Finally the long planned trip to Cuba is about to start. More or less four months of preparation, speaking to what seemed like 15 travel agencies, reading through about 50 web pages, and still not really feeling well prepared, we booked the trip with „Erlebe Reisen“ – a travel company based in Dettingen/ Erms Germany. They seemed to be the most honest company with the fairest price. For 2300€ we got: The rental car (only the rental, insurance and such is extra to pay in Cuba), all accommodation (including breakfast and even half pension for four days) and the transfers to and from the airport. The flights we booked separately with Condor, Frankfurt-Holguin and Havanna-Frankfurt (both direct, yay!), for 1500€ for the both of us. Not the cheapest trip, but I think four weeks travelling Cuba should be worth it. That said, we are still not sure what is waiting for us, there are loads of rumours in the internet about what could go wrong and so on, but I hope we’ll be fine.
Yesterday we drove to Frankfurt and stayed with Lisa and Tom. I did some last minute preparations like moving some money and leaving notes on social networks. Afterwards we had Dinner at a so-called Spanish restaurant. For Frankfurt it was not only quiet good but also relatively cheap. Of course the night was way too short because Lisa had to bring us to the airport at 7 am the next day. We arrived two hours before the flight went, as you are supposed to. Thanks to Frankfurt Airport (my least favourite airport) we needed the whole time just to get to the gate and in the plane. As mentioned, Condor was the airline and given the price one should expect no more than cattle class. At the baggage drop off counter the girl mentioned that your carry on luggage is supposed to be no heavier than 6 kg. For security reasons! Ahh, other airlines (read: the more expensive ones) are less secure? Because they allow 7.5 or 10 kg? Whatever. We took some stuff out and dropped our big bags. She suggested to get some more out when we arrive at the gate. Interesting… And indeed, after the security check, there is another check for the carry on. Of course I got stopped. Eliot luckily already had his „approved carry-on luggage“ tag, so I quickly gave him all the heavy stuff I could without the staff noticing while I waited in line. While waiting I found out the whole thing is just a rip-off. You pay 20€ per kilo of extra carry-on luggage past the allowed 6 kg. Remember, it’S for „security reasons“, mmmmhh?! When it was my turn and it turned out I didn’t have too much the girl at the counter was rather pissed. „Don’t you have a handbag or so?“ No, I don’t, f##k you. So I got away without paying. Cattle class, no more to say. Food was as bad as expected, alcohol not included. But the staff was surprisingly friendly and you also had enough room to sit.
Arriving in Cuba was somewhat underwhelming. The airport in Holguin is tiny and the landing strip is, of course, less flat than the ones at home (but it still works just fine). We were the only plane on the whole runway, nevertheless there were immediately long queues in front of the passport checks. Eliot bounced with anticipation and was anxious about being separated through the immigration check as we had filled in a single „family“ entrance card. In true Cuban style nobody seemed to care and once we got to the other side and out of the airport one bored looking guy took our card without looking at it as we left the main door. At least no problems with customs (despite some rumours we’d heard).
Outside the airport there was a huge crowd of locals, probably waiting for relatives or friends. At least they didn’t look like they wanted to sell us something. After a quick word with one of the tour operators (no slickly organised driver holding a name plaque at the door) we sorted out who was taking us and had to wait for our taxi to arrive. Standing awkwardly in front of the waiting locals, it was a little weird to get looked at like an animal in a zoo. Five minutes later we found ourselves in a (slightly worse for wear) taxi destined for the city centre. The driver seemingly drove like a mad man (in a style we eventually got used to), tooting while overtaking three varying laves of traffic – people walking along the street, being overtaken by bicycles, who in turn were overtaken by horses and cart that all shared the street. This meant of course we pretty much drove the entire distance on the left hand side of the road, but that didn’t seem to surprise anyone. On the way it started to rain like cats and dogs but it had already stopped when we arrived at our Casa „Villa Liba“ in Calle Maceo No. 46.
Thanks to a friend in Germany we already had some Cuban money and could give a tip. We only had a $20 and he didn’t have much change (apparently) so he ended up getting a $4 tip on what was probably a $10 ride at most. A pretty decent tip and by far the biggest single tip we gave out.
I should probably point out the dual currencies in Cuba. Firstly, they have CUC (Pesos Convertibles) which is a currency made theoretically just for tourists (though lots of services and products can only be bought in CUC) and is tied directly to the value of the American dollar. Secondly, there is the national currency (Moneda Nationales) which usually just get called pesos (I know, confusing) which even tourists can use to buy a little bit of stuff in places like food stands in the streets and even some shops. You get 24 pesos for a CUC which means that each peso is worth about 4 cents – not too bad when you pick up an ice cream for a few pesos, a small pizza from a street vendor for five pesos, or if you’re lucky sneak into a baseball game for one peso. The taxi driver’s tip was in CUC though, which means it was almost a week’s average Cuban salary – so one can see why doctors have been known to moonlight as taxi drivers to get a better income.
Anyway, at the Casa, we were greeted very warmly by an elderly woman offering coffee. Of course all in Spanish. I’m very glad I took the Spanish course beforehand, so I managed to understand a little bit and was even able to set the breakfast time for the next day. The room was clean and every bit as cheesy as I expected it to be (think doilies mixed with leopard print bedspreads). My cold was still pretty bad so I wasn’t sure I could manage a long trip to town, but it was the first day in Cuba and it was warm enough, so I gave it a shot.
We had a short walk around the centre of Holguin, found an exchange office, got some more money and went to find some dinner. At the restaurant we me two Afghani-Canadians, one of them showing off his richness more than the other, who were on girl hunt. At some other table there was an older Italian with his Cuban „girlfriend“. So the part about the rich guys looking for fun with Cuban girls is obviously true.