Well after almost ten days in Cuba I can officially say that the above title is Cuba in a nutshell.
My first few days here were spent getting used to the heat. Moving from a chilly 3 degrees and a bit of falling snow in Toronto, to a 30+ degree Habana really knocked me about! Organising a tour of modern Habana (my spelling is bad, but this is how its spelt in Cuba) was a good idea to get me out of the hotel. The tour took in some great sights and really gave a great overview of the city. Its run down and yet colourful with people everywhere. Its so hot though that the locals just mill about talking and drinking. Its an interesting city and country in general. The Cubans certainly don't do tourism great but that's part of its charm.
My group tour started on Sunday last week. Our guide Dady (pronounced Da-Di - not Daddy.. Although she got all sorts of names including DoDi?!?) and driver William were both very kind and lovely. Dady is a mum to cute Marcos and a beautiful person, always ready to have a bit of a dance. William, a quiet spoken dad, always helped the ladys off the bus. In fact most Cuban men are very gentlemanly.
Group make up (mostly for you Lara :p)
2 English (couple)
4 NZ (couples not related younger and older)
10 Aus.. 1 engaged couple, 5 single girls- incl me, 1 single male.
Of all the single girls I was the only one without a single supplement.. But because of that I got my own room the whole way! Sometimes that was great... Other times not so good lol.
Home stays in Cuba are a great way to meet the locals. My Spanish is limited and their English the same.. So for 4 of our 7 nights I did a lot of sign language and relied on Italian being very similar to Spanish. Its been amusing to say the least!
The food in Cuba is actually really nice. Seafood is plentiful and very good... And usually only $2-4 more expensive than chicken or pork... Meaning we ate lots of lobster and prawns for around $18 a dinner.
The sights have been interesting and while there isn't a whole lot to do in Cuba, its been just enough considering the heat and amount of drinking time our group has gotten in. A bottle of rum is about $5 here, so drinks are often 3/4 rum and the rest is mint or cola or lemon juice/coconut milk... For about $4-5 a cocktail. Its just crazy and sometimes they'll make the drink and then bring the rum bottle over and leave it on your table so you can continue to spike tour own drink?!?
Cuban music was great days 1,2 & 3.. After that its really all started to sound the same.
All in all, I've enjoyed Cuba, but once in my life is enough and I'm ready to head to Canada again.
Hope all is well at home.
More posts to come when I get more WiFi.
A x
My first few days here were spent getting used to the heat. Moving from a chilly 3 degrees and a bit of falling snow in Toronto, to a 30+ degree Habana really knocked me about! Organising a tour of modern Habana (my spelling is bad, but this is how its spelt in Cuba) was a good idea to get me out of the hotel. The tour took in some great sights and really gave a great overview of the city. Its run down and yet colourful with people everywhere. Its so hot though that the locals just mill about talking and drinking. Its an interesting city and country in general. The Cubans certainly don't do tourism great but that's part of its charm.
My group tour started on Sunday last week. Our guide Dady (pronounced Da-Di - not Daddy.. Although she got all sorts of names including DoDi?!?) and driver William were both very kind and lovely. Dady is a mum to cute Marcos and a beautiful person, always ready to have a bit of a dance. William, a quiet spoken dad, always helped the ladys off the bus. In fact most Cuban men are very gentlemanly.
Group make up (mostly for you Lara :p)
2 English (couple)
4 NZ (couples not related younger and older)
10 Aus.. 1 engaged couple, 5 single girls- incl me, 1 single male.
Of all the single girls I was the only one without a single supplement.. But because of that I got my own room the whole way! Sometimes that was great... Other times not so good lol.
Home stays in Cuba are a great way to meet the locals. My Spanish is limited and their English the same.. So for 4 of our 7 nights I did a lot of sign language and relied on Italian being very similar to Spanish. Its been amusing to say the least!
The food in Cuba is actually really nice. Seafood is plentiful and very good... And usually only $2-4 more expensive than chicken or pork... Meaning we ate lots of lobster and prawns for around $18 a dinner.
The sights have been interesting and while there isn't a whole lot to do in Cuba, its been just enough considering the heat and amount of drinking time our group has gotten in. A bottle of rum is about $5 here, so drinks are often 3/4 rum and the rest is mint or cola or lemon juice/coconut milk... For about $4-5 a cocktail. Its just crazy and sometimes they'll make the drink and then bring the rum bottle over and leave it on your table so you can continue to spike tour own drink?!?
Cuban music was great days 1,2 & 3.. After that its really all started to sound the same.
All in all, I've enjoyed Cuba, but once in my life is enough and I'm ready to head to Canada again.
Hope all is well at home.
More posts to come when I get more WiFi.
A x
Thanks for the comprehensive rundown on Cuba, as I can now cross it off my list, though actually it wasn't on it in the first place. And yet I've been to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which sounds inconsistent. My first memory was that the bus from the plane to the terminal after landing at Mandalay airport had no rubber on the only tyre I could see, only canvas. Myanmar had a military junta for nearly 50 years, a similar time that Cuba has had a communist government. And yet the Burmese seem happy. No doubt their expectations are considerably lower than in the west. Allan H
ReplyDeleteI think I just added Cuba to my list ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Amanda, great to hear of your adventures, S. A is secretly reading but not commenting. lol xxxx.
ReplyDelete