Welcome to my first blog post for our nine days in Cuba. I apologise, putting lots of posts up at once isn’t ideal, but such is life here with limited internet! It’s actually been a nice break from my phone.
Cuba has a population of about 11 million people, 2.5 million of which live in the capital, Havana. The island is over 1100km long, and 31km wide at its narrowest point. Most of the island is flat, but there are three major mountain ranges. Though its mainland is the largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba is in fact made up of over 1000 islands. It is said that when Christopher Columbus first arrived here, he wrote in his journal “this is the most beautiful island the human eyes have ever seen”.
Cuba is full of vibrant buildings, cars and people. These days, it is a communist country that has only had two leadership changes in 61 years. Education is free, and over 80% of the goods here are imported. But they are of course not imported from the US due to the embargo placed on Cuba by them (more details in later posts). The people here are a mix of Spanish and African heritage, due to Spain colonising the island and bringing in African slaves.
I’ve wanted to come to Cuba ever since I studied history later on at high school. Cuba has always fascinated me as it seems like a place where things are done very differently, and that’s very cut off from the rest of the world. As you’ll find out in my posts below, Cuba has a very unique culture and history, it was unlike anywhere else I have ever visited before.
DAY ONE (Sunday 12th January) – Flew to Havana, Cuba
We spent most of the day making our way to Cuba. On the plane, we had some fantastic views of Turks and Caicos. I don’t think I have ever seen water that turquoise before! When we arrived in Havana, we had to hand in about three or four different forms in various places at the airport. Then we had to wait for our bags, and they took a reeeeeally long time. You know me, I got stressed! I had started to picture all the things in my hand luggage and think about whether I could survive nine days in those clothes, and then it finally arrived. Yay!
A G Adventures representative met us in the arrivals hall, and she put us in a paid for taxi to our Casa Particular. A Casa Particular is a local person’s home that has been converted into a guesthouse/B & B. On the way there, we immediately noticed all of the old fashioned cars driving by us. They were very cool! Pair that with the music playing on the radio, and we felt like we were right back in the 1960s.
When we arrived at our Casa Particular, we had a nice clean room and went to bed pretty soon after we arrived. Unfortunately we had missed our tour meeting due to our flight arriving late in the day, but we ran into the group returning from dinner as we arrived.
Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox
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