Havana, Cuba


December 2003


I will preface this report by saying I’ve always wanted to go to Cuba. Last year I almost bit the bullet and went. I never went and kept going to South America. South America is a long haul but there is no risk or hassle (besides the long flight). The flights are long but the time zone change is only 2 hours and the flights are at night so it’s not too tough. Cuba was never far from my mind though. I always take a 2-3+ week vacation in December/January. (Last year I spent 5 weeks in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro). I was thinking about going back down to South America and traveling throughout Brazil with my buddy Stu. There were no award tickets for the dates that I wanted. A coach ticket was $1,700+.

I started to think about it. I have visited South America over about 15 times in less than 2 years. I decided I’d go to Cuba. I started my planning. I could have used an award ticket on American Airlines to go through Nassau, Bahamas. I held the ticket. I decided to go through Cancun instead (which I’ve been to about 8 times before). No award tickets on American. I had to buy a ticket to Cancun. Probably better to save my miles since I’ve burned almost 400,000 miles this year alone mostly on upgrading to first class.

I went ahead and contacted a travel agency in Canada. Nash Travel. http://www.nashtravel.com/ There are several agencies but I liked them because they spelled everything out on their website. No hidden fees or gimmicks. They seemed to be straight shooters. I emailed them and Martha emailed me back. martha@nashtravel.com or you can email jury@nashtravel.com or do both for quicker response. She told me the fees which matched their website. I gave her the dates and she said she would call back the next day to make sure the flights were available. Next day she called and I gave her my credit card information and voila. The cost of the ticket was good at about $235 including the taxes and fees from Cancun to Havana.

About a week later I received a confirmation in the mail along with a voucher to give to the Air Cubana ticket counter in Cancun. Very easy. Next I wanted to book a casa particular since it would give me more of the Cuban experience. There are several people that said they had friends that could get rooms or recommended rooms but there were no pictures. I decided to do it on my own. There are tons of websites out there. So far this seemed easier than people make it out to be. Always only pay one day in arrears or at the end of your stay. Never pay upfront. It is not required and is actually stupid to do.

One of the guys I met in Rio and that have been to Cuba several times gave me some good tips and advice. This guy, George, was good enough to call me and give me his take on the island. He gave me the email/phone number of his Cuban friend, Frank, that could pick me up and help me around Havana if I needed it. I’m not big into using guides in places that are very easy to get around like Rio. I planned on having him at least pick me up from the airport. I emailed Frank and he emailed me back within 2 days. He seemed to be a friendly guy that speaks/writes pretty good English. I emailed with him in English and Spanish. He told me with my level I’d have zero problems there. I asked him if there was something I could bring from the USA for him. He told me it was unnecessary but if I had any old clothes or old shoes that would definitely be great. I was already bringing a ton of stuff and worried because the ticket voucher said there is a 40 lb. limit on Air Cubana and every additional lb. was like $1 or $2. Still, I had a ton of nice clothing that I don’t wear anymore. I brought him some nice clothes. I highly recommend everyone that goes down to Cuba bring an extra bag of clothes they don’t wear anymore. (not rags. give them good stuff. Most of mine was really nice clothes that I barely wore. – Ralph Lauren polo shirts, blue jeans, etc.).

I’m conversational in Spanish and I’d recommend everyone learn some before going to any Spanish speaking destination. A good audio lesson program is the Pimsleur series. There are no books involved. You just listen to 30 minute lessons in your home or car. There are 4 levels. Levels 1,2 and 3 are 30 lessons. Level 4 is 10 lessons. It’s not cheap at over $1,000 for the complete series but you can buy MP3 versions from various places for much cheaper. Before going down I bought several books on Cuba. It is kind of hard to fathom how these Cubans make it through life down there. It’s unbelievable that the amount some of us executives and professionals earn in 2, 3 or 4 hours the average Cuban makes in a year!

Down to the trip. I flew to Cancun and partied there one night before flying to Havana. Cancun is a fun city that I’ve always loved. At the airport surprisingly there is no one at the Air Cubana desk until less than two hours before the flight. My flight was leaving at 4 PM so I got there at 1:30 PM since I didn’t know how bad the Cubans are with organization. I’m glad I got there early. There was a long line forming and there was some worry some wouldn’t get on since yesterday the flight got cancelled for some reason. While waiting in line I met a cool guy that lived in the US. He was close to my age and we quickly found out we were both headed to Cuba out of a desire to see the country. Let’s call him Tad.

