Cuba, August 2006

From the 1st-15th August, I spent my time touring around the Island Of Cuba. A country full of vibrance, sadness and promise, Cuba is like no place I have ever been. During our two week stay, we traveled around the Island visiting everything from the Historical sites in the Capital Havana, the tobacco farms in Pinar del Rio, the under water caves in Vinales, the 16th century architecture at Cienfuegos and Trinidad and the glorious beaches in Varadero. Of all the places I visited, Havana struck out for me as the most poignant and beautiful of locations. With it's narrow cobbled streets, it gave me fond memories of my visit to Stockholm, Sweden last February. On every street corner you will find a bustling bar playing live music and serving the best cocktails to be found around the globe. Afterall Cuba is a country renowned for it's rum based beverages such as the Daiquiri, Cuba Libre, Coco Loco, Havana Special and not forgetting the Mojito. In fact I even managed to discover a number of other economical uses the Cubans find for their biggest export. How does "Camerones con Ron" sound to those cuisine connoisseurs? Yes that's right, prawns in rum and it is absolutely delicious!
Visiting the hotel where the American writer Ernest Hemmingway lived for many years, you can see why people may never want to leave. Cuba and especially Havana has a beauty that is certainly not skin deep. The majority of the building's are in near ruin. The classic cars that have become such an iconic image of Havana are far from pristine.
Cuba is certainly the pearl inside an oyster shell. The rough exerior however can only conceal the beauty within if it is looked upon at face value without taking the time to absorb the culture and history, which (for me), makes it one of the most interesting places to visit.
The Tropicana Cabaret in Havana is another example of Cuba doing what it does at it's best. The gangster Al Capone was a visitor to this infamous show which has not changed it's performance since it first opened back in 1939. With the dazzling costumes, acrobatics and fantstic music it is something I would recommend to anyone visiting Cuba for the first time.
Without a doubt it is the people from this wonderful Island in the Caribbean that make Cuba such a special place. Even if it's just the constant playing of music or dancing in the bars, as a visitor you always get the impression they are trying to forget their worries, and for me I think this is the best place to live. They may not have the most in the world, but all of there children are educated and they all have free medical care. There are of course both good's and bads to Fidel Castro's regime, but he is like a father to the people. It had always been a decision of mine to visit Cuba before Fidel Castro passes away, just so I could get a feel for what life is like in a country running under Communism. It was of course quite ironic that on the 1st of August, (the day we arrived to Cuba), Castro fell ill. It was hard to imagine whether he would live past our two weeks visit and what the outcome would mean for Cuba. As we traveled around we kept up to date with the national paper "Granma" and asking the locals what they thought about the prospect of Castro's looming death. The most common repsonse was a sense of insecurity for what is going to happen to the Island when he does eventually go. The people all love him and everything he has done for them and they worry that America is just waiting to pounce.
It is clear that Cuba cannot be the same after Castro is gone, because he is one of a kind and I doubt anybody can replicate the passion that he and Che Guevara had for this beautiful Island in the Sun.
I would definitely go back to Cuba, but probably not until Castro is gone. I want to see if the country can hold on to it's resources, infrastructure and whether the people will keep that admired zest for life that I saw wherever I wandered.