damo & kath get lost: cuba

17 - 24 July 2014

Hola chicos! So, we went to Cuba last week. It was epic. We did an organised tour with our buddies Cazz and Elise. It was great cause the four of us got to sit back and relax while our tour leader jam packed our days with new cities and cool activities. We saw Havana, Trinidad, Cienfuegos and the tobacco farming town of Vinales. And we did everything from smoking hand rolled Cuban cigars; to salsa dancing with hunky Cuban men at the disco (not Damo so much, although after he made a few moves on the d-floor in Vinales, I was offered three boxes of Monte Christos in exchange for him! No deal though); from learning all about Fidel, Raul and Che and the upsides of communism from our sassy tour leader; to accepting some seriously odd black market mojitos in a farmers family home. Cuba was action packed. And in general, a mind blowing country.

The highlights

Trinidad. It's a colourful little colonial town with cobble stone streets and Spanish inspired houses and horses with carts and little hole in the wall vendors (now legally) selling pizzas and fruit and ice creams. And like most of Cuba, there's a big community feel in Trinidad. Kids play out on the streets, neighbours chat, everyone knows everyone else's business. It's nice.
Staying with Cuban families in their homes was also awesome. Most of our hosts couldn't speak a word of English, but they sure could cook a mean meal and stock a fridge full of Cristal beer. And they were super friendly. We loved all of them. But if we had to pick a fave, it'd have to go to the husband in Trinidad who waited up for us til the wee hours of the morning to make sure we got home safely from the disco. Bless.
We galloped on horses through the mountains like Cuban Cowboys! Damo upped the anti by smoking a cigar at the same time. Smarty pants.
Salsa dancing at the clubs in Cuba is the best. The boys just come up and ask you to dance. Can you imagine an Aussie bloke a) approaching you and b) asking you to partner dance?! Dreaming. There is however a two dance only rule in Cuba. After two, you might find yourself married to your dance partner and funding his flight home with you. Eek.
Whenever we found quiet time, the four of us would play wizard (a highly technical card game involving tricks and trumps) in one of our homestays gardens. It was usually accompanied by Cubsn rum, Cuban cigars and Cuban snacks. The Cubans are very self sufficient, what with their trade embargoes and all. We ate a lot of local, organic and Cuban produced food.
The old school American cars are super groovy. We rode in some,e rad Chevys and Fords. Usually whilst singing along to the tune of the trip, "bilando". The coolest car was the hot pink convertible we took to the airport. It was falling apart and the sun burned like hell, but it was totally worth it.
Damo loved the Cuban cigars. He smoked all of them. The ones made by farmers. The ones in the fancy stores. The ones rolled on a Cuban lady's thigh. And the black market ones hiding under a towel, in the back of a guys fridge, in his house, down a Habana alley.
And finally, the coolest thing about Cuba, was learning all the good, the bad and the great things of communism. Did you know that there's no advertising in Cuba? I'd be out of a job. Unless I worked for Castro of course. And that there's basically no internet either? Everyone gets free education and healthcare and housing and transport, but no one can set up a facebook profile. The country's definitely changing win Raul, so if you're thinking of checking out current day Cuba, get to it, stat!

The Summary

Weather: Hot. Oh so hot.
Surf: No surfing as such. But lots of salsa dancing lessons and practice at the clubs. Plus horse riding, cenote swimming, snorkeling, waterfall jumping, bush hiking, farm walking and city touring.
Food: We ate well in Cuba. Not so much at the government restaurants where meals are either bland or not available (depending on whats available on ration day), and the service is bleak. But in the homestays, at private restaurants, street vendors and from organic farms, we ate huge, super delicious meals.

Beverages: Lots of funny Cuban interpretations of coke and sprite. Ha. Cristal was a tasty beer. Yummy coffee and fresh juices too.

People: The people on our tour were lovely. A mix of aussies, brits and yankies with a hilaiously dry Cuban guide, Natalia. We also met lots of friendly Cubans, mainly on the dance floor, and had a fab time with our buddies from home, Cazz and Elise.
Accommodation: Lots of cosy home stay rooms with friendly Cuban families trying to make a few capitalist dimes on top of their meager wage.
Budget: Well over budget, gah. But it was totally worth it.
Overall: Cuba exceeded all expectations. It was brilliant and surprising and conflictimg and confusing. People were happy but struggling. Towns were communal but capitalist activity was weaving through it, fast. Everywhere had a sense of community, but also a sense of naive isolation from the rest of the world. It was incredible. We liked it a lot and would've loved to have stayed a litte longer. Next time.

That's it. We're now in Mexico with Cazz in a kick ass beachside villa (another winner accommodation find by Damo) after farewelling Elise from Havana. The four of us spent some time together in Cancun before we went to Cuba, but I'll write about those shenanigans another time.

Hasta luego chicos,
Kath (Cazz, Elise and Damo)

The colourful streets of Trinidad

Can't afford to import a car from korea? Dont have an old yankie ford from the 50s? Horse and cart, best next option.

Pretty Trinidad

One of our many cute homestay rooms. Fake flowers, standard.

When in Trinidad, drink beers onthe curb withthe locals. Theres lots of exciting peoplewatching to do. We saw our old neighbor lady turn our streetlight on by sparking two wires together.

This was one well looked after cab.

More curb side chilling. Without facebook and instagram, what else is there to do?

I know, eat pizzas in the park! And for 50c a pop, don't mind if I do.

We got salsa dancing lessons. We were very average.

Time to practice our skills on the famous Trinidad steps!

Followed by my old favourite daggy dancing moves at the local club, inside a huuuuuge cave. It had three chambers. And was delightfully sweaty.

Wizard time! Accompanied by chips, rum, some funny named Cuban soft drinks and cigars.

Monte chrisots.

Arriving at our fanciest of homestays in Cienfuegos.

Thr only marketing you'll find in cuba...

We rode on a horse and cart. It was fun.

And I played a percussion instrument with a Cuban band. On the roof of a casino.

Yay! We're together! And we're in an old school cab!

We made it to Vinales! Here is its rations shop. No queues today...

Fruit anyone?

We met this tobacco farmer. He rolled us a Cuban.

Damos. His Cuban ulter ego.

Dinner at a homestay incudes all you can eat locally grown and made soup, a meat dish, rice, salad and fruit. And it all comes at once. It's terifying. And will set uou back about $9. We splashed out on some vino too.