend are listed here:
Havana Blues, in Havana / we stayed here at two
intervals and in total 1 week. Owners Daniel and Fina are service oriented and
have a simple but clean and nice home; located in Centro Habana (where the average
poor Cuban lives and works)…20 minutes walk to the historical centre. 360
Avenida Padre Varela (Belascoin part of town). 5 Minutes walk to the Malecon. Ideal
place to start your trip. Tel. (53) 78700945. Mail: daniel_renta@yahoo.es
La Terazza Verde, in Santiago de Cuba / we stayed here
for 3 weeks. Juan (John) runs this Casa for his uncle Rafael, and we got the
best rooms with the terrazas…plants everywhere. Walking distance to center and
Juan is a connector…when you ask you could perhaps go fishing with the old man
Rafael. Super clean Casa. 201 Calle Reloj on the corner with Calle
Trinidad / Tel. (53) 22624440 . Mail: rsilvacuba2012@gmail.com
El Castellito, in Playa Giron / we stayed here 4 days. Comfortable bungalow style Casa with good food and nice service; generous rum
portions! Walking distance to the beach; next to the bus stop to Caleta Buena,
the prime beach in the area
Las Norys, in Cienfuegos / we stayed here for 1 week .
The best we found…Norys and her husband Mariano are the perfect hosts. Nice
apartment with terrace; superb cooking. Tel. (53) 43512422 Avenida 54 nr. 4105 along the old main
street, quiet, and 10 minutes walk to Viazul bus station and 5 minutes walk to
city center; excellent location and super duper place. Mail: marino683508@gmail.com
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| Mariano and Norys in their Casa in Cienfuegos waving us goodbye |
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| Caleta Buena beach 8 kms from Playa Giron/ note the sharp rocks |
All above 4 Casas Particulares have aircon, serve optional paid breakfast and
sometimes paid dinner; are safe and secure and clean to Dutch standards with
hot showers and ensuite bathrooms; with wifi. Available rooms up to 5 only. Price
ranges from 20 to 25 Cuban convertible pesos = CUC…about max. 25 euros for 2
persons in one room/apartment per night.
Experienced travelers agree that an interesting place
is not so much defined by its morphology and its history but more by the people
you interact with. True to the bone, and this must be said here: we were at
ease in Cuba, practically everywhere. we met genuinely nice people, helpful,
humble and honest, We felt secure and safe throughout the 7 weeks; no issues
about changing money in a hotel or in the Casas ( at the bank you may need to
queue up for an hour or so, or even at the ATM (which we avoided to use anyway!);
very little typical tourist hassle; taxi drivers were correct…Cubans leave
foreigners their dignity and do not follow you all the time to sell stuff. Very respectful lot.
The 61 year young Revolution everywhere still sports
banners with ‘Siempre Fidel’ and Che Guevara remains a hero. I sense that a
socialist period which requires people to keep close to their own national
destiny and daily chores, leads to accepting foreigners with interest but not
approaching them for the USD/Euros alone. I had a similar experience when
traveling through Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the early seventies.
And Cubans have experienced some very hard times…..We
were informed about the ‘Special Period’ from 1991 to 1996…but its impact was
felt until 5 years later. The year 1991 marked the demise of the USSR and
COMECON (all East-bloc countries were part of a trade free zone allowing
individual members privileges). A month after this broke up, Cuba, having no oil/gas
reserves became slowly paralyzed and travel broke down because of fuel
shortages; hospitals discontinued many operations including most outbound services
for lack of electricity and fuel; houses
and streets were unlit, even simple aspirin producing factories were not
operational anymore and …transport fell back to the default mode of horse drawn
carriages, resulting in serious food shortages.
We were explained by Sergio our teacher of Spanish how
practically everyone in the 1 million
city of Santiago de Cuba suffered for more than 7 years whilst they put together as families and
neighbors their meagre resources ..cooked together with chopped wood from the
forests, and looked after each other. Apparently
nutrition fell from 1989 to 1993 from an intake per person per day from around
3,000 calories to 2,000 calories.
