Venturing Forth: Cuba - an Introduction

I left our winter vacation up to Jake who decided to take the more adventurous option of a week in Cuba, a place we had wanted to go for some time. It’s pretty easy now for Americans to go to Cuba. You can fly direct from the US on one of several airlines. The airline ticket fee generally includes the medical coverage you need to get into Cuba and the exit tax fee. You can request a visa by email which arrives as a blank form that you fill in with your name and passport number. Or you can get one at the airport the day you fly. At the airport you get the visa stamped at a booth located at your gate. Jake booked a place to stay through AirBnB as well as two excursions. For the US government you have to say why you are going to Cuba. “Support of the Cuban People” is what most people use. We chose “Research”. Jake planned to research intellectual property, specifically trademark use, and I planned to investigate sustainable landscaping practices.

We flew American Airlines from DCA to Miami, Miami to Havana. Everything was on time until just short of Cuba the airplane began circling. Our flight didn’t have permission to land in Cuba because the flight number wasn’t registered. The plane had enough fuel to circle during a 15 minute negotiation session between AA and Cuban authorities, but that wasn’t enough time and we flew back to Miami to refuel. Fortunately, by the time we landed in Miami our flight was cleared for Cuba. The flight attendants had just enough time to give everyone a sandwich before we landed back in Cuba.

The next hurdle, for Jake anyway was clearing Cuban customs. We went through one at a time and I was cleared quickly. They just enter your passport number in their computer and take your photo. When Jake’s passport number was entered though I could see “Controlado” flashing in red on the computer screen. He was ordered to step back and an official took his passport off to a side office. After awhile a young guy came back with the passport and asked him a bunch of questions. He got through! Whew. Passed our bags through an Xray machine staffed by Cuba’s TSA equivalent I guess but they were all young women wearing short uniform skirts and black net stockings with different patterns. Next you hand your Sanitary certificate saying you don’t have a cold or other transmittable disease to women dressed in white nurses uniforms. Then your customs declaration form and you are out in the airport lounge.

We changed some Canadian dollars at an ATM sort of machine and got back Cuban convertible pesos (CUC). Cabs wait outside the airport and cost about 30 CUC for a ride into the city. It’s about a 30 minute ride. The driver pointed out various landmarks and gave us his card in case we wanted to call for another ride somewhere. Our AirBnB host was waiting for us at the gate to the house. The house is owned by a Cuban-Italian couple. Yanelis grew up in Cuba but lived in Italy for 25 years. She and her Italian husband purchased and started remodeling this house five years ago. It’s only been open as an AirBnB for a year or so. There’s a lovely shaded porch to sit on out front and a formal sitting area. There are 3 large bedrooms each with a bath along a corridor. At the back is the kitchen/dining/sitting area and another bedroom where the owners stay. Yanelis’ cousin Maria does all the cleaning and will make breakfast for 5 CUC/person. We had intended to make our own meals, but finding food in stores in Cuba can be challenging and we ended up having Maria make us breakfast and eating out most of the time.