Cuba Challenge

Cuba Challenge

The trips to Cuba were made in the period 1998-2012. Sometimes with my wife, twice we also took our kids with us and several other times with my best friend.

Cuba’s economy depended much on favorable trade with the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union (1991) sent Cuba into a deep economic depression. Therefore a new ministry of tourism was created and the Cuban state invested heavily in tourist facilities. Starting at the end of the nineties tourism grew every year.

There is a direct flight from The Netherlands to Holguin, in the south of Cuba. When you step outside leaving the plane the warm temperature overtakes you. Of all things Cuba has to offer the nice weather is surely an important one.

Border customs are tough. Your pass is checked, they want to know your hotel for the first night. I notice one guy, an ‘experienced’ traveler. He puts some dollars in his pass. Why? I see no benefit. The border guard takes out the money, returns the pass and separately the dollars.

In Cuba three currencies are used. The peso (CUC) was created especially for tourists. It’s worth a US dollar. The CUP is the Cuban currency. It’s worth 1/24 peso. But in general Cubans like the US dollar the most. Onwards from January first 2021 Cuba dropped the peso – the tourist currency. Proof that life in Cuba was more expensive for tourists was the fact that several times when we wanted to buy an ice cream (at Coppelia’s) we were told to skip the waiting line – the ice vendors preferred pesos!

My wife and I take a rental car. There’s no map of Cuba available. A few years later every rental car has a map of the island. The tourist service grew!

We drive direction Holguin. Only one hotel in town. This is the place most arrivals spend the first night. After some searching we check in into Hotel Pernik. All hotels are state-owned and we have a voucher for every night so we can check in the hotel we like! Hotel Pernik is nice but like all tourist facilities in Cuba a little gone glory. Walking around in Holguin. Like big American cities Holguin is a kind of city in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. A few small shops. The people are very poor but also very kind.

After the diner-buffet it’s too hot and too early to go to bed so we sit outside next to a big swimming pool. We talk to some young Holguin people. They brought a bottle of locally brewed rum and share it with us. When they open the bottle they spray a little to the ground. ‘For Mother Earth’. This happened when Cuba first opened up for tourism. We are unsure whether tourists these days are welcomed with nice gestures like this one…

Next day starts with a breakfast buffet. To camouflage the shortage of food there are 8 cheese-plates, same cheese but presented differently. A few years later the buffet includes mango and a choice of fruit juices.

The trip begins! We leave Holguin. Soon we pick up a hitchhiker. The lady is heading for Las Tunas. Well that’s on our route. She doesn’t pay attention so we pass Las Tunas. When she finally gets out she asks whether she can buy my shirt. Instead I give her a shirt. On the road we see a lot of revolutionary slogans. Stop for a coke in the city center of Guáimaro. Lot of people want to talk to us. We feel like persons of interest.

Only a short while before we arrive in Camagüey. Driving through the city we easy find our hotel called ‘Horizontes Camagüey’. It’s part of a chain – you find a Horizontes hotel in every major city. All these hotels are owned by the government; or more precisely, by the military branch of the government. Nice hotel though like Pernik somewhat dated and old-fashioned.

That evening we visit a ‘Casa de la Trova’, a music club where you dance or relax and enjoy. It’s Cubans only. You need to be invited by a Cuban to enter. A Cuban guy called Pedro invites us – in exchange for a dance with my wife. A few years later it’s the other way round. Now only tourists are allowed in a Casa de la Trova. Cubans may just enter when invited by a tourist!

Very hot today. We install ourselves at the swimming pool. Drinking Cuba Libre. Rum is one of the few things they have plenty of in Cuba. Some Cuban macho’s are displaying their swimming skills. One of them turns out to be very nice and talkative. His name is Lazarro. His whole name Lazarro Bastia del Norte. Though we differ a generation, Lazarro being much younger, the conversation is really nice. Lazarro flirts a little with my wife, calling her ‘Green Eyes’, which she doesn’t have by the way. We exchange addresses.

