DAY 8 - HOME

Cuba assesses a 25 CUC departure tax upon each tourist departing through Jose Martí International Airport (and presumably, at other official international departure points as well).  The recommendation to set aside and preserve this money up front is a wise one.  There still remains the possibility of additional export taxes, levied upon artwork leaving the country with individuals.  To obtain additional funds from the US, when one has run out of money in Cuba, is a huge hassle.  Many of us, fearing the worst, began counting and hoarding CUCs and settling hotel charges the evening before departure.  We cannot speak for others in the group, but MJ and I returned to the US with $4 in US 1-dollar bills, and about 70 CUC we retained as mementos when our calculations proved we could safely depart.  We carried aboard as much of our luggage, including art, as we could, checking only one large bag.

DAY 7: "AQUI SOMOS ECOLOGICALMENTE ECOLOGICAL"

"Dave, my God!  You have to see this now!"  Rolling out of the sack.  This, then, from our balcony, at Hotel los Jazmines in Viñales, in the cool dawn:

DAY 6: PINAR DEL RIO PROVINCE

Some brief observations on changes we may see coming in Cuba.  Cuba experienced extreme shortages of economic goods and services in the 1990's and early 2000's, during the so-called "Special Period," subsequent to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and concomitant loss of Soviet economic support for its allies, Cuba in particular.  Some new assistance has been obtained by allying with Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, and from early but burgeoning Chinese investment.

The Cuban government has reluctantly admitted that the economic model of the Revolution has run its course and lost some of its pertinence.  Economic reforms which allow small entrepreneurs to open private businesses were enacted over the last decade, and adaptation to independent business seems to be accelerating.  For the first time since the Revolution, there is a legal real estate market (Cuba has had no such market; homes were occupied, essentially by government assignment, and then were mostly handed down or traded).  Some two hundred legal, private occupations have been approved by the government, and there are now entrepreneurial restaurateurs, auto bodyshop workers, real estate agents, and, as of January 2014, automobile dealerships.  How the government perceives that Cuban society reacts to the "opening-up" of the Cuban economy, whether changes be beneficial or deleterious, and to what extent the government can agree that such changes remain "socialist" in spirit, will do much to determine outcome.  There is a long way to go.  When the state-run Peugeot dealership in Havana commenced private vehicle sales in the first week of January 2014, the model that sells for around 40,000 USD in the US was listed at 262,000 USD. The average monthly income in Cuba is around 25 USD.

DAY 5: BARBACOA AND BACARDI

                                                                           

The itinerary for today was scaled back. The Cuban government declared an official Day of Mourning, to remember Nelson Mandela.  Mandela's death in South Africa a few days earlier was a lead news story in Cuba, with emphasis on Mandela's long history of friendship with the island.  Government venues and some other facilities were closed, and flags were at half-staff.  Mainly, the government asked for the respectful proscription of activities that might be overly exuberant or celebratory.  Our afternoon event, an Afro-Cuban folkloric dance performance, was cancelled in light of the official request for solemnity.  Accordingly, we had the reprieve of several unscheduled hours. Some in the group ventured over to El Floridita bar or went down the street to the rejuvenated Sloppy Joe's; some visited a Santeria shop; others chose a nap or a quiet repose in the hotel.  MJ and I walked the length of El Prado, past the Máximo Gomez statue and park, to the eastern limit of the Malecón.   We had the unexpected freedom to explore and photograph some of the architecture of the Prado, to which we'd been professionally introduced that morning.

DAY 4: THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

Some brief observations about dogs in Cuba.  Dogs are everywhere, unleashed and untagged.  The breeds are overwhelmingly Heinzes.  Dogs are streetwise and wary, but not unfriendly, and small to medium-sized with predominance of brown or brown-and-white coats.  Most of the dogs are thin, but not overtly ill.  They are instantly alert where food might be dropped, or offered.  We did not see a single Havanese, the so-called "national dog of Cuba" (we're guessing they're all in the USA).  Cats are more visible in rural areas than in Havana.  They are skittish and exhibit the same desperation for food.

DAY 3: FUSTERLANDIA

Some brief observations about cars in Cuba.   Famously, there are thousands of American cars from the 1950's, still on the roads in both urban and rural areas.  Some barely hold together, others are serviceable and function as taxis and private vehicles, and some are lovingly maintained and seem as pristine as they had been 60 years ago on the showroom floor.  Oldsmobiles, Fords, and Chevrolets dominate the classics.  Convertibles are the model of choice, and the taxi of choice, certainly.  Only rarely does one see a sidelined '50's classic, and when spotted on the roadside it invariably has 3 to 6 fellows into the hood and underneath the chassis.

DAY 2: HABANA VIEJA

Brief observations about tourists in Cuba.  There are many.  Cuba is a tourism destination for almost everyone else but Americans, particularly from UK, France, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.  There are Chinese there also, doing business with Cuba.  A lot of Havana tourism photos show uncrowded streets, but these are misleading.

INTRODUCTION & DAY 1

“There are two Cubas:  Ours and the one you picture to yourselves.”
Ricardo Alarcón, President of the Cuban National Assembly, 1993-2013, quoted in Mick Winter, “Cuba for the Misinformed”.

“Patria Es Humanidad”  (Country Is Humanity)
Jose Martí, Cuban national hero, slogan painted large at the José Martí International 
 Airport, Havana, and visible to any passenger arriving there.

"Folk Art Market!  Folk Art Market!  This way!"

 Viviana Rives, Cuban Tourism Guide