Jeff and Joanne's trip to Cuba, February 2005

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DAY 2

We were pretty much awake off and on all night, so around 8:30am we decided to drag ourselves off of our lumpy thin mattress and plan our day. First order of business for these caffeine junkies - we had to go out and find coffee!

The bathroom in our room was very clean, with plenty of hot water and enough of it to rinse off completely, although the toilet was on such an angle into the corner that we had to step into the shower in order to sit down! We got ready, paid our fee for the night's stay to the friendly casa dweller, and tried to have a conversation without much luck. She understood no english, and we were very rusty on our very basic spanish! Jeff managed to portray that we wanted to leave our backpacks with her for a few more hours, but would not be spending another night. The woman was very nice and although we were happy with just leaving our backpacks in her hallway, she insisted (via lots of hand movements and fast words we couldn't understand) that we lock our belongings in the bedroom cupboard. She took us to the cupboard, put our backpacks in it, and locked the door. Okay, we understood! That was more than acceptable, and we thanked her profusely. At least we knew "gracias".

Walking through Varadero, we decided to stop for coffee at a beach-side restaurant. Cafe ("caffay") was just plain coffee... black as the night and very strong, more like espresso! We had brought a small list of spanish words with us, but it was with our things back at our casa, and I couldn't remember the word for milk. A few sips of my black cafe, even with several teaspoons of "azucar" (sugar) was all I could manage. I'm a Tim Hortons extra large double-double girl, and although I'll try anything, it doesn't mean I have to like it!

After asking at a tourist kiosk about tours to Havana ($69 conv pesos per person for a day trip), we decided that we would rather rent a car for a couple of days and see the sights on our own. Car rentals are actually easier and cheaper than we anticipated, and the salesperson did speak some english which made the transaction go smoothly. Car rental lots are everywhere in Varadero. We went to "Micar". The car was $40 convertible pesos per day, plus $5 pesos per day of insurance, which covered absolutely everything (we asked... theft, vandalism, even a break down that required being towed would not cost us any extra).  A $200 peso deposit was required (I used my mastercard) which was refundable upon return of the car. Showing our passports and BC driver's license and signing of a contract, and we were off! We chose a white convertible Tracker (called a Jimmy) since we have a Tracker at home and knew it would be a familiar vehicle that was nice and compact, and would be capable of going anywhere. Internet articles on some car rental places are less than enthusiastic, but really, can you expect a lot in such a poor country? Ours was not brand new, but it was drivable, and the brakes and clutch were good.

OFF TO HAVANA!

The first main town we had to pass through before getting to Havana was Matanzas, which was quite beautiful. The road lanes were well marked, although there were very few signs to lead us in the right direction. We stayed on the highway and drove straight through the town, dodging people in the road who were crowded in large groups (either waiting for busses or trying to hitch rides from passers by). We noticed up ahead that another rental car stopped and picked up some hitchhikers. What had we read on the internet? Are we, by law, supposed to pick them up? Or was that just for government vehicles to pick up hitchhikers? Is it illegal to hitchhike or is it illegal to not pick them up? We couldn't remember, and when we saw a police officer standing on the side of the road, we figured we'd better stop or risk being arrested for not stopping! He and his girlfriend hopped in after we said "Havana" several times and they appeared to agree with us, pointing in the direction we were already headed.

On route towards Havana, we got into quite the conversation (as best we could) with Raphael and Julia, about where we were from and our occupations, and learned more about them. Raphael was a police offer (obviously, as he was dressed in uniform, but Julia was nice enough to point that out for us), and Julia said she worked in a hospital. She made motions of giving needles, so we assumed (and hoped) she was a nurse.

Along the route there were many changes in speed zones, and each lane also had its own speed limit. The right lane was usually 20 km/hr slower than the left, and we learned in a hurry that drivers must always slow down for crossing over bridges. It didn't take long to get pulled over by the police! We were hoping that by having a fellow police officer with us, that perhaps we could just get a warning. Much to our disappointment but also our interest, Raphael sat quietly in the back seat, eyes down, not looking at the officer who was inspecting our rental contract. I was hoping the officer wouldn't ask for Jeff's driver's license - all Jeff had was his passport; I had used my BC license to rent the car but here was Jeff doing the driving. Would it matter? Would we spend the rest of our vacation trying to get out of jail? Several long quiet minutes later, the officer gave us back our contract and walked away from the car. We weren't sure what to do, so Jeff asked Raphael if it was okay to go now. He motioned that it was, and we slowly pulled back onto the highway, half expecting to get called back by the officer, but didn't. Raphael inspected our contract and showed us the damage for the "infracion" - $30 pesos, payable upon return of our rental car.

Back on route to Havana!

Our hitchhiker friends got out at a bus stop just outside Havana, and we carried on into the city. We didn't even realize we were really in Havana until we saw several really old buildings. There are no "welcome" signs or even a name, just a higher volume of traffic and many more people! We drove along the water through Havana, not sure where to stop or what might be up ahead.

We weren't sure how far to go, so we just kept on driving! We drove past kids playing baseball in an empty city lot....

...and after about half an hour, ended up in Mariel! (this there was a sign for)

We felt more uncomfortable driving in Mariel than driving elsewhere. It did not look like many tourists visited, and several groups of people stared at us whities as we drove through the tiny village. One group of men proceeded to yell at us (or at least in our direction) and waive their arms to show us the way back out of town. We took the hint and got out of there quickly, not wanting to push our luck much further.

Back in Havana, the sun was starting to fade, so we figured it was high time to find a casa for the night. We drove back along the water just in time for a beautiful Havana sunset.

We found a casa quite easily, just asking the first person we found 2 blocks away from where we took this sunset photo. The woman Jeff asked pointed across the street to an apartment building, and we were quickly set up to spend the night with Jose and Marta, a very outgoing friendly black couple. There was also a white woman staying with them who spoke just enough english that we were able to communicate fairly well. Price: $40 convertible pesos. This casa was a legal rental, and required our passports and our signatures upon arrival.

After a long day, we were exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep. Our room was quiet, and the bed, to our relief, was quite comfortable!

DAY 3

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