We meet a fellow Dutch couple we already saw in the plane. Chantal, a student journalistic and he, Robert, a truck driver. There’s a click instantly. He is a kind of a loner – we like these people. Taxi driver Ronaldo takes the four of us to the city center. In a nice courtyard we dine together. The conversation is like we’ve known each other a lifetime.

After dinner we visit a club where Cuban music is played. A young Cuban guy asks if I want a cigar. I give him a dollar. It takes some time but then he returns with one.

One night in hotel ZaZa in Sancti Spiritus. Close by is the Parque Zoológico El Bosque. A nice small zoo. A little relaxing at the ZaZa swimming pool. Next to us a large Cuban family. They brought a bottle of rum and a coke tin can. Drinking and talking they spend the afternoon.

With the rental car we visit Sancti Spiritus. A bridge, the oldest church in Cuba, a square. A friendly atmosphere. We choose a restaurant, a paladar. A paladar is a small, family-run restaurant, usually in a converted part of a home. Our paladar is called El 19. Located in a big house. One room is meant as restaurant. Good food accompanied by…water. We settle the 6 dollar bill. Driving back to the hotel we notice a lot of horse and carriage carts – no warning lights at all. Pay attention while driving in Cuba at night!

Before entering Trinidad we climb a big tower next to the road. The tower was built in 1750. It was used to watch (and control) the slaves working the fields in this valley.

The city hotel in Trinidad is full so we settle for the beach hotel. We drive to the city center. When we park the car there’s always a Cuban guy willing to guard the car while we do some sightseeing. In this case the guard has no arms. With face gestures he communicates. I want to give him a dollar, feel a little embarrassed but he looks at his shirt pocket, I put it there.

Trinidad is probably the most beautiful town on the island. That’s why the whole area is a UNESCO Heritage site. It’s very much in contrast with the island of Trinidad, which is a very industrialized island.

The Plaza Major is like an open-air museum of Spanish Colonial architecture. Only a few square blocks in size, the historic plaza area has cobblestone streets, houses in pastel colors and colonial-era edifices such as the Santisima Trinidad Cathedral and Convento de San Francisco. On the Plaza Major we look on how the Cuban terrace servants deal with a large group from a tourist bus.

That afternoon I smoke a cigar at the hotel bar. The fact that Robert and Chantal join us is a welcome surprise. We already saw them in the city. Like real Cubans we drink some rum and chat about anything and everything. In the evening the four of us visit Trinidad city center. A helpful Cuban guides us to a family paladar. From the paladar he gets a percentage of the food we eat plus our tip.

Outside, amidst some nice houses we dine. Good food, sparkling conversation, a beautiful experience. Later, in the hotel pool bar we take some classic daiquiri. And some more. We start next day with a little hangover…

On our way we stop at Gran Parque Natural Topes de Collantes, part of the Escambray Mountains. A beautiful environment. We walk down a path leading to some magnificently nice waterfalls. Walking back up, in this heat turns out to be a sort of survival trip…

Late afternoon we arrive in Santa Clara. Check in in the hotel, walk around a little. On a square someone speaks to us. He brings us to the paladar restaurant called ‘Alfonso y familia’. We are seated in a separate room. A bell on the table – if we need anything just ring! All family members start to work. They prepare a langouste. Never in our life a langouste was cooked so nice. The taste is remarkable. Is this what famous psychologist Maslow call a peak experience?

We start the day by exploring Santa Clara. We visit the mausoleum of Che Guevara, the best known revolutionary of the last century. Almost everybody saw the picture of Che, taken by Alberto Korda. The monument located at the Plaza de la Revolución is dominated by an impressive bronze statue of Che Guevara. Below, a bas-relief shows scenes from the battle. In the museum we see personal belongings of Che (his uniform, watch, gun among others) and a chronological overview of his life.

