Cuba - Havana Happenings - Part 1
Table of Contents
Stories and photos by Jim Thomas (unless otherwise indicated)
Introduction to Happenings in Havana
The year was 2016. Tensions between the United States and Cuba had eased somewhat, to the point tourism was being permitted in Cuba on a case-by-case basis. Finally, tourists were being allowed, by the US government, to visit Cuba on a restricted and limited basis under the guise of Cultural or Educational exchanges. It was hoped that with such exchanges, Cuba would improve their record regarding human rights for their people.
Through my Henderson, Nevada AAA Travel Agent, Rona Lacey, I was offered an opportunity to purchase a participation in a Cultural Exchange to Havana, Cuba. The company offering this tour was Alexander – Roberts, a tour company that specializes in small group tours to unusual places. They, in concert with a local Cuban travel agency, In Touch Cuba, made all of the Cuban arrangements including air travel, accommodations, meals, lectures, and tours. This was a fantastic program and I am truly grateful for the opportunity to visit Cuba at that time.
Since then, the opportunity to legally visit Cuba has, again, become very limited due to Cuba’s failure to improve their human rights conditions. The pendulum has swung back to more repressive conditions. While some may try to illegally bypass the Department of State’s restrictions by entering Cuba through another country, this is not recommended. The penalties and consequences are dire!
In one of my stories, I discuss the lecture from Dr. Rafael Hernandez where he expressed an optimistic view of Cuba’s future once Raul Castro, the last of the major Cuban revolutionaries, has departed the scene. He urged us to return in 3 – 5 years and marvel at the changes. Unfortunately, 4 years later, nothing has really changed in Cuba. I share Dr. Hernandez’s dream that when the oppressive element in Cuban politics is removed, the results will be excitingly positive. I hope my stories serve to stimulate an interest in Cuba and whet your appetite to savor its wonderful culture. Once the gates are truly open, Cuba could be even more exciting. For the meantime, enjoy these stories and hope for the future.
Jim Thomas
Cuba - Part 1
Hi friends,
I’m on the road, again. This time to one of the more unusual countries that I have visited. Let me tell you about my recent trip to Havana, Cuba!
A Short History of Cuba
First, a little history. It was mid-October 1962. Castro’s iron fist had held the reins of Cuba for almost 3 years. The ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion had left a slight tarnish on the “bright shining light that was Camelot.” All of a sudden, the peace and tranquility that had become America since WWII was shattered. The Russians had put missiles on the island of Cuba, 90 miles from our shores! Furthermore, the missiles were pointed at us! Many Americans thought that we were on the brink of a nuclear holocaust. The two world super powers, The Soviet Union and The United States of America, were playing a game of nuclear chicken with potentially devastating consequences.
I was a sophomore in high school. My classmates were well aware of current events and what was happening in Cuba. Back then, everyone listened to the news. After all, there were only 4 channels on TV and they went off at mid-night. There were no alternatives such as cable, Netflix, and MTV. My classmates and I were so well informed that we were discussing what branch of service we would join when the war started. It was a different America back then. Unfortunately, that would all begin to change with an assassin’s bullets 13 months later. The change became even more drastic and permanent with a thing called “Vietnam.”
For the moment, the issue at hand was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Eventually, the Soviet Union “blinked.” The missiles went back to Russia. President Kennedy won a major political and strategic victory and remained a hero until his tragic death. Nikita Khrushchev lost his job, but kept his life.
Social and Political Revolution of Cuba
After the missile crisis, Cuba remained a bastion of social and political revolution throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and South America. It was the Western Hemisphere’s launch pad for the spread of World Wide Communism for the next 50 years. During this time, Cuba remained an armed camp poised to defend itself against future onslaughts of Yankee imperialism from the north.
These were the pre-conceived impressions that I had of Cuba. After all, during the Cold War, the U. S. was flying reconnaissance missions around Cuba. Radio Marti, a U. S. operated propaganda broadcast similar to Radio Free Europe, aimed pro-American and anti-Castro radio broadcasts toward Cuba. There had been hi-jackings of American commercial airliners by Cubans who demanded that they be taken to Havana! Cuba was not a place to visit. It was dangerous there!
However, all that seemed to change in January of 2015 with the thawing of Cuban-American relations and the allowing of people to visit Cuba on a restricted basis. This allowed me and the other 15 members of our tour group to visit Cuba under the guise of a “Cultural Exchange.”
Since then, the “political pendulum” has swung back the other way and the window of opportunity to visit Cuba has closed again due to concerns over Cuba’s lack of progress in the realm of human rights. Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother and the last surviving major figure of the Cuban Revolution, is still alive and Cuba remains an oppressed society. This article is a snapshot of Cuba during the brief period of relaxed restrictions on American tourism there. I hope this article will prove useful to future visitors when the current tourist restrictions are removed.
Preparing for Our Trip to Havana, Cuba
To continue my story, on September 21, 2016, members of our tour group checked into the Pullman Hotel near Miami International Airport. Except for traveling companions, we were strangers to each other. That would rapidly change.
Early that evening, we met with Insight Cuba’s Miami representative, the agent for the tour. Each individual member of the tour was introduced and received a procedure briefing for getting to the airport and boarding the plane. The agent informed us that we would leave for the airport at 05:00 because the line at check-in could be long and troublesome.
