Cuba

I visited Cuba recently and had an amazing experience. The people, the way of life and culture. I learned a lot of it’s history, more than just what I would have learned at school. It was very interesting to see at first hand what life is like there.

Being on an escorted tour I was able to see the real Cuba. Not just a few nights in Havana and then spending the rest of our time on a beach. I visited Cuba in-land, I saw the farms, the tobacco and coffee plants and just how the real people of Cuba work for a living.

It’s strange and a little hard to get your head round the politics and corruption in the government but it seems to work for the people. Personally I’m glad we don’t have to work like that here. Wages seem to have no meaning in Cuba, cars are not insured, everything is dealt with cash. Even if you were to buy a house, cash! Yeah i could just imagine us going to a local bank with a bag of cash that we’ve had stashed under the mattress whilst saving, but somehow it’s just what they do.

On our journey it was no flash fancy hotels but guest houses all the way. Out tour guide Alexis was a stunner, he was so knowledgeable and a proud man of his country and we were lucky to have him escort us and educate us about Cuba.

Alexis was our guide and was representing Intrepid who arranged the tour. I’ve seen tour guides in the past and I often think they just ramble and I’m sure they make things up as they go along. This guy was incredible. It’s like he taught history to pupils for years. Part of being on an escorted tour is to have someone valuable like this. We had an excellent coach driver too and again with the experience of the roads, the town and villages, no sat-nav needed just his experience, that being better than a London taxi driver!

They have a pretty good partnership here. Having family at home, they do these tours and that means they’re away for a week or two at a time and although not leaving the country it must still be a difficult job working away a lot so hats off to them.

The guest houses are simply run by locals, they have to register and have a licence, to us like running a b&b. You’re made to feel welcome and you have a room for your duration and you’re simply walking in and out of peoples homes. At first I felt bad like I was intruding but it’s quite the norm. A lot of back packers do this and stay in these guest houses as they travel.

One of my highlights was visiting a waterfall,  and we had to swim through a swamp/river and under the waterfall into a cave which had bats in. This was amazing, I’ve seen Indiana Jones and you never think that you’d actually do something like this yourself. This may not be appealing to some but then how often would you get the chance? So of course I had to do it.

This is a view of the river and waterfall that I swan in and under.

 

Another highlight was having a drive around Havana in one of their famous classic cars.

Cuba has some lovely classic cars and it’s amazing how they keep them so clean, tidy and in good working order. that said it’s known to own a car you really need to be a mechanic or to learn how to fix the car yourself or it’s just not worth having one. I will post some more information and photos of places I’ve visited along with some other interesting facts so watch this space.

 

 

 

 

 

 


About Me

I'm Steve, I've spent nearly Sixteen years in travel. Working for a big high street travel agent before moving to be a Cruise specialist homeworker. I've visited some amazing places through out the world. My personal favourite place has to be the United States of America. Having been no fewer…

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