Che was killed and buried in Bolivia in 1967. In 1997 his remains were reburied here in Santa Clara in his mausoleum. The inside looks like a cave with in the middle the eternal flame. Lots of schoolchildren visit here. Part of the Cuban education!

Cienfuegos. Time to relax a little. It’s hot – time for snorkeling and swimming. At the bar we meet a Canadian couple, Susan & Charly (‘Chuck’). In those days Americans were forbidden to visit Cuba; Canada had no travel ban. Our Canadian friends lived a fast and rich life but they also suffered some harsh times. His first wife died, he battled alcoholism and his eyesight deteriorates. But here, sipping a drink in the sun life is good.

The road to Playa Giron is very bad. Potholes all the way. When we are closing in we meet another challenge; thousands of crabs are crossing the road. It presents an astonishing view! I’m so excited I forget to make some pictures.

The place we stay is a kind of all-inclusive resort. First I don’t realize this so I ask for the bill after a drink. The waiter points at an ashtray ‘Up to you’. I leave some tip. Playa Giron is the place – close to the bay of pigs – where in 1961 Cuban exiles and Americans tried to invade Cuba. We visit the ‘Museo Giron’. Ironically this museum, dedicated to the victory over the invaders, has to be paid in US dollars! Who won eventually?

Close by, at a place called ‘La Boca’, we visit a crocodile farm – ‘Criadero de Cocodrilos’ in Spanish. Two species of crocodiles are raised here: the native and endangered Cuban crocodile, and the Caimán which is found throughout the tropical Americas. The breeding has been so successful that in the adjacent Boca de Guamá complex you can buy crocodile leather or dine, legally, on crocodile steak. During lunchtime we try some crocodile meat. The taste is not bad but not that distinctive.

In the evening heavy rain and storm. We manage though to reach fish-restaurant ‘Los Cocos’. Cause of the tropical storm now and then there’s a power failure. Very romantically we dine by candlelight…

At last we enter Havana, in Spanish la Habana. We stay in hotel Capri. On top of it, the 68^th floor is the swimming pool. In the fifties of the last century important American mafia members spend a lot of time at this pool.

We take a long walk along the Malecón, the famous boulevard overlooking the ocean. By bicycle taxi we visit the Place de la Revolution. Castro delivered many hours-long speeches here. I try to drive the bicycle taxi; it’s hard work, especially in the hot weather… Dinner in a nice paladar called ‘Chez Elisa’. Four tables in a room in their house. Good food. Two years later (in 2000) we visit again. They added a room, there by doubling their space!

One of the beautiful sights in Havana are the American cars (‘Carros Americanos’) dating back from the fifties of the last century. Due to the American embargo on from 1960 no new cars entered the island. Therefor the cars still in use were patch up again and again. Most look spendid! All my life I worked with cars so seeing these beauties makes my heart beats faster.

Coffee on a terrace close by. We meet Gisa, Japanese guy of 25. He asks a lot of questions. How free exactly are we in our country? Is Amsterdam only about sex? With Gisa we walk the lobby and the garden of hotel National de Cuba. A drink and a swim in our own hotel make it a day.

A few years later we stay some days in the National de Cuba. It’s carnival time. A big carnival parade passes the Malecón. Cubans are masters in dressing up colorful. There’s a group stilt walking – like a scene from a movie. From the big terrace from the hotel we watch them all pass by. The view is beautiful. We stay all evening. Unfortunately it’s too dark to make pictures…

Exploring La Habana Vieja – Old Havana. We visit El Capitolio. This magnificent building is inspired by the Capitol in Washington. We take a guided tour in the local Partagas cigar factory. In the shop I buy a box of Cohiba cigars. The same day I discover that virtually anybody sells boxes or a number of cigars on the street. Quality is mostly the same as in shops – but a lot cheaper.

