Jeff and Joanne's trip to Cuba, February 2005

Here are some photos from our adventure-filled vacation to Cuba. 
Place your mouse over each picture for the description.

We flew to Cuba on last minute tickets purchased through www.flightcentre.ca, at a cost of $167 each (plus tax). Contrary to popular belief, you do not need accommodations booked prior to your arrival in Cuba; tourists only need to provide a location (ie. the name of the town) that they are staying in. Our location was not verified, although we had written the name of a resort in Varadero on our tourist card just in case. We planned on traveling around a bit, so had not booked a hotel prior to our flight.

Once we got to the airport, the first hurdle was getting through customs. It was much easier than we had anticipated, although we had to go one at a time, so I got a bit more nervous when Jeff was allowed through and the door closed behind him. You do have to be careful in new countries that you are not taken advantage of, and to not break any laws (laws you don't even know you are breaking, sometimes - that's the challenge). Internet articles talked about the police stealing money, and people being arrested for strange reasons. We just kept calm, polite, answered any questions without hesitation, and smiled.

Next order of business: exchanging our money. As of November 2004, Cuba no longer accepts US dollars (after all, they don't accept US visitors either), and instead has started a new currency just for tourists called a convertible peso. We had Canadian money to exchange, and for $300 we got $235 convertible pesos, very close to the exchange rate between the Canadian and the US dollar. Tourists can still cash in their US dollars, but are charged a 10% surcharge on top of the exchange rate to convertible pesos.

The cheapest and most common accommodations other than resorts are called casas (or casa particulars), which is the Cuban version of a bed & breakfast, and are listed by the dozens on the internet if you are searching prior to your trip. We found it very easy to just ask the taxi driver about accommodations when we got to the Varadero airport and were on our way into Varadero. Although he couldn't speak much english at all, we knew the word "casa" and it didn't take long to find a place to stay. Our taxi driver suggested a few hotels that we found were too expensive for what we were looking for ($75-100 range), and then referred us to "a friend" (in Cuba they are all friends!) who put us up for the night in her home.

We got a private bedroom, with our own bathroom, complete with locks on the bedroom door for privacy, and the older woman living there gave us a key to the front entrance so when we went out we could get back in without disturbing her. She was very nice, and her adult daughter was very helpful with communicating back & forth from spanish to broken english. The cost for the night was $25 convertible pesos, approximately $25 US (to be paid the next morning).

We went out for an evening walk after getting settled and changed, and I absolutely had to head to the beach! It was windy and the sun was starting to go down, but what an incredible feeling to be standing on a soft sandy beach in CUBA!!!!

The "Varadero strip" at dusk was busy, and the wind coming off the ocean one block away made for a chilly walk for Jeff, who had not packed a sweatshirt. It was approximately 15°C, slightly cooler than average for Cuban winter months.

Horse-drawn buggies were everywhere, pulled by horses who were in poor condition for our standards. They were very thin, their hip bones and ribs visibly protruding out, and the drivers demanded that the horses trot, not walk, up and down the paved main road in Varadero. They did have shoes on (which I was relieved to see), but were rarely allowed to stop for a break and many looked about ready to collapse. I would have loved a buggy ride, but decided to not support any of them unless I saw a really well-cared for (and well-fed) horse. We walked the main road for a couple of hours, looking at hotels and stores along the way, and talking about our plans for the week. There didn't appear to be much action in the main part of Varadero - the odd outdoor cafeteria-type of place had maybe 8 or 10 people... we didn't come across any bars, dancing, party areas (even on the beach), or even any busy restaurants.

Our first sleep turned out to be less than fulfilling after our long day of travelling from Vancouver. It was our first experience with Cuban night life - it just goes on and on! The windows in our room had screens but no solid covers, and it sounded like our casa on the corner was actually "the place to be". Talking (in very animated spanish), laughing, music playing, and smoking went on into the wee hours of the morning. But hey - we were on vacation in CUBA!!!

DAY 2

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