We quickly learned you have to be alert 24/7 with Cubans. They will try to extract money whenever they can. The guy in line that was giving the tickets looked shady and actually was. Tad only had a fax confirmation that he paid for his ticket. The guy at the counter said that he didn’t pay for the visa yet and the security tax. Tad thought he did but he said what I heard so many times on this trip. “What can I do, I have to pay”. Then the ticket counter asked him how long he has been in Cancun. I bumped Tad to tell him something but he already answered. “Yesterday”. The agent asks, “what time”. Tad says 1 PM. The guy then says TAD owes another$25. HINT: ALWAYS say you just got in today in the morning. If you’re in Cancun more than 24 hours you have to pay an additional $25 security tax. They do NOT verify this and I think the guy keeps the money for himself.

In fact, when it was my turn I knew what to do. I also had my travel agent include that I paid ALL security taxes and for my tourist card. I recommend this because you can charge it on your credit card. Pay for as much as you can with you credit card before so you can conserve the cash with you. He asked me the same thing about what time I arrived. I said I just got in earlier that day. He still tried to scam me. He gets on the phone and pretends to call someone about my tourist card. I just told him in Spanish, “Look! Read the letter, I paid for everything. Please issue my ticket, my friend is waiting”. You have to be firm with these people.

So you get in another line to actually get your boarding ticket and drop off your luggage. This was a long line. A very slow process. We literally were in line until 3:30 PM and the plane was originally supposed to leave at 4 PM. I knew my bags would be overweight since I was bringing a ton of stuff. TAD was cool and didn’t have that much stuff. He offered to put one bag on his ticket. We did that and I was still over. You can have up to 30 kg. (66 lbs). Anything over that is $2 per kg. Then they give you a ticket that you have to go pay in cash to the other window where you got the tickets. They keep your passports and you don’t get it until you give the receipt. The guys tried scamming us with the security tax thing again but I said, “hey! You already tried getting us and I told you we already paid it. Heck, they tried collecting it again from TAD who just paid it.

Predictably the flight was an hour late. Before the flight, I called Frank from Cancun to tell him the plane was delayed and not to go to the airport. His sister answered and said she would tell him. The flight was uneventful but I joked to TAD that this was actually the one airline you want to pay attention to the flight attendant about how the flotation device works. It was funny during the flight the overhead bin drawers kept popping open. They were old planes that look like they have had their better days. Still, it was a short flight at around one hour.

So you arrive. Get in another long line and wait. I’m not sure why they are so slow into letting tourists come in and spend their money but they are. Took a while to wait in line as another Iberia flight arrived at the same time. Definitely get the VIP service that is available. Ask at the ticket counter when you get your ticket issued. I asked some people if it was worth it. Some said yes and most said no. Don’t always listen to people. Sometimes people let costs dictate their advice. Customs let me right in. Didn’t even ask what hotel I’m staying in. Got the bags and were on our way. I told TAD that we’d hook up that night at Hotel Havana Libre at 11 and we both saw our drivers. I met Frank and he seems nice. He does complain that he has been waiting 3 hours. I’m like huh??? I called his sister to let him know but he said that he left before then? Huh? I told him in multiple emails NOT to come to the airport earlier than 6:45 or so since my flight didn’t get in till 6 PM yet he still decided to come at 5 PM.

It didn’t make sense to me but oh well. Also, he didn’t help me with my bags and I had 3. Apparently he hurt his leg or something. I’m not sure. A few times he forgot his cane and seemed to walk around just fine. It was no big deal but after flying and arriving with 3 bags it would be nice to get some assistance. His English is good and he seemed like a nice guy. We get to my apartment and even though I asked ahead of time to the lady booking my apartment she said it was an “official casa particular”. It was not because there was no blue triangle on the door as the guide books said there should be. I didn’t care. It was clean but basically just a room. The bathroom was VERY small. Also, believe it or not it didn’t have a toilet seat. Many of the restrooms didn’t have a toilet seat. I’m glad I expected the worse before coming. Whatever expectations you have about your casa cut it in half.

Frank came up to the apartment and I gave him all the clothes, some socks that George said he would like, and about 5 lbs of chocolate, gum and candy for his daughter. It really surprised me that he didn’t really even thank me for all that stuff. Maybe he was busy, maybe his mind was preoccupied. Good guy or not when someone goes out of the way to bring you a gift you say thank you and make sure the other person knows you appreciate it. He told me if I needed him to call him. I thanked him and told him I might call him tomorrow. I showered and met up with TAD. I couldn’t reach a taxi or flag one down but I looked at a map and it didn’t seem far away. I just walked and asked people along the way.