Meeting in the lobby at 04:45 for a continental breakfast, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the entire group was there, on time, and ready to go! This was a very good sign! Furthermore, everyone seemed to be in a very good mood for that early hour.
The check-in process was interesting and best described as orderly chaos. It was 05:30 and the check-in area had hundreds of people there! Where did they come from and were they all going to Cuba? I also noticed that everyone was having their checked baggage wrapped in plastic to prevent pilferage. Was there something I should know about this? These were some of the concerns I had that were shared by some of my new friends, too.
It became perfectly clear why people joined a tour group for adventures such as this. Our tour agent, enabled us to bypass the long lines at check-in and even allowed us to go through a special security check point. What could have been a long, agonizing kabuki dance through a bureaucratic maze; turned into a departure comparable to many small airports. We were at our gate in minimal time. Again, it was another sign that this was going to be a great tour.
We started to board the Swift Airlines 737 nearly 45 minutes before takeoff. The additional time was necessary because it was a full plane with everyone trying to store the maximum amount of carry-on items in the overhead bins. The comic relief and entertainment was provided by the Senior Flight Attendant who, in multiple languages, ordered, begged, pleaded, and offered bribes for people to take their seats. It was like watching him trying to herd cats. I began to question his life expectancy and wondered when he would have a cardiac episode?
Finally, everyone was seated, the door closed, flight attendants were calm, and we were airborne heading to Havana. We followed Highway 1 down the Florida Keys to Key West. There, we took a fix, made a course correction, and headed straight for Havana, 90 miles away. The flight was only about 45 minutes through partly cloudy skies. Although a short flight, the attendants still had time to serve soft drinks.
As we approached Cuba, I strained to get my first view of the largest island in the Caribbean. I scanned the skies to see if there were military aircraft on training maneuvers. After all, this was supposed to be an armed fortress ready to defend itself from invasions. Where were the planes? As we went “feet dry” over land and began our approach to the airport, I looked for SAM sites and bunkers. Landing at the airport, I anticipated seeing the field surrounded by barbed wire with bunkers strategically placed for airport defense. I also expected to see armored vehicles with machine guns at the ready. After all, evidence of similar military presence was around airports such as Greece and Panama. Yet, none of these were evident in Cuba. I was totally and very pleasantly surprised!
First Impressions of Havana
All the preconceived notions created by the 50 years of cold war discord were immediately dispelled. There was no military presence at the airport…none at all! Frankly, I could have been arriving in Costa Rica instead of Havana! Immigration was a breeze. The agent didn’t interrogate me more than most other countries. She asked why I was here. I told her. She said, “Welcome to Cuba,” and I was on my way. Customs was also non-existent.
The only bump in the road was waiting for the luggage. It took almost as long to get our baggage as it did to fly to Havana. However, I’ve seen the same situation at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. While waiting for our luggage, some of us took the opportunity to convert our currency to Cuban Convertible Pesos (CUC). This was crucial as you, currently, could not use credit cards in Cuba. None were accepted, anywhere. Knowing this, I brought enough money and converted it along the way.
Exchanging money at the baggage claim area was an unusual experience. Having exchanged money in numerous airports, worldwide, I always went to a public kiosk in the terminal where forms were completed and everything was conducted in a professional business manner. In Havana, we waited in line outside the closed door of an office. We were individually invited to go into the office where the clerk asked how much we wanted to exchange? Once I put my $100 on the desk, the clerk pulled out a huge wad of CUCs and counted out the correct amount minus the fee. Then, he put the wad of CUCs back into his right pocket and my money in the other pocket. There was no documentation, no signature required, and no evidence that the transaction ever took place. Several of us thought this was totally strange.
You should know there was another currency used in Cuba. It was called the Cuban Peso which was different from the CUC. This was the currency that Cubans were paid. Tourists do not use this currency. Be sure that you do not receive this currency in change.
We immediately started the tour from the airport. As an afterthought, I should have asked what places we intended to visit that day before we reached the hotel. Our first stop was a cigar factory with a great opportunity to purchase cigars. Although I don’t smoke, I purchased cigars for family and friends. Unfortunately, I spent most of the money that I had converted. Lesson learned, based on the plans for the day, convert enough money to make it until you reach the hotel. There, you can exchange more money.
We met our tour guides and driver. The Insight Cuba guide was Graham, an American expat, who had just finished medical school and was awaiting acceptance to a residency in the states. Pablo was our Cuban guide. Both were very knowledgeable, competent and personable. Over the next few days in Cuba, the entire group, guides, and driver became great friends. We boarded a spacious, comfortable, air conditioned bus and immediately began our tour of Havana, Cuba.
My next segment will discuss more activities of the first day and night. I will provide a separate part for each day that we were in Havana. I hope you enjoyed this.
Jim
Originally from Aurora, IL, I served 26 years in the U. S. military around the world. Thus far, my travels have taken me to all 7 continents and 114 countries. I delight in the opportunity to actually visit places and experience cultures that most people only read about. My undergraduate degrees in history and political science and a master’s degree in public administration have given me an understanding of world history and the various political issues, globally. My master’s degree in special education from The Johns Hopkins University, combined with 24 years teaching experience, have given me an awareness and insight into the human needs of various cultures. Thus, I use all of these tools in planning my travels and writing my stories. I hope these narratives will serve as an interesting read as well as a useful reference for your own future travels. Jim is a member of ITWPA and you can read more about his travels at Jimpatjourneys.com.