We in the West (I was during that period working in
the Netherlands, the Gambia and Bangladesh) missed out on this slow onset
emergency. I only vaguely remember that Cuba went through a hard time. I was told by a number of Cubans that this ‘Special
Period’ (during which only humanitarian aid was allowed from the USA/West)
actually strengthened the hand of Fidel Castro and his revolutionary zealots;
and definitely many people later…felt proud they had weathered a storm against
the West; then in 1999 Hugo Chavez of Venezuela offered Cuba oil; basically as
a gift out of solidarity with his friend Fidel.
The only things I wish to share here about the Cuban
Revolution are that the ‘Fidelistas’ are apparently still in the majority; nevertheless
people in the street are not talking about it; young educated people have other
interests…many about how to go abroad;
people are used to mind their own business; the Revolution never had a
moral compass unfortunately; people have
remained poor and basic services like education and health are now also being
eroded (just going into a pharmacy tells you the sad state of affairs…); doctors
are well trained but equipment and medicines are lacking. People are on a daily
basis trying to find and buy groceries…it is part of every day’s tasks!
Supermarkets remind me of the ones I saw in Bulgaria in 1974…racks and racks of
the same mostly imported articles that few people (can) buy.
When asking which were the best professions in the
country…the response was always: leisure industry and then a job as a guide or
in a hotel. This gives people directly or indirectly access to CUC (the
currency that foreign visitors have to use). Some mentioned the army, and only
a few mumbled doctor or teacher. A doctor takes home around 75 euros a month,
although lodging is provided by the state. A cleaner in a hotel takes home 25
euros…but may easily double or triple that with ‘propinas’ (tips). So, there is
lack of money in a serious way…one can see it all over in the streets as older people
are generally poorly dressed and houses are not maintained.
Nevertheless the Cuban mentality and spirit of
solidarity and hospitality is something I felt is strongly present. It made our
trip a big success meeting so many people that intrinsically are part of the
good boys and girls in this world!!!
Of course we were fortunate to meet good boys and
girls all over which we called ‘angels’. And we were linked up to 2 great
teachers with personality: Sergio in Santiago de Cuba and Taty in Cienfuegos.
Both had studied in the USSR and spoke good English. Sergio is your ideal
teacher: listener, empathic, allowing you to think and make mistakes…we started
off with him and had 16 x 2 hours lessons , plus a morning’s walk through town,
a morning with his students at the La Salle college where he teaches English,
and a one day trip to the fabulous Basilica de la Virgen de la Caridad del
Cobre, and the astounding world heritage site of Castillo San Pedro de la Roca
(a fort built into the sea to protect against the corsairs). We were invited to
share a meal at his home with his wife Clara and son Angel, and we took them
for dinner to restaurant San Francisco. Biya and I were tremendously inspired
by his methodology and pedagogy. We made vast progress with our 550 page
grammar book ‘ Complete Spanish Step by Step ’ by Barbara Bregstein. We
continued studying a bit on the beach in Covarrubias and then studied with Marilyn,
a teacher in Trinidad but we gave up after 3 lessons because we felt her style
of explaining did not match our expectations (we can be diplomatic!). Then in
Cienfuegos, our Casa landlord Mariano suggested to have lessons with Taty who lived
just across the street, and that worked also surprisingly well. She was so
different…she actually could have been Russian: straight to the point /
homework check every morning/ after a mistake do it again until it is
perfect…anyway we loved her and I think she also liked us! We extended our trip
with several hours the last day just to
have an extra lesson with her and we had 6 x 2.5 hours lessons with her. All in
all Biya and I clocked up each some 170 hours studying Spanish including
self-study and daily ‘tarea ‘= homework. I believe we reached our objective: we
have reached intermediate level but we both continue to study a few times a
week throughout the first part of 2020.
Our teachers Sergio - left, and Taty - right ...we simply adore them!!
