Pictures from my Trip to Cuba
Posted on May 8, 2007
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I’ve finally uploaded the pictures from my recent trip to Cuba. Head over to my Flickr page to check them out.
Obviously, I’ve only put up a select few. I wasn’t really shooting for “artistic value” while I was there, so you’ll have to forgive the awfulness of a few of the shots.
In any case, I said I’d try and tell you a bit about the trip, so here it goes.
As soon as we got off the plane, I was hit with a wall of moist air. The humidity was oppressive, though I got used to it relatively quickly (not that first night, though; and I’m grateful that our hotel room has air conditioning). Some guy tried to sell me a beer on the street just outside the airport. I said no, but I really could have used a cold beer in that heat and humidity. Plus, as I later found out, Cuban beer is really good. I wouldn’t drink it all the time, but it’s great for a hot summer day (which makes sense, since it’s brewed in a warm country).
The Resort
We stayed at Breezes Varadero, and I’d definitely go back. The rooms were large and clean, the food was decent (though, better than a lot of hotels, from what I hear, and definitely better than the Habana Libre), and the staff was excellent.
Some of the people in our group arrived early, and had made friends with the first waitress to serve them. From then on, we ate in her section whenever possible. She treated us like family, so I definitely can’t complain about the service.
The evening entertainment was pretty good, too. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was entertaining. The only low note was when one of the singers tried to sing “No Woman No Cry” in such a thick accent that, had it not been for the iconic music, I’d not have recognized it as a Bob Marley song.
The Jeep Tour
One of the first things we did was to go on a Jeep tour of the countryside around Varadero and Matanzas. Our driver was a guy named Livan, and he did an incredible job of introducing us to Cuba. He gave us history lessons; told us about everyday life on the island; talked about his own life; talked politics a bit; gave us an idea of why most people don’t seem unhappy, despite the hardships the average Cuban deals with on a regular basis.
Although it was a bit of a mad rush to hit the road the morning after we arrived on the island, in retrospect, I’m glad that we did. Spending the day chatting with Livan gave us a very clear picture of what “real” Cuba is all about.
The tour itself was pretty basic. We drove around, stopped to see the sights, and headed home. Some of the sights along the way, though, we pretty cool. We visited the largest cavern in Cuba. The humidity down there was near 90 per cent, which made the trip back up from underground rather sweat-soaked, but it was very cool to see.
After that it was lunch at a ranch. We had some sort of traditional stew, and it was honestly one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It was definitely the best meal I had in Cuba (excepting the lobster). It was simple, old fashioned comfort food. I could have eaten nothing but that stew all week and not complained about the food.
After that, we headed to a natural swimming pool. This was, again, inside a cave. I’m not really sure what to say about this particular event, except that it was a natural swimming pool and that it was in a cave. That probably sounds rather mundane, but it was actually pretty cool. If nothing else, it was good to go for a swim after sweating in caves and on ranches all day long.
Havana
In the next post, I’ll talk about the highlight of the trip–Havana. Stay tuned to Ink Slinger for this and other fascinating stories in the life of Adam Snider.
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So, why aren’t Cubans unhappy?
…. and what was in the stew?
It’s a complex thing, but a lot of it has to do with the free health care, free education, and generally laid back life style. There is enough good that most people don’t want to change the bad (partly, I suppose, because they’re afraid that they might lose the good things).
As for the stew, it was pretty basic: veggies, potatoes, and meat (pork, I think, but I don’t remember). The thing that did it was the spices. We asked what spices were in it and were told, “Whatever is available.” That’s the traditional method, apparently, just throw in whatever you’ve got. But, I think cumin was the main spice.