About a month ago I wrote about our experience with credit cards in Cuba. We have now recovered from that whirlwind trip. Before I tell you all about our first impressions of Cuba, I want everyone to know that by no means are we experts on Cuba. We were there for two nights and Cuba is a big island so our experiences were limited.
We landed at the Holguin airport. Holguin a city of 288,000 people located on the northeast side of Cuba approximately 456 miles from Havana. According to Google Maps it would over a 9 hour drive. We chose Holguin because it would be a contrast to our trip in May which we will be going to Havana by cruise ship.
We secured a taxi as soon as we got out of the airport and immediately went to exchange some US dollars for pesos at the bank in the airport. There are two types of pesos in Cuba, CUP the national peso for residents only and CUC the convertible peso for tourists. You can read about the Cuban peso
here. While we waited we spoke to a middle aged Canadian guy who was in town to see his girlfriend and check up on his business ventures. He had purchased (with a Cuban friend) a house and cafe. The house cost $3100 and the cafe $700. They rent the house out to tourists and his friend runs the cafe. Our conversation was short because it was his turn to exchange his Canadian dollars and his friends were waiting for him.
After exchanging some of our US dollars for CUCs we then started out on our 1 hour, 37 mile trek to the resort. Our taxi driver, Victor spoke a little english so we were able to ask him questions during our trip. The route to the resort did not go through the city, but around the edge so we didn't get to see much of Holguin mostly the countryside. We were surprised that the roads were in pretty good shape and Victor told us that they were repaired before a papal visit. While Gordon spoke to Victor I looked out my window. Cuba is mountainous with the Sierra Maestra mountains to the east with the highest peak on the island of 6,650 ft. We went through a large rural area with small farms about 40 acres in size that had little roadside stands close by selling their fruits and vegetables.
Fruit Stand
Typical Cuban Farm
Horse and buggies are commonly used to transport the people and produce from villages and farms. They even had horse and buggy taxis. The cars are vintage 50's american cars, as well as, more current chinese and russian cars. Older motorcycles with sidecars were also prevalent modes of
transportation.
Horse Drawn Taxi Carriage
Motorcycle with Side Car
Motorcycle with Side Car Transporting 3 people
We asked Victor about what he did for a living, he replied that he rented out rooms in his house and drove a taxi, he was proud that he owned his own car and was in business for himself. He said that his house had a group of Canadians renting it this week and it was almost always rented. We asked how people knew about his house and he said people referred them and he met people while driving his taxi. You can find places to stay online Airbnb or through people you know but they do not advertise their rooms. It appears to be a word of mouth and cash only type of business. While in line waiting to go through customs I asked the very same question of a couple of Cuban ladies who worked in the US and were visiting their families. They confirmed what Victor had told us and one of the ladies gave me her email address and said that she had family who would be happy to help us should we come back again. The ladies also assured me that Cuba is safe and that most of the crime is petty theft.
The average Cuban makes $20 per month and a doctor can make up to $67 per month. The best jobs are in resorts where you could get tips. From what I could tell the tips were $1 per couple during the evening and the resorts were huge so I thought they took home a few dollars a each working day. Also the resort guest bring school supplies, toys, and clothing as extra tips. While sitting at the bar at the resort I witnessed one bartender receive three different bags of goodies from three different guests. The women bartenders took a break and grabbed the bags retreating to the back room. They came back after about five minutes with smiles on their faces. All of the Cuban people (outside of one of the resort desk clerks, you can read about that experience
here.) were extremely nice. They were excited that we were American and visiting their country.
The resort, Blau Costa Verde, was not a good experience. The room was good and we had a view of the ocean which was nice. The snorkeling was OK, not great. The food was cold and marginal at best. One night we ate at a resort specialty restaurant and the food there was cold. I'm a little bit of a picky eater, but Gordon is not and even he was disappointed. The drinks were good though. The cappuccino was great. Most of the guests were Canadian and European. I think they were mostly there for the weather and drinks. LOL!
On our way back we were picked up by a friend or relative of one of the guest services gals. The car was a 50's vintage chevy. Gordon sat in the front and I rode in the back listening to their conversation and looking out the window at the countryside. Cuba felt like I had traveled back in time.
Beautiful Beach at our Resort