And dancing…..salsa…yes we took 7 lessons in Santiago
de Cuba and made some progress: basic steps, dilequeno, enchufla, abanico,
sacala and so on. I realise I am not such a good dancer as I think I am or
was…coordination is not anymore what it used to be. When I danced with my
teacher Dagnellis and Biya with Luis…it seemed easy, but when Biya and I dance together haha I felt we both want to
lead…and that is not allowed when dancing: the man is the boss! Our lack of
progress when dancing together was certainly not the fault of the teachers
Dagnellis and Luis; a lovely couple and semiprofessional dancers. We owe them a
lot and again I can recommend them. By the way Santiago de Cuba is the prime
city in the world for salsa dancing and each November there is a 1 week
international dance fiesta. Biya and I danced on the terrace of the Hotel Casa
Grande one night overlooking the bay/sea, opposite the Cathedral…an impressive
sight with thousands of stars! Clases
de Baile. Dagnellis Rivery and Luis Bravo Tel. (53) 22663204. Mail is dagnelli.rivery@nauta.cu
with Dagnellis and Luis our salsa dance teachers / spontaneous dancing in Havana center / and Biya and me on the terrace of the hotel Casa Grande in Santiago de Cuba.
Yes, when I look into my 2019 agenda…this was a most
memorable trip during which Biya and I developed our relationship and love
further and deeper. We never spent a full 2 months together in each other’s
presence…day and night. And we often had to make fast decisions together,
though always consulting each other. We are still learning to listen better to
each other…in the end we are both mature travelers with clear ideas how to
tackle logistical issues. Haha, I recall when talking in Spanish to catch a bus
or so; we both want to do it…the one starts and the other does not realise
he/she tries to take over the conversation.
Lessons learned now! Practice to
come when we start with the Camino de Santiago de Compostela from Lourdes in France in May this year.
A couple of things:
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Angels
we met: Manuel the bus passenger when
driving to Puerto Padre who fixed us the ride with another Manuel to Covarrubias in his
comfortable Dodge Coronet 1952 ; Fidelito, the Viazul manager at Sancti
Spiritus; Roxangela, the dentist student in Cienfuegos; the unknown lady at the
Bandex bank who sold me (the impossible to find) official 10 CUC stamps to renew our visas;
Juan (John) who linked us to new friends like Sergio, Dagnellis and Luis;
Mariano in Cienfuegos who linked us to Taty (her original name is Oneilda), our
beloved teacher as well; and there are many other wonderful people we met in Cuba.
May God bless them all!
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| With taxista Manuel in Covarrubias and his Dodge Coronet 1952 |
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We
bought Cuban cigars (do not ask me how): the big Cohibas ‘esplendidos’ that
became the trademark of both Fidel and Che. Fidel gave up smoking in 1985 and started a successful anti-smoking
campaign. Che died in Bolivia in 1967 while supporting a communist guerilla unit
there. We brought back also the famous Habanos Monte Christo all hand rolled and
very expensive for Cubans in Cuba and outside the country. Few people these
days smoke in Cuba. Fortunademente.
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I
looked everywhere…and was never able to buy Cuban coffee…there is a black
market and people buy it directly from the coffee farms. As with the expensive
cigars…all is exported by the government to Canada and Europe.
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| Anton smoking a large Cohiba 'esplendido' back home in Leende, the Netherlands |
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Many
basic necessities disappear from the market temporarily and suddenly; make sure you always have a few bottles of
water in stock; during the Christmas period in Trinidad not even one can of
beer could be bought in the shops! Milk…never seen it during the 7 weeks. On
the other hand there is rum everywhere…excellent quality and affordable!
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Few
people mention it but at the beaches there are tiny black insects that bite and
itch terribly during dawn and dusk; these are called : jinjin (spelling is probably wrong). Biya
suffered for more than three weeks and even reverted to local medicine. Also
plenty of mozzies along the coast.
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Then
Cubans like music and play it loud basically everywhere…mostly reggaeton.
Beaches may look nice but once you are in the sea…lots of stones/rocks.
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| Havana, again its famous Malecon |
Cuba…what a place, made up of real lovely people!!! I
should take Biya there again. Hasta la vista!
Ton van Zutphen,
Leende, the Netherlands 24th January 2020
