Cuba (paging martin1!)

[Susan Veness]

martin1, I saw your comment on another thread about having gone to Cuba. I would love to hear about your trip, if you're willing to share!

Being a US citizen with a US passport, it doesn't look like I'll ever get to Cuba in my lifetime, so it would be such a delight to hear about your experience. :)

PS: perhaps others here have also been to Cuba. If so....share!

[martin1]

i will try to remember susan it was november not the year just gone but the year before!we stayed for 2 weeks in cayo coco if you have heard of that place you have to go along a cause way to get to the mainland and no locals are allowed to live there only work so it was very quiet

[martin1]

is there anything you would like to knwo about cuba susan in particular? good coffee there!

[Simon Veness]

I would imagine they make a mean mojito, too!! ;)

What did you do while you were there, martin? Was it mainly a quiet beach holiday or did you do a lot of sight-seeing (and was the tourist infrastructure good)?

[martin1]

ahhhh mojito i loved it lisa hated it it is an aqcuired taste . well it started when we came into land at cayo coco airport a very small airport with a not very long and very bumpy runway. took an age to get through immigration and get our bags. got on the transfer coach which looked like an old battered greyhound bus. the roads were lets say fullof pot holes so a bumpy ride was had by all but it was fun. we had to share the road with cows and horses as well as other various animals it took around 20 mins to get to our hotel the hotel playa coco although it hink its changed its name now we got a very warm welcome with the entertain met team dancing in the huge lobby we checked in and had our luggage taken to our room for us al lthe rooms were in 2 storey blocks so no need for lifts. there was mainly english people for the first few days then a large amount of canadian people appeared and spent most of the time at the swim up bar which was very good at the huge pool which was in 2 parts. the food was suprisingly good neither of us had any stomach upset the weather was very very hot and humid so quite often after dark we witnessed short sharp thunderstorms which sounded very loud and very bright lightening but i was assured by the barman at one of the bars that "this is nothing just a light shower" . we spent most of the 2 weeks relaxing done a couple of excursions a salsa night at a nearby beach . and we were supposed to do a sunset cruise which unfortunatly was cancelled because the last 3 days of our holiday the weather turned for the worse heavy rain and winds . it was worth what we paid for the allinclusive holiday and we upgraded the flight on thomas cook to premium cabin worth the extra comfort.. the peple who worked in the hotel were so friendly and helpful if you tipped them a couple of pesos they went so out of their way to help you in any way. they were very poor and virtually all the hotel workes lived on the mainland which you can only access via a causeway and they lived in a town called moron and it took them 2 hours to get home and they worked in t he hotel for 16 hours a day and then had to endure the bus journey home . some of them made small wooden objects to sell to make themselves a few extra pesos which i bought a couple of a barman. they also wanted my england football shirt when i told them how much it cost me they couldnt believe it they said it would take them over a month to make that money! veyr poor people. the only bad thing about the holiday was that the cayos are very green lush tropcal vegetation and swampland so we got bitten to hell by mossies even though we used loads of mossie repellant lisa still has a scar or two on her leg ande thats from over a year ago! .well thast the most i can remember of our trip!! hope this makes ok reading

[Simon Veness]

Very good to hear martin, and you obviously had a good taste of the local culture. It sounds like their tourist infrastructure still has a way to go (!), but it should be very good value if/when it is opened up to the US market.

[Susan Veness]

Fascinating read, martin1! Thank you so much for taking the time!

It sounds a little bit like Jamaica (and probably lots of other areas in the world). Beautiful, filled with potential, but not giving the locals the most satisfying life one could imagine.

We're pretty closed off in this country when it comes to info about Cuba (other than what the news reports, which is probably not the 'real' story). I imagine it to be lush, very natural, with pockets of extreme wealth. Sort of like Puerto Rico. Everyone's busy, there's lots of entrepreneurial commerce, especially when it comes to tourism, but very few are making a luxurious living. Is that about right?

[martin1]

yep that sounds about right fidel castro is very rich and i think havana is the main area with the wealth. but apparenttly their healthcare system is supposed to be first class and free to all which is a godsend to their poor people . coming into land at the cayos is scary you get low to the ground you see the land then all of a sudden the land dissapears and you see the water again but you are getting lower . all of a sudden it banks sharply and you se the runway then plop you are down on a very bumpy runway!

[Susan Veness]

Whoa! :eek:

That runway sounds a little bit like Palm Springs California. You have to land in a tiny space that butts up to a mountain (Palm Springs is in a 'bowl', completely circled by mountains). The pilot does warn you that it's going to be a sharp drop and a quick stop, but WOW! It's a doozy!

[martin1]

i like flying but that was freaky but it was ok remind me not to go to palm springs!

[Simon Veness]

Apparently, a visit to Guatemala is pretty high up on the hair-raising scale - pilots describe it as like landing on an aircraft carrier - i.e. a bit short, and you get wet if they get it wrong!! I think I can give that one a miss...............!!