Years later it’s less and less easy to buy cigars on the street. Sometimes people invite you at their home to sell cigars secretly but police officers discourage this (illegal) trade. The government prefers you to buy cigars at the factory or in government-owned shops.

Here and there you spot ladies, dressed up nicely, smoking a very big cigar. During the nineties you could photograph them, or pose with them almost for free. Later on the fee for this increased progressively yearly.

Havana was founded in 1519 by the Spanish. Although it is today a sprawling metropolis of 2 million inhabitants, its old centre retains an interesting mix of beautiful monuments, and a lot of colorful private houses with arcades, balconies and internal courtyards. A big part of Old Havana is a Unesco heritage site. Walking into the past; it’s a wonderful experience.

Sit down for a drink, Guarapo, rum with cane sugar, prepared in front of you. When we return to Havana a few years later the guarapo stand is gone. A lot of tourist groups walking around. We join one group to enter the oldest castle of Havana, Castillo de la Real Fuerza. Unesco protected also. Interesting.

We also look around at the harbor called Marina Hemingway. Named after the famous American writer off course. There’s a well-known picture of Hemingway and Castro shaking hands.

Our hotel in Pinar del Rio is called La Ermita. We drove the Autopista from Havana to here. It’s custom here to stop for hitch hikers. We took with us two fat ladies who only spoke Spanish. They barely fit in the back seat together but hearing them they sure have a lot of fun. You also take in hitch hikers because public transport is , to say it nice, somewhat underdeveloped. Most transport takes place in trucks with an open body. People stand in the cargo bed like cattle. It’s dangerous and far from comfortable. We also spot second-hand (maybe third-hand) buses given by foreign countries. Some buses are from our country. The original directions still in place!

Our first visit is to a cave in which the original inhabitants lived. This would be centuries ago. Because the mountains in this region ‘start on the ground’ they are called ‘Mogotes’. You find this kind of mountains especially in Cuba.

We meet Liwan and he offers to take us to the ranch of Don Alexandro. On this ranch he produces the quality cigars called Robaina. We walk around, there’s a lot to see. After harvesting, the tobacco leaves must be dried in order to develop their characteristic aroma. The leaves are cured when they have passed from bright green flexible fresh leaves to dried brown leaves. After the leaves are cured, they are sorted by color and size. In the months during fermentation, the aroma and taste of the leaf develops. Then the cigars are rolled by hand. This surely is skilled work!

Don Alexandro likes to shake hands but he’s asleep. I buy some cigar boxes of diverse sizes. And different taste too – I presume. When we leave my suitcase is filled with many cigars. On Havana Airport (José Martí International Airport) before take-off, my name is called. I have to report to customs. Two custom officers opened my suitcase and point at the cigar boxes. I open some boxes and give them a few cigars. That’s OK; they close the suitcase and put in on board.

Hotel National de Cuba. On the parking lot I meet Robert. He tells me their rental car had two flat tyres this morning. A Cuban guy advised him a place they repair the car. He brought them there and introduced them. This often happens in Cuba. Coincidence?

We visit the Museo de la Revolution. Most things on display refer to the revolution off course. Some revolutionary slogans are a little over the top (‘Patria o Muerte!’). The ship on which Castro, Che and others got here from Mexico is on display outside.

One of the most beautiful terraces in old Havana is the terrace of hotel Inglaterra. Although situated in front of the hotel you actually sit ‘on the street’, thus enjoying the lively life there. In the times I spend here with my best friend the terrace was literally our ‘base’. Coffee in the morning while making plans for the day, something stronger at the end of the afternoon while discussing all our experiences. Most of the time a small group makes music. Like Buena Vista guys. After a few numbers they collect some money.

