Cuba!

Colourful Cuba,
Communism, cocktails,
Coffee and cigars!

Beautiful coastlines,
Rugged mountains,
Peaceful farmlands!

50's cars,
Shop fronts,
Time stands still!

Street dancing,
Happy faces,
Simple lives!

Salsa and rum!

Travel tip 10!

Start planning everyone! Our Inka guide Bruno let me in on a sacred Inka secret to make your wishes come true for the New year. According to Bruno, you must spend the New year period doing what you hope for the in the coming year. For example; if you wish for more work in 2014 (personally, cannot relate to this one) you need to work over new year or spend time with family for good family relationships. Of course, our hearts ♥♥are always with our family regardless of where we are. We are in Buenos Aires for New Year this time. Guess we are in for some new travel experiences in 2014. Yay!

Viva Revolution (2) - Cuba

Our visit to Havana shows to us how much we have missed the smell of the sea air, the tang of salt on your skin and the soothing sounds of the ocean. 

Tourism in Cuba was born out of necessity as a result of the collaspe of the Soviet Union in the 1990's and as such the infrastructure is stuck in a time warp of the  1950's and our hotel room reminisces sleep overs at Grannies.

The architecture is dominated by vibrant colours that mix with the dust and decay of a crumbling city.  Che Guevara adores walls, momuments, t/shirts and underwear. As we wonder old Havana town Carmen Miranda  look a likes and huge cigar chomping gentlemen hustle to be photographed with you for a charge.   We discover Ernest Hemingway's hide away and sip motojis from the rooftoop.  We people watch and feel the rhythm of the salsa pulsate and along the water front Havanaites celebrate only as they can.

We journey to Vinales, where we are guests at a home stay and explore the picturesque town set highlands.  Our spanish remains infantile and bizzare dances of body language, pointing and smiling is our major form of communication.   The owners of the home stay become accustomed to our epileptic ritual and just smile and giggle along.

Tobacco farms populate the valley and we watch a generation of families demonstrate the art of cigar making.  It is amazing to think that the very poor produce a product that makes its way into the mouth of the very rich.  We draw in the aroma of the cigar smoke and watch the sunset over the tobacco houses.  Once again the beat of the dance calls and we venture out into the night to mingle with locals and tourists alike on the dance floors.

We hiked through farm land framed by rugged mountains to cave system that hides an underground lake, deviod of bats but inhabited by transparent shrimp who nibble on your dead skin as you enter the water.  Our guide, like all Cubans is a natural dancer and offered us our second Salsa lesson, and of course, no lesson can be run successfully without a bottle of rum.  The rum transforms Brad from a rambling spastic to a Gene Kelly god.  For over an hour we laugh, drink and stumble through our class.   Finally,  in celebration we devour a whole pig cooked in a traditional Cuban style, play Dominos and watch the sunset over the fields.

Our last stop takes us the seaside resort of Maria La Gorda, (minus Dexter Morgan) and we enjoy the Cuban sun.  A big thank you goes out to Natalia (our fabulous guide) Allan, Ester, Meagan, Amy, Zoe, Bjorn, Candice, Adam and Morgan for making the tour so enjoyable.

Cuban cuisine!

Cuba is controlled by a communist government. This means that there is not a lot of variety or choice of food available. Menus tend to offer simple, fresh and in season faire. Pork and seafood is a popular choice. The cattle is kept for farm work and only processed for consumption when the poor beasts are on their last legs, if not dead already. Steer clear!
Cheese is another thing to avoid. Cubans have not conquered the art of making cheese. Turning the humble toasted cheese sanger into a dismal lunch. Better off with the street pizza with the lot. Hold the cheese but.
We visited an organic farm in Vinales were they put on a magnificent spread for our group. A whole roasted pork was the feature and was accompanied by a vast, delicious array of fresh veggies and other side dishes. We sat at a wooden banquet table as dish after dish was presented. The table groaned under the weight of it all and the floor boards creaked below as our tummies expanded. We were served a superb stress reliever coctele. Mix of coconut milk and rum with fresh herbs from the garden. Lemongrass, mint and aniseed. It really did relieve our stress as we reclined in rocking chairs on the farm house veranda overlooking the valley.

Cuban citizens earn 20 cucs a month ( approx 20 US) regardless of occupation. Hospitality is one of the best positions as tips are relied heavily upon to supplement the income. Doctors often work as taxi drivers to earn extra cash! Every person recieves free health care, education and housing although some people get the raw deal when it comes to delegation in the cities. Best to live in the country. A ration system is in place where everyone recieves weekly staples and apparently can survive a humble exsistance. You can buy an ice cream for 20 cents but it will cost up to $2 for a bar of soap!
In reporting all this, I must admit the Cuban population look happy, healthy and well fed. Every society has good and bad. Who are we to judge?

Mayan Quest

Ancient stones tower
History seeps,

Majestic temples
To honour the Gods.

Secrets of superior minds,
Build, conquer and defeat.

Knowledge extinct....

Viva Revolution - Cuba (1)

The pungent smell of cigar smoke mingles with the sassy movements of the salsa and from every corner in old Havana town music can be heard.  Chevrolets and Dodges, beasts from a forgotten era roam the streets and a time warp smothers the city into a slumber.  Once you strip back the political smoke screen, if you take a step back from the ideology,  if you forgot about the tri economy that functions; one to manipulate the tourist dollar, one to survive via the black market and the other to appease the government then Cuba is truely an amazing place.   Once you reprogram your mindset and adjust to Cuban time, which centres around, Salsa dancing, rum and music and has no connection to real time then all is well.  Cuba is a system based upon 1st world values but trapped in a 3rd world gutter, a country whose greatest export to the world are doctors (who have second jobs as taxi drivers to generate tips to supplement the $20 a month salary they receive off the government.) A country that just recently allowed its people to own cars, to own their own house and to generate their own inventiveness to source additional income.  Cuba provides free housing, education and health to its people, subsides ice cream but forces them to pay up to $2 for a bar of soap and approach you on the street for it.  Cuba is a true paradox, but an amazing place to be.

Gypsy's muse!