Havana malecon -photo by Bryan Ledgard on Flckr CC

Yippie! I’m Visiting Cuba !

I’ve wanted to visit Cuba for as long as I can remember. (I’ll bet a lot of you have too!) But up until recently, I’ve spent most of my adult life exploring SE Asia and countries on the far side of the globe. So Cuba was never an immediate destination.

That all changed when I returned to the American side of the planet in mid 2015 and started traveling through Mexico and Central America. During these three years of Latin explorations, I’ve become more and more eager to get my butt to Cuba.

A major factor in my eagerness has been the super-cheap flights to Cuba from Mexico and a few Central American countries. I’ve seriously considered flying over there several times recently.

Then came the news under the Obama administration that the US government was loosening restrictions for Americans to visit Cuba. I knew that Americans had been visiting Cuba for years, even decades, simply by flying there from Canada or Mexico since no flights were available from the US (and it was illegal).

vintage cars in HAvana – photo by Franck Vervial on Flckr CC

Once the US restrictions were eased, though, I worried about a huge and rapid transformation of the unique, traditional Cuban lifestyle, which is primarily what makes the island nation such a desirable and intriguing place to visit. So I began feeling some self-imposed pressure to get there as soon as possible, before a massive influx of US tourists arrived, prices sky-rocketed and big changes arrive to the island.

There’s one major factor that has been preventing me from ‘taking the plunge’. And that is the high cost of accommodations there.

Cuba’s version of budget accommodation are guest houses, in Cuba called Casas Particulares. Basically, it’s AirBnB-style accommodation. Local Cubans rent out one or two spare rooms in their houses to travelers. And that sounds like a great way to visit a country to me.

The problem is that, as far as I can make out, all the rooms are priced for two or more people with rates generally set at $20-30 US per night for one room. Going as a solo traveler would mean I have to pay the same price as for two people. Unfortunately for me, $20 a night is a bit steep, at least for a couple weeks or a month.

vintage green car driving on Havana’s malecon near the ferry piers & warehouses

I’ve considered ways to get around that. I thought of trying to hook up with another traveler – someone I would meet on the road or on TravBud website. Or else visiting Cuba for only one to two weeks. But I was never super motivated to do either.

My big break came a couple months ago. I met another traveler who told me about hostels in Cuba. She had found a hostel website that offered hostels in Havana and various other Cuban cities. Wow, finally there were hostels in Cuba!

I immediately checked out HostelsCentral and discovered that, yes indeed, there are now hostels operating in Cuba! I found more than a dozen in Havana alone and a handful in most of the other cities I wanted to visit.

Even better, rates for a dorm bed range from $5-8 US. Not only are there hostels in Cuba, but they’re cheap! Cheaper than most Central American countries and on par with rates in Mexico.

That settled it. At last I could afford to go to Cuba on my own. I tucked the information in my head and subconsciously started looking for an opportune time to fly to Cuba.

Havana Ladies – photo by Bryan Ledgard on Flckr CC

The right time soon presented itself. In mid-July I had to fly to Phoenix, Arizona for my aunt’s 80^th surprise birthday party.

I noticed on the map how close Phoenix is to the Mexican border. And that hatched my plan to travel down through Sonora and slowly work my way over to Mexico City, all the while exploring several amazing new destinations (for me) in northwestern Mexico (Alamos – Bahia del Kino – Copper Canyon Train ) and re-visiting a few of my favorite Mexican colonial cities (Zacatecas – San Luis Potosi – Queretaro).

Well, I thought that if I were going to return to Mexico City, I may as well fly to Cuba at long last! I investigated flights, accommodations and a few legal tasks that Americans have to consider. I soon booked my flights. And that was that – I am going to Cuba!

Actually, as it turned out, that was really just the beginning. For preparations to visit Cuba. While researching online, I quickly found out that there’s little internet access in Cuba, and what is available is both expensive and very slow.

Under those conditions, I’d really rather just go off-grid and not even attempt to use the internet. Certainly not for any online work!

Old Havana – photo by szeke on Flckr CC

I also quickly found out that there’s oodles and oodles of amazing places to visit and great things to do all over Cuba. Heck, exploring Havana could easily take a month! So I decided to visit Cuba for one entire month, the maximum length of the Cuban tourist visa.

In addition, American visitors with banks in the USA cannot access cash from Cuba. None at all! Nor can we use our debit or credit cards to pay for anything. Nothing. (Europeans and visitors from many other countries can use their credit/debit/ATM cards in Cuba, just no cash from the USA).

That means I have to take all the money I need with me. If I run out, tough beans for me! And that, in turn, means I have to calculate pretty accurately how much money I will need in Cuba for one entire month.

vintage car and capital building in Havana – photo by Bryan Ledgard on Flckr CC

I pretty much have to calculate the cost of every room I stay in, every bus I will take, every museum and attraction I want to visit, every meal I’ll eat and any other costs. For an entire month.

As you can imagine, all of that entails a lot of research and preparation!

So I’ve been busily plodding along, researching everything I can about Havana and a few other cities I want to visit. I’m just about ready to go…which is good because …

ON Tuesday, October 2^nd I fly to Havana, Cuba! I will be there one full month, exploring the fascinating island of rum, cigars, Cuban music and dance.

Here’s my proposed 29-day itinerary

Havana – 8 days

Visit 20+ museums, one or two forts/castles, several other key buildings, 4 main city plazas, parks, the famous malecon (seaside walkway).

Check out Hemingway’s old house and main drinking haunts, ride a vintage car, wander the streets, do a bunch of photography, listen to Cuban music, join a few festivals or parties.

PLaya Ancon – Trinidad – Cuba – photo by Bruna Benvegnu on Flckr CC

Trinidad and Cienfuegos – 10 days

These are two major historic small cities situated 4 hours and 5 hours east of Havana, the two being situated just one hour apart.

Trinidad is inland but located just 10 km / 6 miles from Playa Ancon, one of Cuba’s gorgeous powdery white-sand beaches. I plan to explore the historic center and also spend time at Playa Ancon. This will be my Cuban beach experience.

Cienfuegos is a small harbor city on Cuba’s southern coast with a distinctly French influence. Naturally, I’ll check out the gorgeous architecture and a few museums. Let’s see how this French-influenced town differs from Havana & Trinidad!

Vinales – 5-7 days

Vinales is located about 4 hours west of Havana. It’s famous for it beautiful countryside areas with rock outcroppings, caves, forests and also tobacco plantations.

countryside near Vinales – photo by Davidandnasha on Flckr CC

Havana – 4-6 days

I will spend a few final days in Havana. Exactly how many days will depend on how long I end up staying in the other destinations and how much I love Havana & need to finish up explorations there.

There are tons of other places I’d love to visit in Cuba! However, some of them are very far from Havana – like 12-20 hours by bus far away. And bus transportation is very expensive in Cuba. So the more places I visit, the more buses I take, the higher the budget soars.

To avoid that, I’ve had to pick out the top key places I want to visit and be satisfied with them for the time being (I suppose I could always return to see other places).

In the end, I selected places that are not too far from Havana and that I hope will give me a taste of very different aspects of Cuba. Havana, of course, not to be missed! A couple small historic cities, since I’m so enamored of architecture. Some beach time. And some time in the countryside & mountains.

Please wish me happy trails and rejuvenating unplugged time in intriguing Cuba!

See you all back online in November. I’ll be sharing all my tips, suggestions, destinations, costs and photos with you then.

Cheers, Lash

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