Very famous is cocktail bar El Floridita. The bar frequented by Ernest Hemingway. There’s a sign on the bar where he always sat. Now tourists like to sit there and image… Since more tourists frequent this bar they have their own band here, playing Cuban music. With every visit to Havana we experience more and more tourists visiting this bar. It turned from a nice historical place into a tourist trap. You are lucky if it’s not that crowded so you can enter at all…

Like other Americans, Hemingway owned a house on Cuba. After the revolution most of these houses were confiscated by the government. In 2002, while visiting Cuba again with a good friend we try to visit the Hemingway house, now a museum called ‘Finca Vigia’. It’s located in San Francisco de Paula, a suburb of Havana. Very difficult
to find, no signs whatsoever. In the end we find the place. Alas, it’s closed. When one of us talks to the caretaker the other one secretly photographs through the windows.

A visit to cemetery Christopher Colon (Columbus) in Vedado. The cemetery is noted for its many elaborately sculpted memorials. It has more than 500 major mausoleums. Close to the cemetery is the Napoleon museum. They display a tooth of Napoleon, a tooth brush and some rifles. And a lot of pictures and paintings. No photographs allowed. When we give the guards some dollars that issue is solved.

We visit the Fort. There’s a lighthouse. We talk to some coast guard guys. For obvious reasons they have flags of every country in the world. Although the American boycott still exits they show us a big American Stars and Stripes flag!

In the evening we sip a drink in the garden of Hotel National de Cuba. Peacocks walk around. A nice breeze from the sea. We talk to an American. He tells most Cubans are so happy to receive US dollars for their goods and services. He teaches us a few lines ‘A dollar here, a dollar there, the dollar takes you everywhere’.

After dinner another drink, inside at the bar. We meet a Canadian. He is obsessed with the female part of Cuba: the ladies, the girls. We suspect he’s here for cheap sex. Obviously he won’t admit it. He says he is in Cuba to exercise his hobby only. He likes fishing, he says. ’Fishing for what’ ,I ask. ‘Well’, he says, ‘all kind of beautiful fishes. But mostly I’m fishing for compliments of the girls’. One more remark on this. Some rich Western old men entertain Cuban girls. What do they all do together? Is it temporarily or? Are Cuban girls for sale?

Leaving Havana. A stop in harbor city Matanzas. There’s a statue of famous Dutch admiral Piet Hein. He captured the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628 in the bay of Matanzas. Airport Varadero. Check in for the flight back. Transfer tax twenty dollar per person. When we board the plane still some musicians play to release us of our last dollars…

We kept in touch with Lazarro by writing letters which he faithfully answers. Email is not yet an option on Cuba… So now, a few years later we visit him in his home town. He changed. More adult, less youth full. More quiet. And his hair in a ponytail. We talk a lot. We swim. There’s photo session going on. A girl turned 15, kind of a coming of age. Family all dressed up. We are kindly invited to pose with her.

Lazarro takes us to his home. It’s old and small. A receiving room, two bedrooms and a kitchen. Chickens in the backyard. Lazarro lives with his mother. Where his father is stays vague. Like in Caribbean countries most family relations remain a little misty. His mother, a very nice woman is dividing rice. She separates, one by one, the good ones from the less good ones.

We invite the two of them for dinner in paladar ‘La Terasse’. Though his mother doesn’t speak English we manage. Our son explains Lazarro the Gameboy. He is enthusiastic. In the end, we give him the Gameboy as parting gift. Hopefully the batteries will last some time, it’s unsure he can get new ones here.

Next day Lazarro takes us to square Agramonte. We visit Plaza San Juan de Dios. A church, a hospital. Walking down a crowded market. Posters of Che, Castro and Elián are everywhere. Elián is a Cuban boy who became embroiled in a heated international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States. Stop at Hotel Gran. A drink at the terrace on the roof. The view over Camagüey is beautiful.

