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Allan Zackodnik (1966)
My son & Daughter-in-law enjoyed Costa Rica this winter.Christine & I went to Cuba.
Cuba observations 2018
For the most part in Valdaro Cuba, resorts have fantastic white sand beaches that extend for long distances along the shore line as well as out to sea. Some resort locations however are gravel & rocky so do your homework before hand. Other attractions include old cars from the 1950s. (Norman Ringstads 1953 chevy Belair would fit right in. The exception however is the fact that the motor might be from a Russian Latta). Construction is mostly brick, mortar, concrete and iron. History and music is everywhere.
Frustrations include the fact that while brand new buses are the standard with onboard toilets, the toilets are locked and remain locked regardless of the length of any excursion. If nature calls, the bus will divert to a resort, hotel, restaurant, tourist centre, etc, so that you can use other facilities. If it’s dark and whether male or female, and the area is semi remote, the bus will stop for you while you find roadside relief. There is no unlocking the onboard toilets. The likely reason is that the buses have nowhere to off load sewerage.
The food is somewhat bland as Cubans have few if any spices, therefore they cook without spices. Their salt is low grade and clumps badly in the high humidity. So my advice to Canadian travelers, is take your own salt and pepper. Beef is hard to get and very expensive. Hamburgers are pork with perhaps some other meats such as fish and chicken in the ground up mix. BBQs are mostly ham and chicken or seafood (fish & shrimp). They have good pasta and good breads of every sort.
There is an abundance of fruit, juices and vegetables including shredded cabbage, shredded beets, potatoes, beans of every sort, semi ripe tomatoes, sweet onions, etc served with rice. Eggs are a staple. Pancakes are tasty but are made without baking powder so they are flat and resemble a small crape.
And of course at the’ all inclusive’ resorts drinks are free and abundant although in many cases watered down. Rum is everywhere. Cigars and cigarettes easily obtained.
The money is based on a decimal system that is easy to understand. Tourists get pecos that in exchange convert to about 3.5 pecos (CUC) for our $5 Canadian ( anywhere from 72 to 80 pecos per $100 Canadian). Be careful because each of these pecos breaks down into 25 of the ‘peoples’ pecos (CUP). The resorts , even the banks,will takeadvantage of you if you don’t keep your wits about you. Cuba is a very poor country. A Canadian making $400 per day is 20 times more than what a Cuban would make in a month. So tips are coveted.
I may be biased but we found European and Russian tourists arrogant and ill mannered. The Cubans are very honest and polite. If there is any thievery, it will not be a Cuban. Cuba is very safe.
Late January early February can be warm (full sun and breezy) or cold (complete cloud cover,rain and cold winds). We left Fort St. John in -30C and were glad we had taken warm clothes originally intended for the transition at airports but found we had to use some of these warmer items 50% of the time as it was the Cuban winter. Ocean temperatures in the Cuban winter however were warmer than our local summer swimming pool temperatures here in FSJ.
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