I cannot emphasize enough to learn some Spanish before coming. Personally I wouldn’t come to a country like Cuba if I didn’t know any Spanish. I met him at the Hotel and he said up at the bar there wasn’t anything going on that early. We were both hungry. We didn’t have any of our notes or maps. We flagged down a taxi and told him to find us a restaurant or paladar close to this club we heard about. He drops us off at a place that looked closed. I told him it’s closed and he tells me that it’s open to go in. Hint: Never trust people completely.. Most don’t know what they are talking about. Go with your best instinct. Of course it was closed and we had to walk all the way around back to the club. I ask the front door guy if they have food in the place. He says no then directs me to ask some girls standing around. They tell me no and that the only food is a food stand around the corner in the park. Hint: Don’t eat food from those little places in the middle of nowhere. The food was truly horrible. Hint: Whatever low expectations you have about the food in Cuba multiply it by 10. We ate quickly and I regretted eating that pollo “chicken”.

We went to this club. Tad had a difficult time because he couldn't speak Spanish. I was doing fine though. We ended up having some drinks and stayed out pretty late. I met a girl and we stayed up and partied till late. Tad went home alone.

Day 2

TAD and I decided to meet the next day at the rental care agency where I was renting my rental car. As I posted above, I lost my wallet at the airport with my driver’s license before the trip. I figured it wouldn’t be a problem as long as I had my passport. WRONG. Hint: Make sure if you rent a car you have your driver’s license. I prepaid with my travel agent and as you can guess.... NO refunds. I told him I’ll just have TAD rent it. He looked a little hesitant at first but I said I already paid and he agreed. We put both are names on the contract. In the meantime I thought I’d go activate my phone. I went to the Cubacel office in Vedado. It was closed. The guy at the door said the one in Miramar is open in the Melia Havana Hotel. This taxi driver is making a fortune carting me around. The taxi fares can add up. The guy was wrong. Not only is there not a Cubacel office in Melia Havana Hotel (it’s across the street) but it was also closed. I had no choice but to go back to Havana and wait for TAD. Another taxi fare. I spent $21 in taxi’s that morning.

I went to the Hotel Ingleterra and their internet was down. I went next door to the Telegrafo hotel and their internet was also down. I had a sandwich at the café next to the Ingleterra. It’s a beautiful part of town near the Capitol. Definitely walk around. Havana is actually a pretty good walking city and if you speak some basic Spanish you can ask directions. (Of course, half the time the people don’t exactly know where a place is or they just give you a wrong answer). I met up with TAD and he agreed to put the car under his name. No biggie. I paid for the entire rental car, insurance, etc. He said he would pay for some gas which was fine. He was on a limited budget but I wasn't so I didn't care. We got along very well as he was very laid back too. We decided to go to the airport to activate my cell phone. If you rent a car note that there are virtually NO signs anywhere. You would think going to the airport there would be some signs on the road but there was not even one sign until we got very close to the airport. Many streets don’t have signs. Some have markers near the bottom of the intersection in stone. As long as you are comfortable driving in traffic or have rented a car in a foreign country you will be fine.

Some guy on an internet board posted that he would never rent a car. If you’re used to traffic it’s very easy except for the no signs. Keep in mind a car rental with full insurance during high season for a mid-size car is about u$s 90 per day with full insurance and unlimited milage . It would take a lot of taxis to equal that amount. However, you have the freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want. I really enjoyed renting a car and had no problems whatsoever getting around. I’d highly recommend renting a car. Taxi’s proved to be problematic finding other than the main touristy places like hotels. We finally made it to the airport after asking about 4 people on the side of the road. You will notice tons of people hitchhiking. It boggles my mind how long and how far some of these people have to walk. Use your discretion if you should pick them up or not. Personally I wouldn’t pick up anyone. There is no upside to drive some strange person except the feeling to help them which could backfire on you.

Oh yeah, on the way a police obviously pulled us over because we had a T (license plate – tourist). We were following traffic yet he said we were speeding. It was obvious he wanted money. There is no radar that I noticed anywhere. How would he know if we were speeding? I told him I was following traffic. Then he discovered that I didn’t have my driver’s license. He immediately dropped the speeding and all of a sudden driving in Cuba without a driver’s license become a $40 US offense. No way I was going to pay $40 US and I told him that. I told him that whatever fine I paid I was going to take a copy of a license after I got it to their version of City Hall and get a refund. He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about. Then he said he could let us go for $10. I didn’t feel like arguing so I gave it to him but told him it just wasn’t right. He had me sign some ticket but he wouldn’t give me a copy. He kept it. Of course, it was so obvious he was keeping it. He immediately becomes very nice and helpful after I paid the money. What a jerk! There wasn’t anything I could do since I WAS driving without a license. Oh well. I was irritated because I travel around internationally very often. I never let myself get scammed. I’ve been to Rio seven times in the past year and not once have I been scammed.