Back in our own hotel Lazarro may not enter – remember we met him at the swimming pool of this hotel! Things changed in a few years. Ok, some persuasiveness and a little money help. We spend a nice afternoon at the pool with Lazarro. A nice bartender prepares a big mango for us. Together with Lazarro we drive to Playa Santa Lucia. We check in to the all-included resort Carocal. Though I try hard Lazarro may not stay here. He finds a place to sleep close by. In daytime he may enter and join us – for a fee of course. A lot of swimming and snorkeling. Quite hot in the sun, you’re sweating a little all time.

After few days we say goodbye to Lazarro at his home and head direction Ciego De Avila. We stay in Moron, in hotel Moron. Moron is a small place, just one big street. We enter some shops. The difference between prices and the local income is striking. Back in the hotel next to the pool we talk to some Cubans. When we overheard them talking among each other we notice they don’t say ‘buenos dias’ but only ‘buenos’. To fit in with the locals we immediately copy this…

We pick up a hitchhiker called Roberto. He talks a lot, laughs a lot. Next to the road a boy is bathing his horse.We stop a moment to enjoy the view. Eventually he advises us to stay in Playa Larga. A good advice. After dinner a band is playing. My wife and I dance and party a little. Meet some Cubans. One among them is gay, which is not really accepted in this macho culture.

We check in at Villa Los Pinos. At this place, close to Havana you rent a small house with a swimming pool. Heavily guarded. Restaurants within walking distance. When we sit outside a guy offers us a fish he just caught for sale. Moments later the resort doctor and a nurse drop by to introduce themselves. Furthermore there are several chambermaids, a masseur, a garden/pool boy and a lot of security guards. Tourism sure creates jobs here!

When I visit the place again, two years later with a good friend, to offer the medical staff some clothes the nurse remarks ‘You were here before with your wife and two little sons in house 6.’ Correct. Good memory or not that much guests?

After a few quiet days filled with sun, swimming and relaxing it’s time to leave. We drive to Varadero. Varadero is a kind of a touristic enclave in Cuba. Lots of tourists here who just enjoy sunny life and don’t bother to visit the other Cuba. Varadero is a no-go area for common Cubans. Cubans are allowed here only with a special permit; when they work there for instance. We then head to Varadero airport. Another Cuban trip ends…

Again my wife and I visit the island. We notice more police checks. When I drive a little in the middle of the road I get a traffic ticket. As a tourist you are now more regarded as a walking wallet. At a gas station we pick up a hitch hiker called Juan Carlos. He offers to point out our trip to Gibara. The first thing he takes us is a restaurant. He is obviously very hungry. We buy him a snack. In the car he sings for us. He points out the road but we wonder if it’s the shortest route. On a given moment we are driving on a train track! When we return on a good road Juan Carlos thanks the Lord and starts singing again.

In Gibara we check in to a nice casa particular; ‘Hostal Vitral’. There’s a beautiful room for us. A roof terrace where you can sit, sunbathe, drink a little. That night we dine at a seaside restaurant. Next day some sightseeing. We arrive at a view point; a Mirador. It’s also a kind of a bar. People like to talk to us. A guy called Pappo gives my wife some earrings. A young boy , Elian, takes us to see the rugby field. Gibara is a small yet nice place.

Chorro de Maita is an interesting archaeological site dating back to the times of Columbus. He entered Cuba first in the Bahia de Bariay. There were only two small cabins and a dog that didn’t bark. The people had fled the place… There’s a reminder sign and a woman dressed as a Caribe (original inhabitants of Cuba). For some money you may photograph her.

This time we fly back home via Holguin airport. When I return the rental car I promise the guy a cap. But we have to move on. When we sit in the waiting room after customs and all the guy from the rental car enters. He takes me through customs again. No problems, we are among friends. Together we check the car but it’s all about the cap – obviously he couldn’t accept that gift inside!

In 2008 I visit the south of Cuba with my best friend. At the airport of Holguin we are met by someone from Rex Rental Car. A female hitch hiker guides us to Hotel Pernik. The hotel changed since our last visit, it looks a little more modern these days. Breakfast is still sober.

