Jamaica - Cuba

Leg on Google Earth

It always feels very special to approach a new island, a new country. You never know what lies behind that coast and what will expect you. This is never truer than for Cuba. I have read and heard so much and so controversially things that I have no idea what will expect us. Clearing in in Santiago de Cuba is easier than expected, but still more bureaucratic than in most countries. In theory, it can be done in 60 minutes, but we are waiting 10 hours for the doctor to arrive and the veterinary only arrives the next day! Don’t ask me what a dozen officials are looking for on Blue Bie, but they are all very friendly and do within the limits of their office what they can to make us feel welcome. Where else does the sanitary inspector flirt with you and parts with kisses on both cheeks?!?

After clearing in, we are free to explore Santiago de Cuba. We soon find out that there is not much to explore, but so much to experience. There are hardly any shops along the main street other than some tiny clothing and food stores and some coffee places. There is no advertisement – not even a sign indicating shops or restaurants. Only when literally standing in the door I can see what they are stocking. But it is the lack of everything which makes Cuba so special to me. We are strolling along some streets, enjoying town squares and museums and make an excursion to the Gran Piedra, from where we are having great views over Santiago and the Sierra Maestre. On the way back to Blue Bie the taxi driver takes us through back streets to buy eggs, bread and oranges from different fruit vendors.

From Santiago de Cuba we are sailing along the south coast, stopping in Chivirico, Marea de Portillo and Cabo Cruz. In Marea de Portillo we spend the best part of two days with Odoleisi, Josefina and their families, who give us bags full of fruits, vegetables, eggs, bread and butter. Whilst waiting in front of a (closed) shop we meet a man, who would like to give us honey and sugar. They all don’t want money, hence we are trading t-shirts, scarves, rum and in one instance money.

Entrepreneurship is totally discouraged in Cuba. The owners of the casa particulares (bed & breakfast hotels) and paladores (private restaurants) have to pay very high license fees. A small tip makes all the difference. The state allocates to the population monthly rations of food, clothes and hygiene products very cheaply. The people receive their salaries and buy these subsidised products in Pesos. Everything else (what few other things can be bought) has to be bought in Peso Convertibles, which are pegged to the US dollar. However, Pesos can not be exchanged in Peso Convertibles and the people have to get them through the interaction with tourists or transfer payments from their relatives abroad. At least they are allowed owning Peso Convertibles, two years ago it was still forbidden. Since then they may also own computers and mobile phones. However, with SIM card prices of USD 150 they are prohibitively expensive.

There are a few irritating things about this system. On our first day in Santiago, I bought an excellent espresso in a bar for Cubans – and paid in Pesos 0.05 USD. The next day, in a similar bar, but for locals and tourists, I have to pay 1 USD for a horrible espresso, whilst the locals have to pay 5 US cents. You can argue that 1 USD is the fair market price and 5 cents a heavily subsidised price. The economist in me accepts this fully – if only the espresso would be good!

In Cabo Cruz, we have another memorable experience: Trying to go ashore, the coast guard officer tells us that we are not allowed to come ashore, because this is no international anchorage?!? But he offers us to fetch 25 liters drinking water on foot in the soldiering heat. You just have to be there to believe it!

From Cabo Cruz, we are sailing to the Jardin de la Reina, a large archipelago of several hundred mangrove islands. Some nights we anchor by ourselves and some nights we have company of some French cruisers from the Transcaraib Rally. There is lobster in abundance and we are invited twice for a lobster feast on the French boats. They are hunting them with spear guns, and one evening I catch a lobster myself. On the same day, a nurse shark and a stingray swim around my legs as I am wading on a large sand bank.

This brings us to Casilda, where we leave Blue Bie for a few days to explore Trinidad. Trinidad is an UNESCO World Heritage site and a beautiful small colonial town. We are staying in a small casa particular and enjoy most of all the live music, which is played on every street corner and in every bar. Most restaurants are illegal paladares, which cannot be seen from the outside. How can you find them? Within minutes of walking around someone usually approaches with an offer to join their family run palador for dinner. This happens not only with regards to eating but also to transportation.

We are leaving Blue Bie again for a week in Cienfuegos to travel to Havana and Viñales. Havana feels to me like a walk-in museum. There are more than 900 historically valuable buildings, few of which are renovated and most are in dire disrepair. It feels like everything in Cuba is at least 30 years old, cars, horse carriages or houses. Many of the ground floor doors and windows are boarded up as if waiting for better times and the few shops are not worth exploring. It makes me wonder what the purpose of this town is! Even the beautiful Capitol is no longer in use, since Fidel Castro decided to abolish the Parliament. But we enjoy hiking through the streets, lounging and listening to the musicians playing on every square.

Having seen so many towns, it’s time to go to Viñales in the tobacco region Pinar del Rio. It is a beautiful area with tobacco and other plantations on rich red earth with limestone hills dispersed in-between. We are exploring on horse back and on mountain bikes and learn from our guide Domingo, how the tobacco is grown, dried, fermented and rolled. He rolls some cigars on the horseback and I smoke my first Cohiba. It might not the last one, but it will take a while to the next:) But most of all, we are enjoying the Casa Particular of Nenita and her son Joel, who are the most lovingly hosts you could imagine. We are spending many hours with them and other guests in their rocking chairs (why have they gone out of fashion at home?!?).

Driving home to Blue Bie on the motorway is another experience: We are sharing three lanes (without any markings) with pedestrians, bicycles and horse carriages – both in our direction and opposing. Under the shade of every bridge an amarillo (so called because of his yellow uniform) organises the transport of the locals on buses and trucks.

We are taking so many impressions from Cuba that it will take a while digesting them all. We had a wonderful time and can only recommend Cuba to fellow cruisers and travellers!