The Cubacel office is not located in the airport in Terminal 2 where we were at. There is a small office near the Cubacar rental office. I would highly suggest you activate your phone while you’re at the airport. The office hours were long at the airport. It turns out there is a Cubacel office downstairs in the airport in Terminal 3 where you would arrive. I was told it was free if you brought your own phone. Wrong information. If you get the cheapest activation with no contract it’s $3 a day. If you rent the phone I think it was $5 a day. Luckily the dude that rented me my car told me if you rent a car with Cubacar they will give you a free phone (but you still pay the $3 a day. Since I had my phone the nice girl waived the $3 and $5 a day fee. You just pay for your airtime which is highway robbery. It’s 75 cents a minute with no contract. This is what most guys will do unless you come to Cuba a lot. Even then it’s 50 cents a minute to call locally or receive incoming calls. You can deposit how much you want and they will activate your time ASAP. You get whatever you don’t use at any Cubacel office before you leave Cuba. That part is a good deal. However, I had a few dollars left and went downstairs to get a refund. The line was about 7 people deep and it wasn’t worth it.

We were on our way. We ended up taking a different way home but made it to Vedado fine. Again, no signs to tell you where you are going, so buy a good city map of Havana. We decided to have a daiquiri at El Floridita. It’s a cool spot to have a drink in. Drinks were $6 US each. The weather was chillier than I would have liked. I didn’t pack warm clothes and it gets chilly at night. I emailed my friend, Stu, who was flying to meet us in a few days and I told him to bring warm clothes. I had met up with Stu on several trips around the world. It would be funny. I had a core group of friends that had the flexibility like me to travel so sometimes we would be sitting at our desks in our office on a Monday and we'd plan to be in Rio or Buenos Aires on a Thursday. It was great.

TAD and I decided to meet in front of the Ingleterra at 9:30 PM. I had a coffee while waiting and many came to my table to talk. Many girls also make a “hissing” noise to try to get your attention. It’s kind of funny. Tons of jineteros everywhere. Just ignore them and don’t even make eye contact or they will keep following you. We walked around the area for a while. We decided to go to Casa de la Musica in Miramar. We passed it and some kids needed a ride so they agreed to show us where it was. At first we were thinking they were just conning us for a ride. Nope. We took them to a concert in the park and they were exactly correct where it was located. We went to Casa de la Musica. It was dead. It was early so we left and were going to come back. The management said no problem. Cover was $15 US.

We decided to go to this concert in a park. There were TONS of people. All locals. No foreigners that we spotted. There were maybe 900 people. I was surprised there were only about 3 police officers for such a scene. TAD commented that there were no tourists to “protect”. He was right. Still, I can see where a group that size drinking alcohol and possibly doing drugs can get out of hand. It was nice to see the locals so happy. There were listening to music and dancing around. They didn’t have a care in the world. What they lack for financially they make up for in spirit. Cubans might not have traditional “freedom” but they have their own sort of freedom. Most aren’t a slave to their job. They can do whatever they want for the most part. They sure seemed happier than the people I see going up and down the elevators making tons of money in the USA. People were always friendly. It was nice to be in an area with no jineteros (pimps). No one bothered us at the concert. A few guys asked if were we were going to Casa de Musica.

We left and went back to CDM. It was dead! I was seriously regretting coming here. I thought it would pick up but it was NOTHING like people previously posted. There was barely anyone there. To make things worse they only would make like 3 drinks. They couldn’t even make a Mojito! What the *?+*!!?? Tad ordered a Jameson as it’s his drink and it was horrible. It was clear they poured something else in the bottle. They give you a drink menu then tell you they only have Rum and Coke’s or beer. Horrible! Hint: Do NOT come here. This place has gone downhill which others confirmed to us later. We decided to go back to the Ingleterra area but by this time it was late. Maybe 1 AM. We went to the Habana Libre Hotel which has a disco on top. It was a $15 cover and we asked if we could look. He gave us 2 minutes to look. It was mostly couples or people staying at the hotel. It was maybe 1:30 AM at this point. Maybe later. Tad was going to go home and I told him there was no way he was going to go two nights in a row and not meet any girls. Tad was easygoing. We went to this disco and we both met some girls. His Spanish was getting better. :)

Again I’ll mention that the food here really is horrible. I like going on vacation and eating well. Do not come here expecting to eat well. The food really is horrible. Say that over and over and over again before coming. I heard it was bad but expected better. The city of Havana is beautiful but could be so much more beautiful. It’s a shame that the government doesn’t invest in the upkeep of the building. It literally looks like a nuclear bomb went off decades ago and the buildings survived and they are in same condition.