In Santiago we head for the Casa Grande. Our hotel is located in the middle of Santiago. Although we reserved for a fixed price after check-in we understand all kind of taxes are added. In the streets and on the Casa Grande we spot camera’s observing people passing by, traffic. On all our Cuba travels this is the first time we notice such camera’s…

Dinner at the roof top terrace. From here you have an excellent view of Santiago! Breakfast is also served here. One morning there’s a ceremony going on, including many kids. We sit front row. It’s nice to watch!

Next day we have a look at la Casa de Diego Velazquez. They sell all kind of arts here. On from nice paintings to local trinkets. Also here; le Balcon de Velazquez, another viewpoint. We walk to the harbor. When we drink a little something in a bar instantly a music band arrives. Cuba has become very touristic.

We visit the Cementerio de Santa Ifigenia. Apart from cementerio Colon in Havana this is the most important and beautiful cemetery of Cuba, José Marti is buried here. There’s an interesting ceremony going on while we visit his mausoleum. It’s the changing of the guard. This guard is formed all by ladies in nice uniforms. They are all stern looking – the more when they spot us. As if they say ‘like the revolution this is a serious thing’. These ladies are probably selected party members.

Every morning I open the curtains a somewhat older lady with plenty make-up starts to wave enthusiastically at me. We met her, she exercises the oldest profession in the world. I return the wave. Breakfast on the roof top terrace is a beautiful way to start the day!

We walk around the Jardin Botánico. A talkative lady shows us the place. She gets a small gift. We climb the Gran Piedra (Big Rock), a pretty nice viewpoint. On a terrace we drink a rum. We meet a lady mathematician and her mother. We talk and offer them a drink. They are poor, we give them little money. Later on the day it turns out they socialize with every tourist for a free drink and beg a little. I spot them and shake their hands.

This same terrace we use to drink some liquor and smoke a nice cigar every day. One day a guy asks whether – for a little money – he may draw a caricature of each of us. Of course we do. The result doesn’t look like anything at all. We meet more of this ‘artists’. Mostly results are poor. But they try!

Skillful guys act as a fixer. They fix everything, from cigars to girls. They start talking to you like local guides but once they know where you’re in for they concentrate on fine tuning your wishes… Two guys on holiday surely must visit a night club. Eric, our local fixer takes us to a place he calls ‘Chupa chupa fula fula’. It’s a big place. Very crowded. The light is dimmed. When we enter we pass a lot of girls close by. Some bold girls touch me in my crotch. We drink a beer at the bar. The barkeeper informs us. Everything in an euphemistic way. ‘If you like a girl you can take her private to get to know her better’.

We spot a lot of tourist guys, together or single. Girls come to you and make it very clear what they can do for you. Besides girls there are other availabilities. It’s more like a market. Prefer boys? Perhaps you prefer lady boys? Or prefer old or young? This club provides it all.

With guide Joi we drive to a point (a Mirador) where you can see the American base Guantanamo Bay. It’s a long trip. When we finally arrive it turns out the Mirador is closed. Pity.

A beautiful spot in Santiago de Cuba is the Castillo de Morro, also known as the Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca. Located strategically, overlooking the bay, it was originally built to protect the city against pirates. Then the Moncada Barracks. The place where Castro started his first (and failed) revolution in 1953. You still can see the bullet holes in the walls.

We visit a bar on our last evening. Some Cuban guy walks around with a dog puppy for sale. Imagine you take a puppy on the plane! My friend however, has a big heart for any animal. Twice, he gives this guy some money to feed the puppy. I wonder whether the puppy ever noticed something of it…

We are to fly back. Before checking in we are told the plane is delayed for more than eight hours. ‘Well’, I react, ’Then we can drink some more rum at our leisure’. The officer smiles. ‘You take it like a real Cuban!’

These trips were made between 1998 and 2012.

Some photos courtesy of M. T. Dijkman

If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to leave a comment!

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